Tip of the Month

Tip of the Month

Environment

“JUST ONE THING” 

A new monthly tip will be appearing in The VOTER as well as on the LWVOP website at lwvop.org.  Be on the lookout for our monthly TIP and remember  “Every Day is Earth Day!” 

TIP OF THE MONTH FOR SEPTEMBER 2023
Climate Change Reduction Tip 

COMPOSTING: putting food scraps to good use by creating new soil.  

There are a variety of commercial composters available online or in local stores.  Or you can build a small, fenced area outside.  You will need a balance of green materials—which are fresh, moist plant materials—and brown materials, which are dry, carbon-rich plant materials with no life in them. 

Green/wet materials :

  • Fruit and vegetable scraps
  • Eggshells
  • Grass clippings
  • Coffee ground/filters and tea leave/tea bags with staples 

Brown/dry materials:

  • Dry/dead leaves
  • Wood chips and wood ash
  • Straw
  • Chopped up twigs
  • Dryer lint
  • Paper towels or napkins 

NOTE:  Composting meat or dairy in your compost pile can cause unpleasant odors and attract vermin.  

For convenience you can keep a container in your kitchen then transfer to a composter. Turn the pile over to encase the newly added items.  Compost is ready to use when it looks, feels and smells like rich, dark earth.

TIP OF THE MONTH FOR MAY 2023

Buying laundry detergent (and other household products) can result in throwing enormous amounts of plastic into the landfill over the years. Sadly, it can take centuries for this plastic to deteriorate. Plastic pollution is also known to end up in bodies of water where they hurt our ecosystem. An alternative to purchasing plastic containers of laundry detergent is to purchase laundry detergent sheets through one of these websites or Amazon — Earth Breeze or Tru Earth. If you prefer to make your own, there are ‘recipes’ for making homemade laundry detergent  and many other household cleaners on the internet.