Happy Dirt Rich New Year!
2018 is a fresh start for many people to concentrate on their New Year’s Resolutions and these an involve healthy eating, losing weight, exercise and improving finances. All of these are important personal resolutions that help us get off to a great start in the New Year. Here are two additional resolutions that can help us all…Recycle and Re-Purpose….just a thought to start your year….
Recycle – Reducing the amount of waste that goes in our Landfills is a great goal. Landfills have trash that takes a very long time to decompose. For example, here are items with their estimated shelf life in a landfill:
Plastic Water Bottles – 450 years
Disposable Diapers – 550 years
Plastic 6-Pack Collar – 450 years
Extruded Polystyrene Foam – over 5,000 years
Foam Coffee Cup – 50 years
Aluminum Cans – 200 to 500 years
Here is a great article to read on items you can recycle to help you get started: http://www.wm.com/thinkgreen/what-can-i-recycle.jsp
I found this great poster below that easy to print off and show your kids to encourage their recycling from this site https://justforkidsdental.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/recycle.png
Re-purpose – Help the future generations by re-using or modifying items that commonly go in landfills. Examples can be found all over Pinterest. Get started here: https://www.pinterest.com/leighfunderburk/products-i-love/
Items that are commonly used in re-purpose projects:
Pallets
(all types of furniture, art projects, outdoor projects)
2 Liter Plastic Bottles
(vertical planters for fences, greenhouses)
Shipping Containers
(sustainable housing or workshop)
Food Safe Barrels
(potato grow beds, rainwater capture)
Old Windows
(art work, bulletin boards, picture frames)
Gallon Milk Jugs
(planters, water storage, watering plants/trees)
Plastic Grocery Bags and Bread Bags
(non-food storage, small trash can liners)
Check out our video on food safe barrels being used for growing potatoes.
Great article on how to build a vertical garden out of soda bottles: http://www.dietoflife.com/do-not-throw-your-soda-bottles-make-a-vertical-garden-with-them/
I hope your New Year is great and that you are able to add Recycling and Re-Purposing to your New Year’s Resolutions!
Check out our Book for more sustainable ideas in the New Year: Dirt Rich
