ThinkMills.Info^™Hub

© Richard G. Mills, ThinkMills.com, ThinkMills.info  All rights reserved.

[Many of these tips were first written for and published
on the Bourbonnais Township Park District website
as part of its “BTPD is going green~” promotion”]

Green tips you can use at home, at work, on vacation, just about everywhere! (page 8)

Odds and Ends and Tidbits and...

How-To's, What-To's, and Things You May Not Have Known!

See How-To videos on pages 10, 11, and 12!

Compost Composition

It doesn't take much to make your own mulch and fertilizer and save money, too!
 
What it is: Simply put, compost is decaying organic material (plants, animals). It's nature's fertilizer!
Benefits: Compost is great for flower beds and the garden Compost is recycling materials that could otherwise end up in yard-waste recycle bags and landfills.
Ways to do it: Compost piles, compost bins, compost containers.
•Compost piles are simply organic "garbage dumps."
•Compost bins are open structures often made from wood, chicken wire, and/or recycled plastic.
•Compost containers are closed composters, usually box shaped or rotating drums.
 
Pros and cons: Compost piles area easiest to make but can be an eyesore (and not to mention the nose!). Compost bins easily collect rain water and are easy to add items but can attract rats, raccoons, bears, bees, flies and can also be an eyesore (and nose-sore!) Compost containers rarely attract pests and are generally inoffensive in appearance but usually require you to add water and are more difficult to add items. Rotating drums are easier to mix and unload, while upright containers may be more difficult to mix and unload.
 
Before you begin: Don't just start throwing garbage in a heap somewhere! — Do a Web search for "How to compost" (or ask your local home center) to find out what's best for you and all the steps and tools you'll need to do it right!

How To Repurpose a Plastic Container as an Outdoor Bird Water Dish.

(See the video on Go Green! p. 10.)

All you'll need for tools is a pair of pliers with a wire cutter or pliers and a wire cutter and a lightweight drill or sharp nail or corkscrew, etc. For materials, you'll need a clear plastic dish (like a 3-pound salad dish from the deli department) and one or two wire hangers (sorry, Joan!), the second one works best if it has the cardboard cylinder between its two wire sides. Chico accent: "Wire hanger?" — To hang the water dish next to your bird feeder! The video takes you through construction, step by step. Just click the link above or the image to the right.

Things To Recycle

Here are some items you might not think to recycle each time you're done with them:

•TV-dinner boxes. Break down, flatten, and toss the box into your paper recycle bin as soon as you open it!
•TV-dinner "plates." Toss the plastic dinner containers in the dishwasher and then the plastic/glass recycle bin when clean and dry.
•Nuts cans. Clean out and then toss those round cardboard & aluminum nuts containers into the cans bin. (If you're really into recycling, separate the cardboard part first and put it in the paper bin! If you're recycling pickup only uses one bin, separate the parts, anyhow! Chances are they'll just burn the cardboard when melting the aluminum.)
•Coffee cans. Some coffee cans are now made of cardboard sides with metal tops and bottoms. An electric knife works well to cut off the metal tops and bottoms. Cut and unroll the cardboard sides and maybe even strip off the aluminum lining.
•Aluminum foil. Make sure it's clean! (No baked on food bits) Then wad it up and toss it into the cans bin.
•Wrapping paper. No specialty papers, no glitter, etc., and remove tape and bows! Press flat and put in the paper bin.
•Soap, shampoo, detergent bottles. Check for a triangled recycle number on the bottoms first; then rinse thoroughly and toss into the plastics/glass bin.
•Product boxes. Separate any plastic from the cardboard and toss the cardboard pieces into the paper bin!
•Paper-towel/toilet-paper rolls. Flatten rolls and recycle them with other cardboard and paper.
•Pour spouts. Take the metal pour spouts off salt and dishwasher detergent boxes and toss in the cans bin. (Then break down and clean the boxes for the paper bin!).
•Bits and pieces. Aluminum pour spots, aluminum-foil bottle seals, small pieces of aluminum, etc., can all be squished or folded and stuffed through the pop-top opening of an aluminum can. This will keep the pieces of aluminum together, especially in a multi-purpose bin. Chances are your recycler won't bother picking out the smaller pieces and adding them to the aluminum recycling.
Note: You may want to check with your local recycle-management provider to see whether it accepts all these items.
 
•Coffee grounds. Coffee grounds should not be wasting space in your garbage bags and later in landfills. See "Ground Those Grounds!" in our Recycle section.

They Make What from What?!?

Things you didn't know could be made from things you didn't know could be recycled to make them!—

>Carpet from plastic bottles: PET designer-quality carpets and carpet tiles are actually made from plastic bottles. PET, Polyethylene Terephthalate. It's not quite the same as the weaving potholders from sock strips you maybe have done as a kid.

>Floors from bamboo: Bamboo flooring is generally made by laminating strips of bamboo into solid blocks and then milling them into standard floorboards; strand-woven bamboo is made of compressed it much more dense. Bamboo is a fast-growing, self-replenishing very "green" product. But, if you watch HGTV, you already knew this. Very "in" these days.

>Counter tops from waste paper and broken glass: Reliable, durable counter tops are now being made from waste products such as recycled glass and paper. My counter tops may look like they're made from paper, but that's just because I can't keep up with my junk mail!

>Cabinets from wheat: Cabinets are being made from wheat/straw particle board. Straw- based particle board is far more resistant to moisture than regular particle board and is made with a formaldehyde-free binder, greatly improving indoor air quality. You can huff, and you can puff, but you can't blow that cabinet down!

>Clipboards from juice cartons: The manufacturer says they're "stylish, recycled, strong, durable, unusual" and "your clients won’t forget your commitment to environmental sustainability."

Who would have thought it? — Green sells!

Coming soon!!!—

Submit your own tips, pics, and videos, and see them published here with "Contributed by" [your name here!] added to the submission!