Saturday Random: Wooden Box, a Slug, a Hopeful Rack, the Finger

It's Saturday, and I had freedom to walk and pick up trash. What a thing!

Junked jewelry box

 Monopod? Gastropod? Mollusk? Slug!!!

These lines and concrete footers appeared at the local coffee this week. I am hoping for a bike rack!

It's been one of those weeks. The universe (and the garbage) keeps sending me the same message.

May you not find hidden meaning in garbage!

It's easier...

I struggle with easier.

It's easier for me just to turn on the tap.
It's easier for me just to pay the electric bill.
It's easier for me just to drive a car.
It's easier for me just to pump gas.
It's easier for me just to throw plastic dishes away.
It's easier for me not to save and eat leftovers.
It's easier for me just to ignore the news.
It's easier for me just not to vote.
It's easier for me just to buy a new one.
It's easier for me just to trash it.
It's easier for me just to shop at the big store.

Yes. Those things are all easier.

(Here)

 

It is time to find a new adjective.

It's worthwhile for me capture rainwater.
It's worthwhile for me just to conserve electricity.
It's worthwhile for me to walk, pedal a bike, ride a bus, or carpool.
It's worthwhile for me to choose renewable energy in all forms.
It's worthwhile for me to wash dishes.
It's worthwhile for me to save and eat leftovers.
It's worthwhile for me to follow impactful stories.
It's worthwhile for me to research and vote for my beliefs.
It's worthwhile for me to repair my stuff.
It's worthwhile for me to compost.
It's worthwhile for me have a garden, shop local, or buy used.

(My favorite)

 

May you find life rather than ease. (Thank you for reading!)

Lubbock on a Bike and Urban Ducks March 2015

Beautiful weather this weekend. Spring seems to be springing. I took advantage of the weather and hopped on the bike several times. Besides my usual 400 reasons to ride a bike, I am also gearing up for the the National Bike Challenge 2015. The challenge begins in May, but I am hoping to be in the habit when it starts. Also, I have missed Clapp Park (See the tadpole posts for more on my neighborhood park.)

 

 

The overall is looking good so far - lots of water and lots of birds.

 

The close-up is a lot rougher - lots of litter. (If you see a bicyle dork out there picking up trash, please come over and introduce yourself!)

The old Mongoose was rolling happily.

 

The duck watching was great. Lots of mallards and Northern shovellers, a few wigeons, and two newcomers that I had to look up.

A scaup! (photo from larkwire)

 

Northern pintails - they were beautiful!

 

Bicycling and urban wildlife - snagit, I'm glad Spring is coming! This park is 1.1 miles from my home, and I am thankful!

 

May you have health and beauty so close to home. Thanks for reading.

 

Bonus link: Ride a bike, pay for a house!

 

 

PCR: A Brave and Trashy New World - Composting at Home

This thing fit the Mesquite Hugger budget beautifully!

A compost pile, vermicompost, a compost tumbler, closed bin, open bin - I have been on the fence getting started with composting. Then it came to me in a dream. No, that's not right. Then I was driving home while lazily daydreaming and I saw a sign - "Free". And I was inspired by that sign. So, I pulled Lucy over and loaded up the free 2'x4'x3' shipping crate and hauled it home.

Now it's in the backyard filled with some overly ambitious spring weeds, some newspaper, coffee grounds, and lots of 1" holes.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: The EPA Advice for Composting at Home

The EPA Composting .pdf

Do I know what I'm doing? Not at all, but it's a start. The goal? More of that personal carbon reduction. Less garbage in the landfill and some healthy soil to grow vegetables. And I can use the compost on our foodisfreeproject.org planter.

I am now thinking of going compost crazy - I want to get some worms and do some vermicomposting, I want to build a tumbler from an Instructables plan. We can have three competing methods of compost and do a comparison. Compost party anyone?

I will keep you (com)posted.

May each step turn our garbage into something good.

More on Vermicomposting (Worms!)

Personal Carbon Reduction: Planning the Raised-Bed Garden Monster

Yep, that's what people look like in South Austin.

Earlier this week, I wrote about personal carbon reduction through gardening, so I have been looking around a bit to figure out how to get started. And I found something out of Austin that has me feeling inspired.

First, let me tell you that I do love Austin. I especially love South Austin. I have not found a cultural attitude like it anywhere else in Texas - defintely not in our conservative and often stifling Lubbock.

I also love white-board animation and pallet-based projects, and I am not opposed to ukele music.

All that is to say that I was really excited yesterday to find a Derek Markham  article on Treehugger that features some South Austin greenies teaching me how to build a self-watering raised-bed garden out of pallets and political signs. The project is almost completely out of repurposed materials and can be built by people with limited tools and skills. (All of which fit my budget, tool collection, and skill level!)

Treehugger: FoodIsFreeProject.org self-watering raised garden bed

And that lead me to watch a series of videos from the the Food Is Free Project - and I really like their idea of building better and healthier communities by encouraging neighbors to build these raised gardens to create a neighborhood food system of tiny shared gardens. (And their videos have white-board animation and ukele music.) I am impressed! Now, I just need to snag some free pallets and talk to my neighbors...

foodisfreeproject.org

May your small projects lead to big changes!

(Does anyone have any Randy Neugebauer or Glen Robertson signs I can cut up and use to keep the fertilizer where it belongs?)

Feeling Trashy - Go Zero Waste!

store.sesamestreet.org

Devoted readers may remember back in April when we strived for a Day Without Waste here at Mesquite Hugger. If not, here are two of the four posts that came out of that attempt.

A Day Without Waste 1

A Day Without Waste 4

No, I did not accomplish the goal of having a day without waste, but I did come much closer than I had in the past, and I became hyper-aware of the amount of waste I do generate in an average day. We are trashy people living in a trashy culture.  (Go tell your mom you have been reading a trashy blog!)

On Treehugger today, there is a post that gives 10 steps for a 'zero waste' shopping routine.

There is a lot of great advice in there. Check it out to see if you are already practicing some of these or if there are some new ones you might want to adopt. And notice how nicely most of these would fit in if you are headed to the Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market tomorrow morning.

May your efforts not be waste(d)!

FYI, do not google "trashy" on your work computer. Not a good move!

Bonus Link: Stop Living in a Trashy Neighborhood!