Growing Green Kids

For a long time, we've been a "disposable" society. We use things for a brief time and throw them out; we don't pay attention to how much energy is consumed at our homes or offices. Conserving and cutting down on waste now seems like a chore or extra work and we don't even realize that these practices are actually more expensive for us, let alone far worse for our planet!

We've been wasteful for so long, that movements now exist revolving around raising green kids and instilling conservation values and practices in our children at a young age. We need to teach them quality over quantity and reduce reuse recycle.

At first, I thought this seemed silly. Why did we need a movement to raise green kids? However, I had already grown up as a green kid and didn't realize the extent of our throw-away society. My parents recycled, composted and were adamant about conserving energy. I grew up thinking it was normal and something everyone just did. I hated landfills and didn't understand why we would add to the smelly, toxic monstrosities. My sister and I were always told to turn the water off when we brushed our teeth. Even though we lived in upstate New York, our house was and still is kept at 63 degrees in the dead of winter; we were told to just layer up in the house and on our walk to school. When I'm home now, my dad still shuts the light off in my room even if I've hopped across the hall to the bathroom for ten seconds or less.

This guys looks like he's tough on waste! Photo Source: purecostumes.com

Then, I remembered my surprise when I went to my fiancé's hometown for the first time in 2012 and learned that the city was just beginning to hand out flyers about their new free recycling program. Yes! To recycle before late 2012, you had to pay and that's never the way to motivate people to "do more work". What stunned me even more is this city is Columbus, OH, the country's 15th largest city! This was not a small town without resources for a free recycling program. Maybe this green kid movement wasn't so silly after all.

As we have figured out the importance and the benefits of conservation and recycling, there is a push to reevaluate our buying and disposing practices. Growing green kids has to be done! We need superheroes who will fight for our future! This does not mean your child can't have fun decorations or activities at their birthday parties or exciting toys to play with, it just means you can and should get creative! Your kids will love making things themselves, too, and everything will be much more original and valuable.

Changing our society to one that protects our environment and our wallets is now a priority. We'll be healthier, happier, more prosperous and more creative. What's not to love about that?

How are you raising your green kid (or your green self)?

Modesto Composting Program Is Growing

A friend of mine has a compost pile in his back yard. He throws food scraps, coffee grounds and tree trimmings in it, and, after it does its magic, uses it as a soil conditioner.

Composting appears to be gaining in popularity. Maybe it's due to emerging interest in energy efficiency and self-sustainability. Maybe it's concern over greenhouse gases and climate change. Or maybe, in the case of the city of San Francisco, it's being forced upon them.

Whatever the reason, I love it. I hope it picks up steam, especially in the resource-rich San Joaquin Valley, where agriculture is king and farmers are true stewards of the land.

The Valley already has some programs. The Chaffee Zoo is composting and could start selling zoo poo, and Fresno State has a Green-Cycle program that produces 700 tons of compost per year using animal waste, some food scraps and green waste. All Fresno State compost is used on fields and lanscaping, but the campus could eventually sell Bulldog compost through the Gibson Farm Market, said Michael L. Mosinski, director of agricultural operations.

One city that has embraced the concept is Modesto, which operates its own compost facility and sells the final product, MO-gro-PRO, in 36-pound bags at its senior center and the composting facility.

City officials say they shave $1.4 million per year off landfill costs. The Modesto composting plant takes in 150 tons of yard waste per day. There, employees sort the waste and remove any trash put into bins by mistake. Nutrient-rich yard waste is mixed with chipped branches to add carbon content and, after grinding, is put into windrows.

The rows are watered and turned to encourage the growth of helpful organisms, which turn the waste into a humus-like product. The temperature of the rows range from 136 degrees to 150 degrees, which kills weed seeds and bacteria.

The entire process takes about five months. Kind of like fine wine.

Compost can be used in vegetable gardens, flower beds, and for tree planting and new lawns. Even established lawns benefit from a top dressing.

The San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization is a nonprofit dedicated to improving our region's quality of life by increasing its production and use of clean and alternative energy. The SJVCEO works with cities and counties and public and private organizations to demonstrate the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy throughout the eight-county region of the San Joaquin Valley.


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Poop Power: 3 Reasons To Not Let Waste Go To Waste

More zoos are realizing they have a ready supply of nutrient-rich compost, courtesy of their vegetable-eating residents. And zoos are beginning to realize that poop can lucrative.

Fresno's Chaffee Zoo is the latest to, as Fresno Bee reporter Marc Benjamin says in this story, no longer let waste go to waste. Here's why:

1/ The zoo saves hauling costs. Chaffee's two elephants alone produce 55 tons worth of waste per year. If it can be used in composting, that saves $11,000 in disposal costs, according to The Bee.

2/ Chaffee Zoo can probably sell the compost, earning extra revenue. Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle earns $15,000 per year from sales of its "Zoo Doo."

3/ It benefits the environment. Some zoos also use the money to operate conservation programs.

Dung is mixed with straw, landscape clippings and fruits and vegetables to make compost. Chaffee Zoo will eventually add in droppings from zebras, giraffes and addax. Only waste from herbivores is used.

Hopefully, this year I'll be able to buy Chaffee Zoo poo for a soil additive.

The San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization is a nonprofit dedicated to improving our region's quality of life by increasing its production and use of clean and alternative energy. The SJVCEO works with cities and counties and public and private organizations to demonstrate the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy throughout the eight-county region of the San Joaquin Valley.

(Image from cartoonstock.com)