Simple Suggestion #250... Wake up your compost!

Did you know that May is a good time to wake up your compost? Are you saying to yourself, what's that supposed to mean?

Hopefully, the title of this suggestion elicits a few different responses in readers:

1) I don't have compost. Fact is, everyone has material that works for making compost, and it's easy to go from there. If you eat, you create food waste -- kitchen scraps (greens) like fruit and vegetable peels, stalks and leaves, eggshells, apple cores -- anything except bones, meat or greasy stuff (I also avoid large fruit pits/stones just because it takes them so long to break down). If you live in a single family dwelling, you likely also have some yard waste -- grass clippings (though those are better left on the lawn to protect its roots and give it natural nitrogen), plant prunings (skip the weeds and woody branches), and the all important autumn leaves (browns) which provide necessary carbon for breaking everything down and preventing odors.

We human beings all create compostable materials simply because we don't often eat entire plants, and about 29% of Edmonton families use kitchen scraps and the other compostables mentioned above to create black gold for their gardens and lawns. Composting is pretty easy, and here in Edmonton, although most of our organic waste is eventually composted by the City's amazing Waste Management system, it saves a lot of greenhouse gases, energy and money if we do it ourselves. Plus, you'll never find anything better for topdressing your lawn or feeding your plants and soil!

2) I've always wanted to compost. Well, I have great news for you! All you need is an inexpensive compost bin (or you can make your own pile or pit with a bit of chicken wire if you have an out of the way spot for one) and a quick lesson on how to do it. I'll bet there are books in your local library with all sorts of information, or if you live here in Edmonton, you can attend excellent workshops offered by the John Janzen Centre's Compost'S Cool workshops to learn all about composting with some hands-on experience. You might also consider applying for next year's Master Composter/Recycler Program, which I highly recommend! (Applications are accepted year round.) There is also a lot of info on the City of Edmonton's webpage, which you can access by clicking here. Contrary to what you may have heard about composting, if the basic rules are followed, it does not create odors or attract varmints...

3) I have to wake up my compost?? I know, it seems like a weird idea, but if left alone for long periods (like over winter) compost piles become rather dormant and their processes slow to less than a crawl -- because the bacteria and microbes that work in a loose, damp and healthy pile run out of the air they need in order to function properly. Now that we're into Spring, it's time to get those processes revved up again.

I've actually been wanting to write this moodling for weeks already, because I woke up my compost on May 7th. That was the day that I revisited the compost bins that I filled last fall and over winter. I had so much garden waste to compost last October that I filled all three bins almost to the top with layers of green garden waste (chopped stalks, vines and plants), browns (autumn leaves and broken up soils from planter pots) and plenty of water. Over winter, I added my kitchen scraps and more leaves (I keep a few bags close by, as you can see in the first picture).


On May 7th, those three full bins had shrunk to only half full, so I "fluffed" them up by combining them into two full bins, one with the older, more finished materials, and one with the fresher stuff that didn't compost much in winter's cold. I was delighted to see that some of my vermicomposting pets, the red wiggler worms that I also keep in my indoor compost bins, had survived the winter -- that means my compost piles were still warm and working in the coldest months.

As I moved everything around, I added water because compost piles need good moisture in order to function well. Since then, I've used my compost stick (basically a long skinny stick with a bit of a blade at the bottom) to stir up the piles every two weeks or so, just to add some air.

If this sounds like too much work, it's also possible to compost without shovelling, stirring or watering -- basically, you just make a pile with layers of greens and browns and keep adding to it, allowing it all to rot without any interference. Unfortunately, it will take a lot more time and space, and it might attract unwanted critters. I frequently poke around in my compost bins because I want to produce the maximum amount of compost in a season. It's better than the bagged stuff money can buy, maybe because of those red wigglers.

If you have any questions about waking up your compost -- or even starting the composting process, feel free to leave comments and I'll be happy to share more details. As a Master Composter/Recycler volunteer for my city, I love to help people learn how to give back to our earth by feeding the fine layer of soil that supports us all.

P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Click here.

51,000 TVs

Last night I visited the City's 2016 Master Composter/Recycler class -- a room full of marvellous people who have volunteered to learn about composting and recycling and to share what they learn with their neighbours to reduce waste in Edmonton. Walking Shadow-pup around our neighbourhoods, I am often appalled by the litter and dumping that I find in ravines and back alleys, so for me it's good to balance that frustration by spending time with other like-minded folks who care enough to keep our world clean.

It's also wonderful to have the opportunity to have a little update of my own training as an MCR, and to learn about how our city adapts its waste collection as neighbourhoods and seasons change. Right now, we're in a heavy time for waste collectors, some of whom load ten tonnes of garbage on their trucks in a day (twice!) with stops averaging between 28-36 seconds per home, believe it or not! Last night's class was all about what they do -- and a good reminder of how hard they work and how important it is to set garbage out so that it's safe for them to do their jobs. Here's a little reminder that I've shared before that's especially important in a heavy waste time of the year...

And here are five things to consider for the sake of your trash collector:

1. Ensure easy access to your garbage area. If in an alleyway, keep the path between truck and cans clear. If on a street, put trash on the curb and try to keep vehicles parked away from collection points so the guys and gals don't have to walk extra steps. (They get enough exercise jumping on and off their trucks thousands of times a day!)

2. Make sure your cans have fixed handles and no wheels, both of which can cause injuries to collectors.

3. Keeping bags under 40 lbs (20 kg) also saves backs. And no cans larger than 77 litres...

4. Sharp things should be packaged in a way that they can't cut collectors. Put broken glass and other sharp items into labelled, puncture-proof boxes or containers.

5. Grasscycle and compost if you can. Our collectors really don't mind picking up FEWER grass clippings and leaves.

And what about the 51, 000 TVs that Edmontonians throw away every year (yes, you read that right -- 51,000!)? They need to be taken to an Ecostation -- as does any other other electronic item. Sean, our speaker last night, showed a few interesting pictures where people left large flat screen TVs sitting in the alley (along with various and sundry large furniture items) for their lone collector to pick up. Of course, that's an impossibility! It only brings a visit from City staff to let the owner know that a single garbage collector can't load a home's contents onto his truck, and that really, it's the owner's responsibility to take large items to the dump or Ecostation. The Ambleside and Kennedale Stations in Edmonton have Reuse Areas for furniture that's in good condition and shouldn't really go to the landfill. So I'm guessing that maybe some of those 51,000 TVs could be saved!

As I shared with the new Master Composter Recycler class last night, waste is actually a Social Justice Issue. With 7.4 billion of us on the planet, we all need to think more deeply about the impacts of our resource use. As consumers and human beings, every choice we make matters -- not only to the fullness of our landfills, but to our human and non-human brothers and sisters in this web of life that we share.

When we use resources poorly, the people who work to make the things we use are not being properly honoured. When we throw things away before their time, we are needlessly adding to the pile of trash that our planet has to try to reabsorb. And when we ignore the impact that our lives and our waste have on species around the globe, we are damaging our relationship with our earth and everyone in it. We are being unjust and unfair. It's that simple.

So when it comes to our trash, mindfulness is key. I suspect that if we all had to live with all our garbage around us on a daily basis, we would be pretty careful about what we buy in the first place! And we'd find more ways to employ the seven Rs (originally shared by MCR Gerda, translated from the Portuguese)...

For the sake of our planet, how many R's can we make a part of what we do today?

Simple Suggestion #203... Share your knowledge

Sometimes I think it would be neat if we all walked around with intangible, transparent bubbles (or something) floating around us that let others know about interesting things that we know. Sort of like this:

Since that stick person represents me, I could add more bubbles, like, mother of adolescent/adult daughters, administrative assistant for L'Arche, composer, photographer, volunteer, Voluntary Simplicity practitioner, etc. If everyone had bubbles like this it would be easy for us to find people who know things that we would like to learn, or for other people to ask us about our knowledge.

I'm moodling about this today because I spent Tuesday evening with an inspiring group of people who are most anxious to share their new area of expertise, the City of Edmonton's newest crop of Master Composter/Recyclers. They've been through an intensive course and have knowledge to share about our city's incredible waste reduction efforts as well as being able to help with questions about composting and recycling in our region. And they're most willing to help their neighbours and friends by offering what they know, encouraging others in their efforts to reduce the load that our planet bears because of human consumption.

My MCR class of 2014 colleagues and I (class of 2007) took the course so that we can help others learn about the benefits of composting (turning kitchen scraps into black gold to enrich the earth's soil) and vermi-composting (the same thing using red wiggler worms). We can assist people to understand the benefits of grass-cycling (leaving grass clippings on your lawn as a wonderful natural fertilizer and mulch rather than creating more fossil fuel emissions when they're hauled to the dump), and we can teach them what to do with other household waste, directing them to ecostations for hazardous materials that don't belong in the landfill, or larger appliances that can be dismantled and recycled, or to the Reuse & Recycle Directory to aid charities in need of gently used housewares and furniture. And we can tell folks about the City's wonderful Reuse Centre, a place where we can take various household items for reuse, and can purchase items as well. Have any wicker baskets languishing around your place? Buttons? Bubblewrap? Bookmarks? Unused craft supplies? Take my word for it --it's a crafter's paradise!

There are now over 700 of us MCRs who have made reducing waste one of our areas of expertise. Just the other day, my friend from university days and Edmonton's King of Compost, Markster Composter (a clever combo of his first name and his work) was on Tuesday morning's Breakfast Television explaining how to "wake up" a compost pile. It was a great little clip (no longer available, sorry) and I'm so glad the Breakfast TV people are sharing Mark's expertise with their viewers, because the more compost we make, the better our soil and the less we send to the dump.

But sharing knowledge can be done a lot more simply than going to a TV studio and shooting a segment like Mark's... a five minute conversation during coffee break, a chat with a neighbour over a fence, or a question answered in the course of another activity or event. I suspect my new MCR friends will use Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and other social media methods I barely know to share their knowledge! And it's all good.

So... my thanks to the Class of 2014 Master Composter/Recyclers for inspiring today's moodling, and today's challenge: Consider your areas of knowledge/expertise... And how can you share them with others?

Simple Suggestion #190... Turn over a new leaf (and/or some old ones)

The words "New Year's Resolution" haven't quite faded from people's conversations or the media this year, not yet. So here are a couple of ideas along that line.

#1. In 2014, why not learn more about composting, recycling, and generally keeping waste to a minimum? The City of Edmonton is now taking applications for its Master Composter/Recycler Program, an excellent course that teaches citizens composting basics and almost everything you'd ever want to know about reducing, reusing, recycling, recovering, and refusing to mess up our planet any further. It also offers all sorts of ideas/contacts/connections/volunteer opportunities to be explored for years to come. I took the course in 2007, and it dovetailed so well with my efforts toward Voluntary Simplicity that I'm always recommending it in my Simplicity Study Circles. Deadline for applications is February 20th. Click here for the application and more information.

#2. In 2014, why not Simplify? There are so many aspects of our lives that are over-complicated by the consumption-based society in which we live -- food, clothing, employment, entertainment, cooking and housekeeping, self care, transportation, banking -- you name it, the marketers have stolen many simple ways of living in the name of profit. Half the battle is awareness, and that's why I'm inviting anyone interested to join me and a group of other simplicity seekers at 7 p.m. on Monday evening, January 13th, at Abby Road Coop (10950 82 Avenue) for conversation about ways to

If you don't live near enough to enjoy the latest incarnation of Simplicity Study Circles, there are all sorts of Simple Suggestions in these moodlings, and hopefully all sorts of books in the library nearest you about composting, recycling, and living more simply.

So there are two great ways to turn over a new leaf and show concern for our environment by our actions, and, perhaps, to turn over many old ones in a compost pile!

P.S. For more Simple Suggestions, click here.

Simple Suggestion #111 revisited... Become a Master Composter/Recycler

It's that time again -- time to sing praises of a wonderful City of Edmonton program that turns ordinary, earth-conscious Edmontonians into uber-cool volunteers who know almost everything there is to know about composting and recycling in our city. I'm speaking of the City of Edmonton's Master Composter/Recycler Program. I took the course in 2007, and continue to be inspired and encouraged in my efforts to live with a smaller ecological footprint by a wonderful community of like-minded folks who have also participated. I can't speak highly enough of the program and the people involved in it.

I can also honestly say that the 35 hours I spent at the course itself were some of the best I've spent in class ever. I learned a lot about reducing waste and replenishing soil, met some amazing people, and brought home all sorts of great ideas for my home, yard, and garden -- ideas that have improved my life, and the health of our planet. I feel confident in my composting efforts, my garden has thrived, and I've had a lot of fun helping others to learn about composting and recycling in my own back yard and as a volunteer at different city events. Not only that, but our Master Composter/Recycler community shares a lot of interesting info on Facebook, and has some pretty great socials now and then!

If joining the ranks of a pretty great squad of Master Composter/Recyclers sounds appealing to you, please consider taking Edmonton's New and Improved Master Composter/Recycler course. Tell them Maria K. sent you!

Here's the link to the application page: www.edmonton.ca/mcrp. NOTE: The deadline for applications is February 7, 2013.

And if you don't live in the Edmonton area, there are Master Composter/Recycler programs popping up in other places, too -- like Vancouver, Spokane and Seattle WA, The University of Rhode Island, Hennepin County, Minnesota, Schenectady and Westchester Counties in NY, the University of Idaho, and the list goes on. It's great to see other MCR courses coming online -- makes me feel like there's increasing hope for our planet's good health. Why not join the movement if you can? Or start your own...

P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Try here.

Tickled pink!

I'm tooting my own horn here, just a little, but I'm also tooting the horn of a wonderful program run by the City of Edmonton. On Wednesday night, there was a volunteer appreciation gathering of Master Composter/Recycler volunteers for the City of Edmonton's Waste Management Services, and yours truly received the 2012 Innovation award. It's the best "trophy" I've ever seen, because it's actually useful! A pretty bouquet of flowers with a "keeper" of a solid crystal vase (plaque on the bottom), so now I'll be able to bring in my delphiniums in the spring without having my cheap little vases tipping over all the time. Thanks, you wonderful people at Waste Management Services!

I'm really tickled pink, because I didn't do much, honestly. The innovation award was given to me mainly because of a song that came to me as my final project during my MC/R course in 2007. If you haven't seen it before, beware -- it's a bit of an earworm!

It's kind of taken on a life of its own as a video, having about 20,000 views on YouTube. The YouTube experience showed me that it's possible to share ideas with people I wouldn't ordinarily meet via the internet, so I should give the Waste Management people an award for indirectly inspiring this blog, too!

"Do I need it?" has also gotten me return invitations to give a little welcoming address to all the MC/R course grads for the last five years, something I have really enjoyed, because I get revved up again with all their enthusiasm. Getting the award on Wednesday was a surprise, because my imbalance over the past year has curtailed my ability to spread the composting/recycling message on a larger scale. No trade show or community displays for me -- I have a hard time keeping my balance in crowds. Even so, the fine people at Waste Management gave me credit just for posting moodlings about composting and grasscycling!

Overall, being a Master Composter/Recycler volunteer has been great fun, because I've met a lot of like-minded people who are not only concerned about our planet's health, but who take steps in their lives to address environmental issues. Even better than receiving the award on Wednesday (with a bunch of more deserving people) was having a staff member tell me, "Maria, when you gave your speech to the grads in May and you said that waste is a social justice issue, that really hit home for me."

Master Composter/Recyclers "get" the Voluntary Simplicity thing more than most, though they may not call it that. I'll be sure to keep hanging out with them!

If you want to know more about the joys of the MC/R program, you'll find a link to it here, and a past moodling about it here. Please consider joining the MC/R Program, or something like it where you live. If you're in the Edmonton area, watch this space for more details in the spring!

Making a splash in Japan

Here I go, bragging again. Can't really help myself... Edmonton's Waste Management Branch is so fantastic, many places in the world are sitting up and taking notice. Not only do we have state of the art facilities when it comes to reducing, reusing, recycling and recovering valuable resources in our waste stream (some of which you'll see in the video below), but we also have a wonderful Reuse Centre, where people and groups can get recycled craft supplies and good reusable items for a small fee. Besides all this, there's a multitude of Master Composter/Recycler (MC/R) volunteers to help educate Edmontonians about the best ways to carry out those 4 Rs so that our city's residential waste has been reduced by over 85%. We've done a fair bit to help lighten the load on our planet, but there's always more to be done. This weekend, a new crop of MC/Rs will graduate, and I'm looking forward to spending some time with them on Saturday, hearing some of their final project presentations. Their enthusiasm for their new role always gets me fired up to initiate a few projects myself. At the moment I'm planning a Wine, Cheese and Composting Party in my backyard for the end of May for neighbours, friends, and anyone else who might be interested. Leave me a message if you want details.

The video below was posted to the MC/R Facebook page, and it reminded me that I haven't promoted Edmonton's Reuse Centre very much. So... here's a short video from Japan's "Good to Know" TV program that touts some of the great things the Edmonton Waste Management Branch has developed to make those 4 Rs work here. I've seen many videos about Edmonton's fine recycling programs, but never one in Japanese! If you want to learn more -- in English -- look here.

Enjoy! Have a good weekend, and congratulations to the MC/R Class of 2012!

Simple Suggestion #111... Become a Master Composter/Recycler

Unfortunately, this suggestion applies only to people who live in my area. I've never heard of any other place that offers a course like this, though there are Master Gardener and Master of Permaculture courses out there. If you know of any in your area and want to share information, I'd be happy to post it!

Anyway, I've been planning to promote a wonderful program for a while... and today I got an email reminding me to do so because the application deadline is coming up. So, here goes...

This spring will mark my fifth anniversary as a City of Edmonton Master Composter/Recycler, and I can honestly say that the 35 hours I spent at the course were some of the best I've spent in class ever. I learned a lot, met some amazing people, and brought home all sorts of great ideas for my home, yard and garden, ideas that have improved my life, and the health of the planet, too! I feel confident in my composting efforts, my garden has thrived because of that, and I've had a lot of fun helping others to learn about composting and recycling in my own back yard and as a volunteer at city events. There's so much more to being an MC/R than what they've listed below, because what you learn can take you so many interesting places! I've also met a lot of great people during my hundred plus hours of volunteering.

If this sounds appealing to you, check out the information below, and consider taking the course. Tell them Maria K. sent you! And if you live too far away, there's lots of composting and recycling ideas on the internet, or at your local library...

Set a positive environmental example in your neighbourhood.

Would you like to help reduce the waste produced in Edmonton? Join other green-minded citizens for a 40 hour course in residential composting, recycling, and hazardous waste management. In return, take what you learn back to your community where you'll be a Master Composter/Recycler Volunteer.

A few examples of volunteer activities:

• Teach composting to kids and adults.
• Represent Waste Management Services at tradeshows and community events.
• Write articles for community newsletters.

For more information and to apply online at www.edmonton.ca/mcrp


P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Try here.

The joys of being a Master Composter/Recycler

This morning, I had the pleasure of spending some time with the new City of Edmonton Master Composter/Recycler graduates of 2011. They're a wonderful bunch, brimming with enthusiasm for their new role as volunteers who will educate more citizens of their communities about Edmonton's world class recycling facilities, and ways to reduce waste. I was able to sit in on presentations about their plans for sharing their new knowledge with the public, and was quite impressed by the breadth of ideas and activities they want to take on as new ambassadors for reducing, reusing, recycling, recovering and a plethora of other R words which our world needs to give more attention now that there are seven billion of us on it.

I was invited to give a little presentation about my own experiences as a Master Composter/Recycler in the last four years, and just the exercise of writing that little talk reminded me what a wonderful thing it is to be counted among the ranks of Edmonton's MCRs. I've met so many wonderful, environmentally-conscious people, and had many opportunities to encourage friends, neighbours and members of my community to become more conscious of ways to be kinder to the planet.

Since my MCR graduation day in May of 2007, lots of good things have happened for me. Not only is my yard composter a happier place, but I have become the proud owner of a four story red wiggler condo. This picture was taken last spring, before a fifth floor was added. I've learned that if you put a tablespoon of worm castings into a litre of water, stir it up, and water with that, houseplants absolutely love it.

I’ve also discovered that being an MCR is a lot of fun through lots of different activities, like talking up Edmonton's world class Recycling Program with any interested person, esp. new neighbours and the Simplicity Study Circles I facilitate. Somehow, that leads to conversations about grass cycling, and rain barrel water conservation and lasagna gardening, and the benefits of the Reuse Centre, and EcoStations and a lot of other good stuff.

Helping friends and family with their composters has been fun, as has encouraging people I know to compost, and being a “leaf thief” from neighbours who don’t compost. My garden is admired by those neighbours, and they are sometimes a little puzzled when I thank them for their contributions.

Facilitating Recycling displays for the city is easier than you’d expect. I took one to a Green Fair in Millwoods (invited by someone from the Green Party), and I’ve helped with displays at the home reno and home and garden shows at the Agricom. Being an introvert, it didn't come naturally at first, but I’ve learned how much fun it can be to stop people in their tracks by offering them a free blue bag or composting brochure.

Doing backyard composting workshops has been a great way to build community. Who knew wine, neighbours, and red wigglers would be the recipe for a fun evening? I’m hoping to host another one this spring through my community league. Last year I also helped my daughter’s Grade Four class set up a vermicomposter that did quite well on the Grade Fours' apple cores and other organic lunch leftovers (that's where our red wiggler condo got its fifth level of occupants).

Helping at the reuse tree display at City Hall has been a great way to get into the spirit of the season. I spent my time there showing off crafty tree ornaments made of recycled items and promoting the city's ReUse Centre across the street, and the bonus was that I got to hear some school choirs sing carols the entire time I was there.

One of my sidelines is facilitating what’s called a Simplicity Study Circle. It’s all about ways to live more simply, with less of an impact on the earth, and bits and pieces of my MCR training is always creeping into workshops. For one event, I actually got a group together to tour the Waste Management Branch. All I can say is that it's an amazing place. Edmonton's recycling success rate is 90%, and visiting the Materials Recycling Facility and seeing the conveyor belts moving recyclables from our blue bags past workers who sort them at incredible speeds is an unforgettable experience.

Two weeks from today, I will be speaking at a Social Justice Symposium that will be dealing with the wastefulness of our economy. When you really think about it, wastefulness is a justice issue, and recycling and composting and doing whatever we can to make it easier for our planet's species to cope with human existence is critically important. My MCR training will come into play at the Symposium as I remind people of the importance of all those R words and share with them the wonders of our city’s recycling programs and facilities as part of their way to take responsibility for each other and the Earth.

In one month’s time, my workplace will be moving to a new facility that will require someone to set up a new recycling program for it. That would be me.

But the bulk of my volunteer time these past four years has been spent out at the Food Bank Plant-a-Row, Grow-a-Row garden at the Edmonton Waste Management Branch during the summers. My girls and I had a lot of fun, mainly hacking out weeds, doing away with potato bugs, and watering. I’m hearing rumours about a new PARGAR in the neighbourhood of the Muttart Conservatory, which is just down the hill from where I live, so we're looking forward to helping out there if we can.

Over the past two years, I’ve become an avid MCR blog reader, just to catch Mark’s wacky humour and spelling mistakes. No, of course I'm just teasing Mark. It's more than that -- I love the information posted on the blog because it brings me up to date on recycling and composting information that may have changed since my course. It has also made me aware of some very interesting events. Thanks to the blog and Mark's invitation, in September, I attended a luncheon at the Westin and heard Sheila Watt-Cloutier, a northern activist, speak about how Climate change is affecting our brothers and sisters in Canada’s northern communities. I suspect that in the future I may be re-moodling a few things from the MCR blog for my moodling friends.

Like many things in life, what you get out of being a Master Composter/Recycler depends upon what you put into it. When I graduated, I thought I’d put in my 35 hours of service to pay back the program and call it good. But volunteering has turned me into a bit of an activist, and it’s been so much fun, they can’t get rid of me that easily. Being at the graduation events today has gotten me re-enthused about my status as an MCR volunteer, and put a few new ideas into my head. I met a new grad named Rahul, and in our five minute conversation, was inspired toward opportunities to connect my workplace with Reuse fairs and the ReUse Centre downtown. Why didn't I think of it before? I guess I just needed to be inspired by the MCR class of 2011.