Denver to continue city compost pilot for $90 a year
Last month, I wrote about a grassroots effort to save the City of Denver, Colorado’s city composting pilot program. The program collects compostable waste in big green carts from 3,300 homes in select (mostly well-to-do … this plays a part in a moment) neighborhoods. The pilot program had grant funding, but because the city, like so many others, is facing an enormous budget shortfall, the program was set to expire March 1.
Now, however, The Denver Post reports that residents can continue the program for a $90 annual fee, billed in three installments throughout the year. Denver residents do not pay for trash or recycling collection — that is, those fees are included in property tax — so the fee is unusual. In other city waste management news, we’ve had changes this year to large-item pickup (now scheduled every 9 weeks on a rotating schedule, instead of every other week) and hazardous waste collection (previously, it was free once per year; now it costs a $20 co-payment).
Urban Forager: Made-in-Brooklyn Maple Syrup – The Local – Fort-Greene Blog – NYTimes.com
This is a super-awesome blog post about tapping a maple tree in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood — ooh la la!
Anyone have a maple tree in their back yard?
Fake Plastic Fish Pries into Green Couples’ Business
If you’ve been following the online chatter about whether couples argue about their eco-saving activities, you will probably enjoy this.
Over at Fake Plastic Fish, Beth Terry has revealed her own household’s situation with a video of her and her husband talking trash (and recycling, and reduction, and of course, no plastic). Then she goes one step further to interview a number of green bloggers and others about whether they agree with their spouse or partner on green actions.
Friday wrap-up: Getting ready for V-day
Be forewarned, readers – Valentine’s Day is only a little over a week away. That means it’s time to prepare strategies for cheap, eco-friendly approaches to what (in the U.S. at least) is an over-the-top festival of greeting cards, plastic gewgaws, and un-fair trade chocolate. Here are a few ideas to get you started, and a few other good posts from the Web this week to round things out.
- Green Daily wrote about seed bon-bons for Valentine’s Day. (Theirs come from an Etsy shop that doesn’t currently have products listed, but contact the seller if you’re interested.) Or if you’re feeling crafty, make your own batch of seed bombs or bon-bons. Put them in a candy mold, and this could be a great Valentine’s gift for kids!
- I must confess, I adore good old chocolate for Valentine’s Day (for myself, that is). If you have a chocolate-loving-loved-one on your Valentine’s list, Focus Organic has published a post with tips for finding the best chocolate to buy — ideally fair-trade certified, organic and shade grown. Triple-certified is best, they say, but even one certification means you are helping the planet and the people who grow and, especially, pick the chocolate for you. I would add that if you can find chocolate with one of those certifications from a local vendor, you would earn a big gold star (or gold heart, as the holiday might have it).
- Looking for cheap, romantic date ideas? Myscha Therault at Wise Bread has you covered. Check out her list, and the links at the bottom of the post for more ideas.
How do you toss your BIG trash?
Photo by randomidea
The photo with this post isn’t really on my block, but it could be.
‘Cash for clunkers’ applies to appliances in 2010
Photo by Kevin Dooley
If you’ve been saving your pennies to replace a worn-out, energy-wasting appliance this year, look before you buy to find out if you can get a rebate on a new, energy-efficient appliance.
Making homemade curry powder & curried egg salad
Photo from jeenaskitchen.blogspot.com
The other day I came across this great blog post about making your own curry powder.
Personal action or political change?
Photo by epSos.de
Look out, world — I’m going to get political. In small, personal ways.
Friday wrap-up: Paying mortgage early, saving & warehouse stores
Photo by David Sifry
And let’s finish up a week of wrap-ups with some financial and savings blog posts:
Garden wrap-up: DIY potatoes (grow + cook), firestarters, pop-tarts and more
Let’s continue wrap-up this week! I don’t know about you, but everything is so gray and cold around here that I did a double take when I saw this tulip photo in my online album. Really? Those grow in MY garden? They will be back in just a few months? Whoo hoo!!
So this selection of links is garden-themed. If you’re like our household (especially Mr. Cheap and Mlle. Cheap), the winter weather has you poring over garden catalogs. Mlle. Cheap has requested a garden of her own this year (after all, she’ll be 9 years old!) and has lofty plans. Cardoons, anyone?
