Day 5: Waste Less By Composting

*day 5 of my 31 day series: Frugal Families*





America is know as a wasteful country.  We waste food, resources, material items etc....I have found numerous articles that talk about our waste and how much it really is.  A report from the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDF) is stated "Getting food from the farm to our fork eats up 10 percent of the total U.S. energy budget, uses 50 percent of U.S. land, and swallows 80 percent of all freshwater consumed in the United States. Yet, 40 percent of food in the United States today goes uneaten. This not only means that Americans are throwing out the equivalent of $165 billion each year (20 pounds per person), but also that the uneaten food ends up rotting in landfills as the single largest component of U.S. municipal solid waste where it accounts for a large portion of U.S. methane emissions."
This above information can be found @ http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/report-finds-americans-wasteful-of-food/?_r=0.  This article goes on to say that "there is much speculation over the predominant reasons for the food loss — from unregulated expiration dating to a cultural distaste for aesthetically displeasing fruits and vegetables — one of the most telling aspects of the report is that there is not enough data to make a firm determination."  They proposed how to help in reducing our wastes in this poster

It astonishes me that nothing is really being done on the level that it needs to be done.  After reading as much as I did, and everything says that pretty much America is wasting a ton of food which could help all those people that are going without.  I wanted to include some reading materials so below are links to other article discussing wasteful America.  I decided to only concentrate on America since its my home and I know more about here than anywhere else. Check out these links when you get a chance
~ http://djcoregon.com/news/2012/07/13/wasteful-america/
some stats from this site:

The United States makes up about 1/20th of the world’s population, yet it uses about one-fifth of the world’s energy.

Every day, Americans consume more than 18 million barrels of oil – enough to fill about 1,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, according to statistics from www.nationmaster.com. Per capita, this is more than twice the amount that Britons use daily, and more than 10 times the amount that average Chinese use daily (in spite of their phenomenal industrialization).

Americans use an average of 1,363 watts of electricity per person – again, about double the electrical energy used by the average Brit, despite relatively similar standards of living, and more than three times the energy used by the average Chinese.

And at the other end of this orgy of consumption, we throw away some 250 million tons of trash, only about a third of which is recycled. This statistic comes from the Environmental Protection Agency.

~ http://www.cardinalpointsonline.com/opinions/living-in-most-wasteful-nation-a-shameful-reality-1.2550110#.UlTcY1CX_To

~ http://www.smallstepsonourjourney.com/2012/02/disposable-generation-wasteful-society.html

~ http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2008/04/11/abc-slams-americans-most-wasteful-people-planet

The 1st thing we did when we bought our home, is composting.  This was all Jason's idea and I wasn't on board with it, in the beginning.  I didn't see the point and it looked like a lot of work.
Now, I think completely the opposite.  We like to compost because we are doing our little part in helping the environment as well as helping our own garden, we are reducing our waste and finding a use for them, and we are teaching our children about recycling and the importance of it.  *Let me tell you, the dirt that came from my compost was AMAZING.  
Below are some information that I found around the web for anyone who wishes to start their own compost.  There is a TON, I mean a TON of resources to help with your composting, no matter where you are at, whether beginner or expert.  The information I rounded up for my post is for beginners, but anyone is more than welcome to add to my post, any information or resources they have for composting.  The more the merrier :)

To begin composting you are going to need a big bin that you are able to leave outside.  You can buy one like we did or make your own.  Here are 3 sites I found that offer help with building your own compost bin or spot.  Just make sure whatever material you pick, its something that can handle different weather in your region.
~ http://russianriverschoolhouse.com/2011/10/25/how-to-build-a-compost-bin/
Basic composting bin instructions
~ http://www.designweneed.com/diy-how-to-build-a-compost-bin-from-wood-pallets/
This article looks very interesting.  If I was to build our own compost bin, I would build one similar to theirs.
~ http://theanxiousgardener.com/tag/compost-bins/
This one looks more complex but seems to hold a lot more compost.  I would give this one a try also.

I am a visual person so I learn best by looking rather than reading a bunch of words.  Below is just some basic information to help get you started with your own compost.  I encourage you to read up some more on composting.

taken from treehugger.com

Can anyone out there give a new composter some helpful tips and/or tricks regarding composting?

Starting Over

I originally started this blog to have a place that I could share my thoughts & ideas, my crafts & diy creations, interesting ideas etc.  It's a place that I would post on anything that didn't have to do with my family or photography.  I didn't want to bog down my either of those blogs.  Today, I decided that I will be gutting this blog and restarting it, starting over.  I plan on taking it in a totally different direction, exploring things that interests me.  With my photography/artistic blog, it was easy to get regular readers and plenty of people have come to my blog.  I love it!  It has been great, fun, and something I love to do.  So, now it's time for me to get this blog up and running.

The beginning.......................................................
What you can expect from my new blog, well that's simple----pieces of me.  The sole purpose of this blog is to have a place that I could share things that I enjoy, things of interest, things I am thinking about, and things that make me tick.  All my posts will fall into one of the categories below.  My topics I will explore are:
1. Simple living (like my minimalism beginnings),
2. My frugalness & great money saving ideas (which I the master at, just you wait & see.  I can contend with the best of the best in this category),
3. Diy stuff like recycling or upcycling or primitives that I love,
4. Homemade food & recipes,
5. Parenting tips & ideas,
6. Natural & green living,
7. My gardening mishaps,
8. Our unique reptile "farm",
9. Healthy living ideas,
10. Homesteading stuff
~~~~There will be something for everyone.~~~~

To break the ice, I will put up some things about me.  Since I am 34 (eekkk can't believe I'm that old)

34 Interesting Facts About Me **(this is harder than you it looks)**
1. I wished my parents were a little more original with my name and spelled it Sera
2. I have an obsession with vampires in movies & books (i can't read or see enough)
3. farting is super funny to me & I almost always laugh about it
4. I DON'T care what anyone thinks of me (anyone other than Jason and the kids)
5. I was raised to be super independent, which I am PROUD of it.
6. I sometimes miss my lip being pierced (well not lip but below it just not sure how to spell that--close enough)
7. I love tattoos and will be getting a new one soon, I hope & a leg band soon after that
8. I can't help it that I look like a bitch----either get to know me or don't
9. The moment one stops caring what others think, it the most liberating moment of their life-it was for me
10. I have 3 amazing friends that I consider my sisters-they spice up my life as I do to theirs
11. I love to laugh at myself for the stupid Sera moments (which happens a lot)
12. My favorite TV shows are the Walking Dead, Criminal Minds, Supernatural, & My Little Ponies (remember no judging)
13. I'm a closet nerd
14. I love the smell of rain & gas
15.I have a super duper duper nose, which isn't always the best thing in the world to have, let me tell you
16. Call me Wolverine because I heal super quickly, its almost scary
17. Sci-Fi channel is my absolute favorite channel, well when we had cable it was
18. a pet peeve of mine is having someone blow their nose while you eat....nasty
19. I look forwards to Wednesdays & Thursdays mail because it has the grocery fliers for upcoming sales
20. You will see a ton of pics on my new blog.
21. I am hilarious but I do have a weird sense of humor, sometimes ;)
22. On a warm rainy night, I used to love dancing in the rain.  It's a shame I don't much anymore :)
23. I truly love myself, as everyone should (and no, not in the conceded way-this has been a long time coming)
24. My self esteem was a 0 for awhile and now its around  80-(I'm a work in progress)
25. I fell in love with Ireland a long time ago- its the 1st place that I will travel to with Jason in the next 5-10 yrs
26. Every now and then, you need to leave your comfort zone...............learn from me, its worth it
27. I have a famous distant relative: Clark Gable- maybe you would know Rhett 
28. Another famous distant distant relative: James Joyce-the Irish author 
29. Growing up I wanted to be a marine biologist, a singer, or an actress
30. I am a really good singer which most people don't know
31. I love to dance & sing with my children as much as possible-they love it as much as I do
32.  When everyone is gone and its just the girlies and I, we all walk around in our undies...Just warning u
33.  When I reply to someone's comment I didn't realize but I use the smiley face WAY to much :)
34. Raising kids can be hard, being a wife can be hard........but its the most important, happiest, rewarding thing I could ever do.  Having a large family is the ONE thing I always prayed for as a child.  And god was listening to me, even when I thought for sure he wasn't.  I am thankful everyday that I was given such an amazing family to be a part of!!

Now it's your turn........
What is something unique about you?