Return & Reduce

Here's our latest effort in doing our bit for the earth: A compost bin.

As the name implies, a compost bin is basically a waste bin where we encourage decomposition to take place. We throw our grass cuttings and kitchen scraps there instead of towards the normal bin. Over time, when the decomposition is done, we can use the compost as an organic fertilise for our garden. I think it's a really natural way to turn bad stuff into good stuff and return them to earth while at the same time reduce the amount of rubbish we contribute to the landfills.

Many things can be thrown into the compost bin, like vegetables, fruits, egg shells, shellfish shells, tissues, paper & cardboard, vaccumn dust fluff & feathers, human hair, tofu and even teabags. However, we should not put in meat, bones and dairy products (they produce a bad smell and attract pests), human waste (although diluted urine is ok), fatty food waste and vegetables cooked in oil or salad dressings.

The bin has to be placed in the garden and somewhere further away from the house, in case of smell and pests. Worms are encouraged to move into the bin to aid in the process so the bin actually has no bottom and sits on the ground. There are small holes at the sides of the bin to encourage air inside but keep out the pests. And we've got to stir it to add lots of air for the composting bugs. Just like cooking, the compost actually produces heat and has to be stirred once in a while to ensure even "cooking".

Our composting process is still young so it may be some months before we can see and use any compost material for our garden. Meanwhile, I've been dilligently separating and saving my kitchen waste in an ice-cream tub to contribute to the compost bin. It's not much actually as my family is small but I have the satisfaction that instead of wasting away inside a plastic bag in a landfill of trash, the food are going back to earth in a few month's time.

Hubby & I have always been pretty concerned about the fate of our planet and wherever possible in our daily lives, we hope to make a small difference to reduce our carbon footprints on this earth. A compost bin might not be practical for everyone but there are still many ways we can do our little bit for earth. Simply by reducing our wastage, we are reducing our carbon output and very often, our electric and water bills as well.

Some ways we hope it helps:

• Turn off lights/fans when not in the room.
• Use energy saving lights and energy/water efficient fridge/washing machine.
• Operate washing machine only when it is a full load. Use cold water and a shorter washing cycle.
• Choose a fuel efficient car to buy.
• Walk KK to school when the weather permits.
• Take short showers. KK is not allowed to play in the shower when the water is running.
• Use heaters and air-conditioners only when neccessary. Put on an extra sweater instead of turning on the heater when it's chilly.
• Reuse water for washing vegetables to water the plants. XX's bath water (without soap) is poured into the watering can and fed to our plants.
• Use environment friendly laundry detergents and recycle the grey water from the washing machine to water the plants. (We only use this water for flowers and plants that we do not consume, just in case.)
• All paper, cardboard cartons, plastic containers and metal cans are separately thrown into the recycle bin.
• Plastic bags are seldom thrown away (unless they are torn) and reused for rubbish.
• We try to bring our own grocery shopping bag and not use any more plastic bags than needed.
• Whenever possible, it is my aim to reuse old bedsheets and clothings in my patchwork crafts. I find it a waste to throw away old clothes, so I either keep them and reuse as rags or give them away to someone or donate them to 2nd hand charity shops like the Salvation Army.
• In my cooking, I try to minimise the use of equipment and plan the sequence so I have less to wash up.
• If I plan to cook using the oven that day, I might time my baking at that time as the oven is already heated up and save on the energy/gas consumption.

As much as possible, we should try to reduce our consumption of processed food. Besides the healthy factor, what I find very "ungreen" are the many containers and product packagings that everything comes in nowadays. Just take a look at the shelves of supermarkets. Rows and rows of cardboard boxes, glass jars and plastic bottles. After the food is consumed, what happens to the containers? They get thrown out. Even if we try to recycle some of them, there're still too many that we have to dump. Right, some things like ice-cream must come in a tub, but much of the food on those shelves are convenience food. Food that we don't need to eat out of a jar and can make from fresh ingredients. Take for example packaged orange juice vs freshly squeezed orange juice. Which has more vitamins, less sugar and cost less? It doesn't take that long to squeeze the orange and the peels can also be used or composted.

Of course, in our modern busy world today, not everyone has the time to make our own jam and tomato puree? I'm guilty myself of many packaged purchases filling my freezer and larder. This is gonna be our way of life for a long time unless forced by some drastic climatic disaster to change but I hope our little efforts to reduce wastage and return to nature what we can would stretch our earth's limited resources and ensure our children continue to enjoy the fruits of this earth a little longer.