How to Recycle Your Garden Waste

When garden waste is composted, it decomposes aerobically - that is, using oxygen. Unlike landfills, which decompose waste anaerobically (without oxygen), garden composting produces few greenhouse gases. And when you recycle your garden waste, you are providing yourself with useful, organic compost, thus eliminating the need for synthetic fertilizers.

Here are some ideas for how you can recycle your garden waste.

* Grass clippings can be left on your lawn after mowing. They will act as mulch, helping to hold in moisture. As the grass clippings rot, they will enrich the soil of your lawn. Rotting grass clippings contain nitrogen, which is an important fertilizer for your yard and garden.

You can also rake up your grass clippings and pile them up where they will rot. You can add bits of this rotting matter to your compost, or even sow seeds into the grass clipping pile. Squash and pumpkins are possibilities for plants that will grow this way, as long as the clipping pile receives enough sunlight.

* Prunings and trimmings from brush, trees, garden plants, etc. can be added to your compost pile. If they are large or woody pieces, you will need to chop them up a bit before adding them to the pile. If you have a flower garden, compost the pinched-off blooms and cut stems. If you have a vegetable garden, compost peelings, rinds, and leaf and stem prunings.

* Fallen leaves can be piled onto your compost, or composted alone to make something called leaf mold. This is a kind of compost that is high in nutrients. You can use it for mulch or fertilizer, depending on how you decompose it. Just chopping or shredding leaves produces mulch that you can use immediately, and it will enrich the soil as it breaks down.

To make leaf mold, you must let the leaves rot much longer, from 6 months to 1 year. If you do not chop the leaves first, making leaf mold may take 2 years. Simply compost the leaves in a pile, bin, or other container that allows for ample air circulation and turning.

* Biodegradable bags can be used for yard and garden waste if you have trimmings from weeds or other materials you do not want to recycle. Some communities will gather garden waste and return it as mulch or fertilizer.

* Creative uses for branches and twigs include home-made herb-drying racks, natural fences, or crafts. Use natural twine to lash the branches together and reinforce with nails if necessary.

Recycle Your Christmas

We all love our Christmas trees. Sometimes the hunt for the perfect specimen takes us into nature itself, trudging up the hills through rain or snow, where we can actually cut it down ourselves-a hands-on approach that's both invigorating and rewarding.

Other times, our chase takes us across town to a converted tree lot next to a Burger King.

But when the holidays are over and you've removed the garland, lights, and ornaments, how do you dispose of your tree in a manner that's also good for the environment?

By recycling it, of course.

Local city and town governments across the country offer services (probably free-of-charge) to dispose of your Christmas tree in an environmentally friendly way. The services assigned for tree pick-up can range from a city organization to a local Boy Scout troop, and the trees are often turned into mulch for a number of uses, like ground cover for neighborhood parks.

Learn about your area by visiting the web site Earth911.com, which helps locate recycling centers for everything from hazardous materials and paint to batteries and light bulbs-and, yes, even Christmas trees. Just enter your zip code for the services and locations available in your area.

Recycling isn't just for Christmas trees, though. There are plenty of opportunities to make your holiday season more eco-friendly.

Gift wrapping: After the tsunami of holiday gifts is opened, the pile of once-used wrapping paper left could sadden even the jolliest of elves. Much of it can be recycled, but the glossy, dye-filled gift-wrapping cannot be reused and must be dumped in the traditional garbage.

Here are some suggestions that might help you feel better when wrapping gifts:

* Buy recycled wrapping paper. That way you know it's OK to put in the good bin.
* Use newspaper. Are the Kings really that far back in the NBA standings? Put that sports section to good use by doubling it up as wrapping paper. Newspaper can also be composted when you're done.
* Boxed in. From shoeboxes to those tiny cereal boxes, these are great gift receptacles.
* Save the wrapping paper. My mom did this for years while I was growing up. But even with a gaggle of eager grandchildren shredding through the paper from gift to gift, she hasn't given up trying. What perseverance!
* Reusable bags. My wife and I have swapped out wrapping paper with our new tradition, the reusable bag. Our large stash of ChicoBags is perfect for birthdays and should be ideal for our Christmas cache, as well.

Holiday photo cards: Receiving a holiday photo card is a ritual that everyone likes. New faces, grown-up children and cute animals dressed up in fuzzy outfits help make a highly anticipated tradition. This year try something different by repurposing the holiday photo cards.

Use the photos from friends and loved ones this year for gifts for those same folks next year. Coasters, placemats, framed photo cards and calendars are just a few ideas.

With all of the pageantry and elements that go into Christmas, there are clear opportunities for easing up on Mother Nature.

Until next time, Happy Home Improving (and Merry Christmas)!

by : Sean A Murphy