I didn’t know municipal compost was a thing outside of Seattle, like at all! We compost in our yard, but have no earthly idea what to actually use the compost for as we don’t garden at all. So now we’ve got two full bins and no idea what to do with it since we don’t do gardening.
Throw it under a bush. Spread it lightly over your lawn. Fill in mole holes. If you really can't find a place to put it, give it away on a buy-nothing or other local group. Somebody near you gardens, and good gardening dirt is shockingly expensive.
I had no idea I could spread it on my lawn. My grass is mostly dead, maybe that would help…
Make it easier for people to get around without cars (public transit, sure, but even more so increasing options and safety for walking, bicycling, and similar).
Invest in connectivity infrastructure to make it easier for people to work remotely and not have to commute.
Throw it under a bush. Spread it lightly over your lawn. Fill in mole holes. If you really can't find a place to put it, give it away on a buy-nothing or other local group. Somebody near you gardens, and good gardening dirt is shockingly expensive.
I had no idea I could spread it on my lawn. My grass is mostly dead, maybe that would help…
You totally can. You can spread a thin layer over anything and it will provide nutrients. If you want to change or "fix" your grass, I suggest spreading some seeds and then spreading a thin layer of compost over them. Water regularly (or rain). You can add clover seed or a low/no mow grass seed.
I had no idea I could spread it on my lawn. My grass is mostly dead, maybe that would help…
You totally can. You can spread a thin layer over anything and it will provide nutrients. If you want to change or "fix" your grass, I suggest spreading some seeds and then spreading a thin layer of compost over them. Water regularly (or rain). You can add clover seed or a low/no mow grass seed.
Awesome, thanks! We tried getting micro clover going last year and it all died, but I’ll try it with a thin layer of compost over it and see what happens!
Eliminate the cultural value on “landscaped” homes and encourage more native wildflower plants and clover lawns.
We have a few programs in the Portland metro that help with this. The backyard habitat program ( backyardhabitats.org ) and the soil & water district has a “naturescaping” class ( emswcd.org/in-your-yard/naturescaping ). I think Seattle has something similar too. And I was reading something about Las Vegas and how they encouraged people to get rid of lawns, it sounded pretty cool.
ETA: the tips section in the naturescaping link would apply pretty much anywhere.
I thought recycling was basically done at this point because it all got shipped to China and they stopped accepting it. Is that not true anymore?
I wish when you ordered something it all came together. I ordered 8 items of clothes, and they came in 4 separate packages, and then each item had its own plastic bag inside of the plastic shipping bag. Why?!
I also feel there is a lot of performative stuff esp with covid. Like restaurants using all disposable dishes/utensils, gloves used an ungodly amount for no reason, etc.
I never realized how good I had it, living in the largest county in WA state, and in the largest city. I really took recycling and composting for granted!
I moved from Seattle in King county to Edmonds in Snohomish county, and I was floored to discover no composting pickup. Or composting anywhere, really. I can't even take to a Snohomish county transfer station, because they don't do compost! It has really changed the way I shop and use things in my kitchen, and not for the better. I try to put most of my food scraps in the garbage disposal, but I can't put egg cartons, paper towels or bones in there. And I have to throw away pizza boxes! You can't even recycle them because they're food stained.
I'm using Ridwell (and have discount codes if anyone wants one) so at least all the plastic wrap is going somewhere useful. So many single-use plastics!!
Everything going into your garbage disposal gets processed at the water treatment plant and then goes to the dump. This method actually uses more energy than just disposing the items properly. Sorry to burst your bubble! This is something I'm working on. My H frequently puts potato peels etc down the disposal.
Some things that are not too terribly political that can be done on a local level:
1. I see some people have mentioned public transit, but a huge travel option that has been ignored by society is bike lanes. A lot of streets could have one less lane of car traffic. Ask your city representatives about a regional bike plan or projects.
2. Stream buffers. This is a requirement for developments. Basically cities can't develop within certain feet of a stream/ creek/ river. Not only does this prevent pollutants from going into our water system, it has also been shown to help flood prevention.
3. Look at your city's development standards. Is multifamily housing restricted? It is in a lot of places. What are the zoning requirements? Could you have retail/ office/ housing spaces near each other or even in the same space? Again, a lot of places restrict these sorts of developments.
Obviously all small changes, but things that wouldn't take changing how all of society operates.
We’re putting in artificial turf soon and it’s used (1/5 the cost of new!) so it’s a win/win for us and the environment!
What? This is not environmentally friendly. You’re putting plastic down in a large space that could be creating habitats for living things.
Cost effective maybe (depends on where you live) but not environmentally friendly.
I didn't think about it that way. To be fair, it's not a large space (750sq ft) and we'll still have our "courtyard" area with hedges, a holly tree, and different ground cover. Due to the layout of our houses and detached garages, there's hardly any sunlight back there and the yard is dirt/mud and weeds. I enjoy lawncare, so am definitely open to other suggestions to not have mud covered dogs any time it rains.
What? This is not environmentally friendly. You’re putting plastic down in a large space that could be creating habitats for living things.
Cost effective maybe (depends on where you live) but not environmentally friendly.
I didn't think about it that way. To be fair, it's not a large space (750sq ft) and we'll still have our "courtyard" area with hedges, a holly tree, and different ground cover. Due to the layout of our houses and detached garages, there's hardly any sunlight back there and the yard is dirt/mud and weeds. I enjoy lawncare, so am definitely open to other suggestions to not have mud covered dogs any time it rains.
I don't know if you have options on what sort of turf beads you use, but if you do go the turf route and have an option be sure and get the cork beads rather than the crumb rubber. Our city is slowly switching all turf fields to cork.
The crumb rubber may be harmful to humans and leachate from it is definitely harmful if it gets into our waterways. My colleagues recently discovered a chemical in tires to be what is causing coho salmon to die before spawning and I'm sure it's effects are more widespread than that.
Better public transit. I can't believe that I live in such a big, populated metro area and I have no options to take a train to work or into the city. I don't live in some podunk little town either, I live in a popular suburb with around 100k people, most of whom probably don't work within walking distance of their homes.
The commuter buses from the P&R lots are pretty sweet though. But only good if you work traditional 9-5 hours, and don't run late because they stop running so damn early. One beer at happy hour and you're sprinting to catch the last one.
I never realized how good I had it, living in the largest county in WA state, and in the largest city. I really took recycling and composting for granted!
I moved from Seattle in King county to Edmonds in Snohomish county, and I was floored to discover no composting pickup. Or composting anywhere, really. I can't even take to a Snohomish county transfer station, because they don't do compost! It has really changed the way I shop and use things in my kitchen, and not for the better. I try to put most of my food scraps in the garbage disposal, but I can't put egg cartons, paper towels or bones in there. And I have to throw away pizza boxes! You can't even recycle them because they're food stained.
I'm using Ridwell (and have discount codes if anyone wants one) so at least all the plastic wrap is going somewhere useful. So many single-use plastics!!
Everything going into your garbage disposal gets processed at the water treatment plant and then goes to the dump. This method actually uses more energy than just disposing the items properly. Sorry to burst your bubble! This is something I'm working on. My H frequently puts potato peels etc down the disposal.
Some things that are not too terribly political that can be done on a local level:
1. I see some people have mentioned public transit, but a huge travel option that has been ignored by society is bike lanes. A lot of streets could have one less lane of car traffic. Ask your city representatives about a regional bike plan or projects.
2. Stream buffers. This is a requirement for developments. Basically cities can't develop within certain feet of a stream/ creek/ river. Not only does this prevent pollutants from going into our water system, it has also been shown to help flood prevention.
3. Look at your city's development standards. Is multifamily housing restricted? It is in a lot of places. What are the zoning requirements? Could you have retail/ office/ housing spaces near each other or even in the same space? Again, a lot of places restrict these sorts of developments.
Obviously all small changes, but things that wouldn't take changing how all of society operates.
ohh, you're speaking my language!! Show up to the public meetings when your towns want to implement these things and serve as counterbalance to the NIMBY jerks. Also if the idea of taking away lanes from cars gives you the heebie jeebies, please PM me and I'll hold your hand and explain how it's going to be ok. (seriously)
What? This is not environmentally friendly. You’re putting plastic down in a large space that could be creating habitats for living things.
Cost effective maybe (depends on where you live) but not environmentally friendly.
I didn't think about it that way. To be fair, it's not a large space (750sq ft) and we'll still have our "courtyard" area with hedges, a holly tree, and different ground cover. Due to the layout of our houses and detached garages, there's hardly any sunlight back there and the yard is dirt/mud and weeds. I enjoy lawncare, so am definitely open to other suggestions to not have mud covered dogs any time it rains.
What about a brick or paver courtyard? You could leave enough gaps in between for rainwater infiltration or look into permeable pavers.
Better public transit. I can't believe that I live in such a big, populated metro area and I have no options to take a train to work or into the city. I don't live in some podunk little town either, I live in a popular suburb with around 100k people, most of whom probably don't work within walking distance of their homes.
The commuter buses from the P&R lots are pretty sweet though. But only good if you work traditional 9-5 hours, and don't run late because they stop running so damn early. One beer at happy hour and you're sprinting to catch the last one.
The buses in my city run 9am-5pm. And only do a route once an hour. Also they don't run in many parts of the outer areas of the city. Very few people utilize the bus for those reasons.
The commuter buses from the P&R lots are pretty sweet though. But only good if you work traditional 9-5 hours, and don't run late because they stop running so damn early. One beer at happy hour and you're sprinting to catch the last one.
The buses in my city run 9am-5pm. And only do a route once an hour. Also they don't run in many parts of the outer areas of the city. Very few people utilize the bus for those reasons.
consider writing your electeds and ask them to reallocate transportation funding to pay for better bus service.
eta: I say this all blase like it's that easy - but no really - do that. And then if you have the spoons....do it again, and again, and again and then find out what groups are fighting for this in an organized way and give them money and go stand with them at the budget meetings of whatever level of govt runs your buses in matching t-shirts and campaign for people who say they'll get bus funding and them light them on fire if they don't actually do it....
I struggle to do this sort of thing in a really active way because I do this stuff for a living as a gov't consultant, so there are many times that I feel like I have to be careful about how angry I get in public, but I 100% vote on this issue. Like, close to a single issue thing for me since my local gov't is extremely Dem dominated and I rarely have to be concerned about my other hot button things (gay rights, abortion). I detest my state gov (fucking republican) in large part because of how he's handled transit funding. It's my #1 gripe with him. Like if I ever got a chance to talk to him one on one it's the thing I'd bring up.
Eliminate the cultural value on “landscaped” homes and encourage more native wildflower plants and clover lawns.
I wish big box stores would sell native plants instead of invasives. And stop selling cultivars as natives. People think plants are plants and they are all good and they don't understand the damage we are actually causing.
Eliminate the cultural value on “landscaped” homes and encourage more native wildflower plants and clover lawns.
I wish big box stores would sell native plants instead of invasives. And stop selling cultivars as natives. People think plants are plants and they are all good and they don't understand the damage we are actually causing.
I definitely don’t know much about this. I don’t have a yard, but recently have bought some house plants from a local Black owned place. What should I be looking for in plants in the home that aren’t damaging?
I wish big box stores would sell native plants instead of invasives. And stop selling cultivars as natives. People think plants are plants and they are all good and they don't understand the damage we are actually causing.
I definitely don’t know much about this. I don’t have a yard, but recently have bought some house plants from a local Black owned place. What should I be looking for in plants in the home that aren’t damaging?
Houseplants aren't an issue (as far as I know). But our yards need to be part of the ecosystem. Native plants support native insects, which support native animals. Turf grass for lawns, boxwoods, crepe myrtles, hostas, and nearly everything else I could buy at Home Depot or even most local garden centers here in VA come from another part of the world. If we don't provide native habitat, we throw off the balance of the whole ecosystem.
I definitely don’t know much about this. I don’t have a yard, but recently have bought some house plants from a local Black owned place. What should I be looking for in plants in the home that aren’t damaging?
Houseplants aren't an issue (as far as I know). But our yards need to be part of the ecosystem. Native plants support native insects, which support native animals. Turf grass for lawns, boxwoods, crepe myrtles, hostas, and nearly everything else I could buy at Home Depot or even most local garden centers here in VA come from another part of the world. If we don't provide native habitat, we throw off the balance of the whole ecosystem.
I definitely don’t know much about this. I don’t have a yard, but recently have bought some house plants from a local Black owned place. What should I be looking for in plants in the home that aren’t damaging?
Houseplants aren't an issue (as far as I know). But our yards need to be part of the ecosystem. Native plants support native insects, which support native animals. Turf grass for lawns, boxwoods, crepe myrtles, hostas, and nearly everything else I could buy at Home Depot or even most local garden centers here in VA come from another part of the world. If we don't provide native habitat, we throw off the balance of the whole ecosystem.
Ahh ok, thanks for explaining. When you said people think plants are just plants and all are good, I didn’t realize you meant outdoor plants only. Good info to know even though I’ll likely never have a yard
Houseplants do have an environmental cost, especially with the surge in interest. But I don’t think it’s any worse than florist flowers (which are generally quite terrible), and humans benefit from nature in their surroundings.