Green Daily

A big congratulations goes to Carolyn Haffner who won over $300 worth of composting equipment from our recent giveaway. Out of 189 eligible entries, it was lucky number 81 that received a shipment of goods from Gardener's Supply Company. When asked to write what she would be composting, Carolyn wrote:

"Everything I can! I stopped because my scraps were attracting rats!'

Hopefully her new Triple-Chambered Earthmaker Composter will keep her kitchen scraps in and the rodents out. If you are having trouble with unwelcome visitors to your compost pile, try these tips:

• Do not put greasy foods, dairy products, meat scraps nor bones in your compost pile. All of these attract unwanted critters.
• Bury the bottom lip of the screen beneath the soil and fasten the lid tightly.
  
• Use a rodent screen beneath your composter to prevent burrowing in and out of the unit.
• Bury scraps in the center of the pile.

This giveaway was part of June's Green Challenge to begin a compost pile. Check back frequently to catch our other giveaways and be sure to join this month's Green Challenge to conserve water.

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Then at the end of the month let us know how you did!

It is with some trepidation that I begin July's challenge to take only four minute showers. You see, with two small children at home, my shower time is my only sanctuary. Already prone to rinse for longer than necessary, now that I have kids, my showers have gotten even longer. I plan on cutting my shower time by a third. I do have a new shower head in my bath but I don't remember it being especially efficient so that's something to tackle at a later date.

For now I plan on using a handy shower timer that I got a few months ago. Placing a clock or a kitchen timer in the bathroom would work just as well.

Water fun facts:

• A typical showerhead uses 5-8 gallons per minute. A low flow showerhead can cut this down to 2.5 gallons per minute.
• Less than 1% of the earth's water is available for human consumption.
• Unless you have a well and leach field, the water you use and sewage you create requires energy to treat properly by your municipality.
• One in six people worldwide does not have regular access to fresh water.
• The quality of our streams, lakes and rivers depletes over years as we remove water and refill it with waste thereby affecting their ability to support life.
• To find out more ways to conserve water, take the Family Water Audit.

Join me this month in a commitment to taking four minute showers.

Now I'm going to have to find some other means of avoiding my children. Wish me luck.

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Then at the end of the month let us know how you did!

This month I challenged myseif (and you) to create a compost pile. Instead of buying a new composter, I created one out of an old trash can. It was simple to do, saved me money and kept me from acquiring more stuff. However, if my composting efforts continue to go well, I'll probably invest in a second composter and I have my eye on a few.

As always, let me know how you fared this month in the comments and stay tuned for our July challenge! Oh, and don't forget to enter our Green Daily giveaway of composting equipment from Gardener's Supply Company.

[Until making this video, I had no idea that "fabulous" was part of my speaking vocabulary. Maybe it only comes out when I am SUPER excited about environmental topics. Let's hope.]

In conjunction with this month's Green Challenge to start a compost pile, Gardener's Supply Company has generously given us a complete composting kit to give away to one of our lucky readers.

To start you off, we have an Earthmaker™ Composter, with three chambers for faster decomposition. The Gardener's Supply exclusive holds 16.5 cubic feet of material and will produce beneficial compost in as little as ten weeks. This item retails for $225.00.

You may remember last month's Green Challenge to reduce plastic bag consumption. Upon hearing of our plight, Envirosax was generous enough to send me six individual Mikado shopping bags. This means that we will be selecting six lucky winners to get one bag apiece!

We have raved about Envirosax before. Their convenient, waterproof shopping bags are roomy and feature the most beautiful graphic designs. Each bag holds the equivalent of two grocery store plastic bags. The company itself is committed to bettering the future of our planet and donates a percentage of their proceeds to organizations that work towards protecting and restoring the environment.

• To enter, leave a confirmed comment below telling us your favorite way to reuse plastic bags or what you use to haul your groceries home in.
  
• The comment must be left before 5pm EST on Wednesday, June 25th.
• You may enter only once.
• 6 winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Each winner will receive one Envirosax Mikado Single bag (valued at $8.50 apiece).
• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.

Click here for official rules.

Good luck!

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Check in weekly for updates, tips and to report on your progress.

I just want to let everyone know that I am kicking butt with this month's challenge which is refreshing after last month's plastic bag debacle. The other day I even had watermelons growing in my compost bin -- or at least that's what I think they were before they got buried under a pile of newspaper.

My compost costs so far are zero dollars. I made my own bin out of an old garbage can. It's working great for me as I don't plan on growing a garden until next year but if I needed compost more quickly, I'd go with a different option. It's also rather unattractive and too large for a tight space like a patio or balcony. Check out the gallery below for different types of compost bins and accessories that will suit just about anyone's needs.

Check back next week for a fabulous giveaway!

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Check in weekly for updates, tips and to report on your progress.

Last week I revealed my plans to start composting my kitchen scraps. I then spent a lot of time online researching the ins and outs of compost. Because I live in a city with a small lot, I have to contain my pile in a bin and also have to restrict just what scraps I throw in there for fear of attracting rodents. Anything biodegradable is compostable but there are a few items that are best left to rural compost piles or avoided completely. Those include, treated wood, pernicious weeds, diseased plants, pet feces (or at least waste from carnivores), meat, dairy, and foods with a high fat content (including many oils and peanut butter).

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Then at the end of the month let us know how you did!

This month I plan to tackle my kitchen waste. Once I started kicking my recycling into high gear, I got a chance to examine what I was actually throwing away. A lot of my waste was rotting produce from the crisper and other food refuse. I then made the decision to put that stuff to use as compost rather than send it to the landfill. So, my challenge for myself this month (and for you) is to start a compost pile!

This month I challenged myself and our readers to do away with plastic shopping bags. All in all I'd say that I did OK despite the rough start. I also did a post on what chic, reusable bags are on the market. Please let me know in the comments how you did on your end. Once again I subject myself to video to deliver my captivating message only to realize that I'm wearing the same shirt as last month. It must be my subconscious at work because it certainly was not intentional.

Join me for June's Green Challenge which will start in a couple of days. Thanks for playing!

Earlier this month I asked everyone to join me in giving up plastic bags and remembering to bring a reusable bag during shopping trips. Last week I wasn't doing so well but I'm making the grade this week. I even earned some extra credit the time that I forgot my bag and carried my many purchases out cradled in my arms. I looked rather strange.

Today I wanted to plug some of my favorite reusable bags. There's no reason to buy a new bag when you probably have plenty of backpacks, shopping bags and pillowcases in your house already but if you want something special, you might want to check out the fashionable options below.

In the meantime, keep up the good work. Has anyone tried bringing their own bag to Taco Bell or other fast food joint? Not that I would ever eat at Taco Bell (nope, not me, not ever).

The other day I returned from the convenience store, put my newly purchased items away and headed to the back of the house to add two fresh plastic bags to the collection. It was then that it hit me that I had not one, but TWO contraband plastic bags in my hand. I turned my husband, let out an explicative and declared myself a failure early in the challenge.

Last week I invited everyone to join me in using reusable bags exclusively for purchases and saying, "goodbye" to the plastic bag. It's a habit that I have yet to acquire and I'm working hard to do so.

We harp on this all the time here at Green Daily. We tell you that using plastic bags is bad and you should use cloth bags in the checkout line. I must confess that I don't use cloth all of the time, in fact, I would guess that I remember to bring a reusable bag into a store with me less than half the time. It's a habit that I have yet to cement into my psyche but I decree May a 100% bag-free month!

I have in my arsenal nine cloth bags specifically designed for carrying groceries. That's plenty for my weekly visits and they are small enough to stash in the car for visits to convenience stores or wherever else I may venture. Join me for May's Green Challenge!

At the beginning of April I challenged myself and our esteemed Green Daily readers to change out one incandescent bulb in their home with one compact florescent lamp (CFL). I sit here bathed in florescent light as I type and consider this month a success knowing that I won't have to haul out the ladder to change a light bulb for the next few years! Check out the video for a full report (it was my first time ... go easy on me).

If you haven't already changed out a bulb in your house, you still have a few hours to do so and let me know how it goes in the comments.

Check back within the next few days for May's Green Challenge!

I don't expect much from my light bulbs. I want them to be bright enough to fill a room with light and I don't want them to flicker. I'm not too picky about "warm" or "cool" shades. However, some compact fluorescent lamps simply do not perform as well as others. During this month's Green Challenge, I got the opportunity to try out several different types of bulbs as well as brands. I've compiled my findings into the photo gallery below.

If you haven't yet joined the challenge and changed a bulb in your house, it's not too late come on board!

Around the first of the month I introduced the Green Challenge, encouraging everyone to change out one single conventional bulb for a compact fluorescent. I've been swapping out bulbs all over the house and I've run into some troubles, the least of which being that I've broken two so far.

There are some lighting fixtures that I have been resistant to converting, specifically, my ceiling fans. Most of my ceiling fans require more than one bulb and when I put new CFLs in, they have a tendency to flicker for several minutes. I am in the process of trying different bulbs but it's a side effect that I can't live with.

I'm also have trouble with some of the bulb sizes. I bought some candelabra bulbs that were too long to fit in one of my ceiling fans and I had to swap them out for a more expensive variety.

Additionally, for the fans and fixtures with exposed bulbs, I prefer the look of the incandescents so I have to pay quite a bit more for covered CFLs.

With my pickiness and butterfingers, this project is getting rather costly! Fortunately I only challenged you to change ONE bulb. Has anyone done it yet?

Next week: CFLs that don't suck!