The Rocket Composter

Composter for Schools,Universities, and Hospitals: The Rocket composter is perfect for schools and universities or for any establishment which has lots of food waste. The Rocket comes in four sizes. The smallest Rocket, the A500 can process 80 gallons of food waste each week. The largest Rocket, the 1200 processes 925 gallons of food waste per week. When a Waste Pulper is used, the A500 can process 240 gallons per week and the 1200 can process 2,775 gallons per week.

Two Weeks for Compost: After running for two weeks the Rocket begins producing compost. And this is high quality compost which can be used around campus or sold.

Other facilities: Other users of the Rocket Composter would be Government Facilities, Prisons, Hotels, Hospitals, Corporate Cafeterias and Nursing Homes. Call 978 884 8156 to learn more about Rocket Composters, Waste Pulpers, and Vegawatt Cogeneration Systems

$50 OFF On Sun-Mar 400 Continuous Composter

Sun-Mar 400: The Sun-Mar 400 has been a reliable leader in large composting units. Made of heavy duty plastic, the Sun-Mar 400 is built to last.

People Powered Machines: For the month of August, People Powered Machines is offering $50 off when you purchase a Sun-Mar 400 Continuous Composter. This is a great way to begin composting.

Things You Can Compost:
From the Kitchen

Coffee grounds and filters, these are excellent
Tea bags
Used paper napkins
Pizza boxes, ripped into smaller pieces
Paper bags, either ripped or balled up
The crumbs you sweep off of the counters and floors
Plain cooked pasta
Plain cooked rice
Stale bread
Paper towel rolls
Stale saltine crackers
Cereal
Used paper plates (as long as they don’t have a waxy coating)
Cellophane bags (be sure it’s really Cellophane and not just clear plastic—there’s a difference.)
Nut shells (except for walnut shells, which can be toxic to plants)
Old herbs and spices
Stale pretzels
Pizza crusts
Cereal boxes (tear them into smaller pieces first)
Wine corks
Moldy cheese
Melted ice cream
Old jelly, jam, or preserves
Stale beer and wine
Paper egg cartons
Toothpicks
Bamboo skewers
Paper cupcake or muffin cups

From the Bathroom

Used facial tissues
Hair from your hairbrush
Toilet paper rolls
Old loofahs
Nail clippings
Urine
100% Cotton cotton balls
Cotton swabs made from 100% cotton and cardboard (not plastic) sticks

Personal Items

It might be a good idea to bury these items in your pile. Just sayin’.

Cardboard tampon applicators
Latex condoms

From the Laundry Room

Dryer lint
Old/stained cotton clothing—rip or cut it into smaller pieces
Old wool clothing—rip or cut it into smaller pieces

From the Office

Bills and other documents you’ve shredded
Envelopes (minus the plastic window)
Pencil shavings
Sticky notes
Business cards (as long as they’re not glossy)
Receipts

Around the House

Contents of your vacuum cleaner bag or canister
Newspapers (shredded or torn into smaller pieces)
Subscription cards from magazines
Leaves trimmed from houseplants
Dead houseplants and their soil
Flowers from floral arrangements
Natural potpourri
Used matches
Ashes from the fireplace, barbecue grill, or outdoor fire pit

Party and Holiday Supplies

Wrapping paper rolls
Paper table cloths
Crepe paper streamers
Latex balloons
Raffia
Excelsior
Jack o’ Lanterns
Those hay bales you used as part of your outdoor fall decor
Natural holiday wreaths
Your Christmas tree. Chop it up with some pruners first (or use a wood chipper, if you have one…)
Evergreen garlands

Brill Rebuilt Batteries Are Popular

Rebuilding Brill Batteries: When we launched this program of rebuilding Brill Batteries we were not sure how popular it would be. These are the batteries used in Brill Accu 38 electric reel mowers, Brill ASM380 reel mowers, and Brill Accu Trimmers. But after two weeks, we can tell it is very popular. So keep those old Brill Batteries – they are worth something.

2.2 Ah or 3.0 Ah: The Brill Battery you have is a 2.2 Ah, and we can rebuild it so it is better than it was when new. Or we can rebuild it to 3.0 Ah which is 30% more powerful and runs 30% longer.

Remember: Don’t throw old Brill Batteries out! We can also rebuild other batteries, just not lithium ion ones.

$100 Rebate on Sun-Mar Excel NE ( non – electric )

Rebate offer: We are pleased to offer our customers a $100 rebate when they purchase a Sun-Mar Excel NE composting toilet between June 20th and August 20, 2011. This unit saves water, there is no pollution, and nutrients are recycled.

To Receive This Offer: Send us your name, address, city, phone number, and e-mail address. Please tell us how you heard about the Sun-Mar Excel NE. Where will you use your toilet? Will you use it in a cottage or cabana or camp? What are the main reasons you are buying a Sun-Mar toilet? Is it the most economical way to outfit your space? Or is it to protect the environment?

Grass Catchers for Fiskars Momentum Are In

The Long Awaited Grass Catcher: The Grass Catchers for the Fiskars reel mower are in. These Grass Catchers made for the Fiskars lawnmower are easy to install and simple to use with convenient handle for easy emptying. The Grass catcher can hold up to 1/2 bushel.

UV resistent: The Fiskars Catcher is UV resistent and built to last a long time. The catcher comes with a solid frame. The Fiskars push reel mower features best in class heigth adjustment of 1″ to 4″. The catcher is an easy tool free assembly.

Testimonial on Great Customer Service

David- Just wanted to let you know the reel mower arrived the end of last week in great shape and the sharpener was delivered yesterday.  The mower handles are staying put.  I appreciate your great customer service…quick response to the problem and your very apparent desire to be sure we like your mower by encouraging us to try it out. Thanks so much. Linda

Greenfox’s April Newsletter

Greetings!

Welcome to the April edition of the Greenfox Newsletter.  Spring has sprung and the Greenfox Team is hard at work connecting with communities, working with students, and perpetuating our mission for a greener future.  Read on to find out more about our latest projects  and upcoming events!
 Greenfox at Earthfest
Greenfox will host a table at this year’s EarthFest on the promenade in Boston. Earthfest is a free event hosted by Radio 92.9 offering live music from popular bands, countless vendor tables presenting educational displays, exhibits, food and product samples, as well as kid-friendly activities, including the Kid’s Planet Stage. Greenfox Schools will be sponsoring a table for the day and have several craft projects to entertain your kids while educating them on the environment.

Join us May 21st for a fun-filled and family-friendly day of activities. Then, celebrate the start of summer the following Thursday at Kitty O’Sheas, where we will hold  our own EarthFest party! Click here for more info on these two exciting events.
 The Great Outdoors

Cambridge Greenfox students have spent time outdoors this month exploring the Greenspace right in their back yards.  The students  watched New England come to life, observing bugs, planting seeds, learning about trees that are native to the area, and preparing for Fresh Pond Day.

Fresh Pond Day is an event on Sunday, May 7 at the Fresh Pond Reservation in Cambridge, MA.  All are invited to enjoy and explore this wonderful natural space, rain or shine.  The event includes story telling, nature walks, scavenger hunts, and much more.  Greenfox Schools will be at Fresh Pond Day helping people pot trees to take home to grow.  For more information on the event, click here.
Simply Sustainable

In an informative and fresh approach to describing the word “sustainability,” Kristen von Hoffmann, Founder and Chair, writes about sustainability and the role of sustainability in education. Click here to read the article in full, and to see pictures of Greenfox Schools programming, activities, and students.

We hope that you enjoyed our April Newsletter.  Don’t forget to  visit us online at http://www.greenfoxchools.com   to learn more about the organization and to find out how you can get involved!

All the best,

Ashlee

Ashlee Dahlberg
Greenfox Schools Director
amd@greenfoxschools.com

Everyday Garden Tool Cart

Vertex Garden Cart:

The Vertex Garden Cart: is a wonderful tool holder, organizer, carrier. My Vertex Garden Cart holds shovels, two rakes, a hoe, a weeder, a broom, ice pick, pitch fork, 3 types of garden and pruning shears, trowels and more.

When Gardening: The Vertex Garden Cart easily rolls to your garden where you have all the tools you need. Everyone has experienced starting to work and then needing one or two more tools. And then having to return to the garage and get that necessary tool. With the Garden Cart, just make sure you have the tools on your cart before leaving your garage, and you are set for your gardening experience of the day.

Extra Space: The Garden Cart has space for small tools in the apron where many tools such as a trowel can be placed. And there is a rack at the bottom where you can add plants or compost to the cart.

Best feature: What I like best about the cart is that the tools stay in the same place year round. No more stacking up against a wall or hanging in their places. My tools stay in the cart year round. I always know where they are.

Clean, Green Fun at City’s Schools

News : Education Mar 18, 2011 – 9:57 AM Clean, green fun at city schools By Mayor’s office, city of Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia is announcing the rollout of the “RolyPig” composter to Springdale Elementary School. The Solid Waste and Recycling Department has purchased six RolyPig composters, which will be used at six schools to compost organic food waste. This program will begin at Springdale School with the help of Mayor Pavia, Recycling Supervisor, Dan Colleluori and Phys Ed Instructor, Jeff Gruetzner, on Thursday, March 24th at 12 noon at the school. Students and Staff from the school, along with Chartwells Food Services (the company that supplies the cafeteria food) will all be working together to “feed” the pig. The compost generated will go into the school’s gardens. ‘The RolyPig composter is a fun and easy way for our school children to take the kitchen and food waste at school and turn it into compost. It offers an interactive opportunity to participate in yet another level of recycling,” shared Mayor Michael Pavia. After about 12-15 weeks of feeding and rolling, the RolyPig compost will be ready for the garden. Additional schools slated to receive the RolyPig are Dolan and Cloonan Middle Schools, and the International School at Rogers Magnet. It is anticipated that continued recycling education will help make Stamford a greener environment, while helping reduce our waste removal costs. © Copyright by StamfordPlus.com. Some articles and pictures posted on our website, as indicated by their bylines, were submitted as press releases and do not necessarily reflect the position and opinion of StamfordPlus.com, Stamford Plus magazine, Canaiden LLC or any of its associated entities. Articles may have been edited for brevity and grammar.

How to best use Coco Fiber with your composter, compost pails and crocks

Coco Fiber in Collection Pails/Compost Crock: Generally one must take the disc or brick of Coco Fiber and rehydrate and decompress it by placing in a container of water. Once the fiber has expanded its best to dry it out by leaving the fiber out on your porch or deck or at the very least in an open bucket in your kitchen. Coco fiber works best for collection pails when its its completely dried out. The reason for drying is that the coco fiber can then be added each time you add green matter to your composter and it will immediately absorb excess moisture to prevent odor and improper breakdown. If you store coco fiber in expanded dry form you will have the best results. Each time you add green matter to your collection pail or compost crock add a layer of coco fiber to completely cover the newly added green matter.  You will notice less odor and pests in the collection pail. When you are ready to transfer your collection pail to a larger composter the material will already be premixed with green and brown matter.

Hint: If coco fiber discs are used in the compressed form, it can be broken up by hand and added to the pail without having to decompress.  You can even drop the whole disc in and it will eventually absorb the excess moisture and start to expand.  Its simply a  matter off convenience. But a good rule of thumb is to maximize the benefits of the coco fiber by storing it in expanded dry form.

Coco Fiber in Composters: It’s always best to expand the coco fiber and dry it out before use in the composters. But generally it’s ok to expand the coco fiber and add immediately to large composters because they tend to dry out faster (due to the higher temperatures) and the added moisture in coco fiber could be beneficial to the compost mix. A 1:3 ratio of coco fiber to green matter is a good rule of thumb but it really depends on the types of green matter being added. So the user needs to balance the mix based on his needs. Again how you use the coco fiber can depend on need and convenience so some may want to simply add a compressed brick or disc directly to the bin. The decision to decompress and dry out simply depends on whether the user has time or more importantly is whether they need an immediate effect. For example if their compost is starting to smell then dry expanded coco fiber will rapidly solve their odor issue. If the compost is well balanced and without significant odor then they can get away with adding the compressed form directly or even the expanded wet form immediately after expansion.

Coco Fiber in NatureMill: In the NatureMilll an easy way to use the coco fiber is to break up a coco fiber disc and spread a layer over the top after adding green matter. We recently added a coco fiber pellet pack. If you are using the pellets you simply have to add 3 pellets for every 5 cups of green matter. The pellets are small enough so they wont jam the machine and will absorb moisture and expand on their own.

Coco Fiber in Worm Bins: Decompress the coco fiber by soaking in water and then drain off excess water and place directly in the bin as a bedding for the worms.

Composting the Food Waste of 18,000 soldiers!

Army Consultant: On  Monday we spoke with an Army consultant about providing a composting service. The service was for 18,000 soldiers, three meals per day, seven days per week. That is a lot of food waste.

A Rocket Composter

Waste Pulper and Rocket: If used with the Waste Pulper which decreases food waste by 75%, the Rocket can handle this volume of food waste. Our large Rocket can handle 2,775 gallons of food waste per week. After two weeks the Rocket will be making compost each day.

Compost: The Compost needs to be cured for about three weeks after it is produced before being used. This means letting it sit under dry conditions. After three weeks you are in compost!

The Things You Can Compost! Yes, you can!

We found this neat list from Treehugger. This list provides a great start to composting. The list gives you lots of ideas of the many, many items that are just right for your composting efforts. The composting process benefits from materials being broken up into pieces about the size of a golf ball. But if that is a problem, no worries, compost happens. Don’t throw this stuff away, use it for making compost.

From the Kitchen

Coffee grounds and filters
Tea bags
Used paper napkins
Pizza boxes, ripped into smaller pieces
Paper bags, either ripped or balled up
The crumbs you sweep off of the counters and floors
Plain cooked pasta
Plain cooked rice
Stale bread
Paper towel rolls
Stale saltine crackers
Cereal
Used paper plates (as long as they don’t have a waxy coating)
Cellophane bags (be sure it’s really Cellophane and not just clear plastic—there’s a difference.)
Nut shells (except for walnut shells, which can be toxic to plants)
Old herbs and spices
Stale pretzels
Pizza crusts
Cereal boxes (tear them into smaller pieces first)
Wine corks
Moldy cheese
Melted ice cream
Old jelly, jam, or preserves
Stale beer and wine
Paper egg cartons
Toothpicks
Bamboo skewers
Paper cupcake or muffin cups

From the Bathroom

Used facial tissues
Hair from your hairbrush
Toilet paper rolls
Old loofahs
Nail clippings
Urine
100% Cotton cotton balls
Cotton swabs made from 100% cotton and cardboard (not plastic) sticks

Personal Items

It might be a good idea to bury these items in your pile. Just sayin’.

Cardboard tampon applicators
Latex condoms

From the Laundry Room

Dryer lint
Old/stained cotton clothing—rip or cut it into smaller pieces
Old wool clothing—rip or cut it into smaller pieces

From the Office

Bills and other documents you’ve shredded
Envelopes (minus the plastic window)
Pencil shavings
Sticky notes
Business cards (as long as they’re not glossy)
Receipts

Around the House

Contents of your vacuum cleaner bag or canister
Newspapers (shredded or torn into smaller pieces)
Subscription cards from magazines
Leaves trimmed from houseplants
Dead houseplants and their soil
Flowers from floral arrangements
Natural potpourri
Used matches
Ashes from the fireplace, barbecue grill, or outdoor fire pit

Party and Holiday Supplies

Wrapping paper rolls
Paper table cloths
Crepe paper streamers
Latex balloons
Raffia
Excelsior
Jack o’ Lanterns
Those hay bales you used as part of your outdoor fall decor
Natural holiday wreaths
Your Christmas tree. Chop it up with some pruners first (or use a wood chipper, if you have one…)
Evergreen garlands

New and Improved Rolypig!

Fur from the dog or cat brush
Droppings and bedding from your rabbit/gerbil/hamsters, etc.
Newspaper/droppings from the bottom of the bird cage
Feathers
Alfalfa hay or pellets (usually fed to rabbits)
Rawhide dog chews
Fish food
Dry dog or cat food

Food Establishments With Green Ideas, We Have Machines For You

Food Establishments: Great news! We now have machines for your food waste needs. First we have the excellent Rocket composting machine which turns your food waste into usable compost in two weeks. The smallest Rocket machine is for clients who have about 80 gallons of food waste per week. The largest Rocket machine serves a client who produces 925 gallons per week.

Waste Pulper: For those food establishments looking to reduce their food waste by a 10 to 3 ratio, we offer the Waste Pulpler. This would mean if you normally put out 10 bags of food waste, after using the waste pulper, you would only be putting out 3 bags of food waste. The Waste Pulper is also used for those who wish to reduce food waste before putting the food waste into the composting process.

Ecorect: For those Food Establishments who can’t compost but want to reduce food waste the Ecorect reduces food waste by a 10 to 1 ratio. For those presently sending 10 bags of food waste to the waste facility, after using the Ecorect, you would just be sending one bag of food waste. The Ecorect is an excellent machine for single source food waste such as a shrimp processing plant.

The Vegawatt: For those Food Establishments which use 30 or more gallons a week of vegetable oil, the Vegawatt may be for you. You need to be able to store the unit outside on concrete. If you have the outside room, this machine will pay for itself in 3 – 4 years. Running 24/7, it can reduce your electrical bill by 25% and also contributes to your hot water bill. Photo of Vegawatt below.

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

Madison Square Garden can seat 20,000 people for a concert. This blog was viewed about 66,000 times in 2010. If it were a concert at Madison Square Garden, it would have performed about 3 times.

In 2010, there were 105 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 232 posts. There were 93 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 11mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was March 28th with 431 views. The most popular post that day was Which Reel Mowers Cut Which Grasses Well.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were peoplepoweredmachines.com, en.wordpress.com, forums.gardenweb.com, facebook.com, and search.aol.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for plastic numbers to avoid, plastics to avoid, sno wovel, reel mowers for bermuda grass, and fiskars reel mower.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Which Reel Mowers Cut Which Grasses Well March 2010

2

3 Plastics to Avoid: #3, #6, #7, and Why… February 2009
1 comment

3

Best Reel Mowers for Bermuda Grasses August 2010
1 comment

4

How to Transition your Lawn from a Rotary Mower to a Reel Mower May 2010

5

Why the Fiskars Reel Momentum Mower? February 2010

Fiskars Momentum Adding Grass Catcher Spring 2011

The Popular Fiskars Momentum Reel Mower: Fiskars Momentum  is adding a Grass Catcher this coming Spring. The 18″ reel mower which revolutionized reel mowing in 2010 will offer this grass catching feature. The Fiskars Momentum

Fiskar Momentum Reel Mower

was the best new mower in the reel mower line up last year.

Fiskars Momentum: The Momentum cuts from 1″ to 4″ and is easily adjustable. Because the wheels are in front and behind the cutting blades, the Momentum cuts right up to the edge, so there is not a cutting gap like most reel mowers. Because of its 18″ blades, the Momentum gets the job done quickly.

Winter Worm Composter Tips: From No-odor, to Ways to be Lazy!

worm composters are odorless and effective indoor composters.

Here are a few tips I have discovered using my worm composter (mine is a can-o-worms) inside this winter. My wormery composter has been inside for about 3 months now and the worms are multiplying like crazy and more than keeping up with our family of 4 kitchen wastes (except citrus and onions of course). Here’s how I have been keeping my worms happy and busy!

• First, it’s ok to be lazy. When those gallons of compost tea come out the spigot below and it’s too cold to go outside, simply dump that tea right back in the top of the composter. Great, you can stay in your slippers now.
• Next, onions and stinky stuff go to the outside bin. Or cover them in castings as you put them in. Then you are odor free. Yes!
• You probably know that citrus never goes in a worm composter. But I’ll mention it again…keep that ph in balance.
• Keep the top covered with shredded paper. It degrades over time so do keep adding it to the top.
• Bury those banana peels. I have never had it happen but a couple customers recommend this to avoid those little flies. Again, we eat a lot of bananas and don’t have this problem. I wonder if it is because ours are organic??
• Basement cold, turn the castings and food a bit. That will warm up the pile. Normally you would not do this because you do not want to heat up your worms, but in cold winter basements, a little extra heat can be a good thing!
• Wormery getting full and you really just don’t want to empty it til spring, no worries! Pour a bucket of water over the top and let it filter thru to the bottom. That will sink everything a bit. And use the compost tea right back over the pile a few more times in a week and you will see the pile go down. Whew…another trip outside avoided!
• Winter is a great time to get your kids into the worms. And to encourage them to show their friends. Again, an inside activity. Can you tell it’s really cold here!

Anyone else with winter composting tips? We want to hear…

RELATED POST :: Worm Composters: Spring Tips, Troubleshooting, and FAQ’s , Really Happy Worms! My Easy Winter Worm-Composting

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Peoplepoweredmachines is a family owned business, 11 years old, always selling environmentally sound products such as reel mowers, electric mowers, composters, rainbarrels, solar products and more.

Smart Carts for Many Reasons

The Smart Cart: Over the years we have found the Smart Cart to be one of the best products we sell. It is light, versatile, moves large quantities, durable, easy to use, and is a daily part of our lives. Whether we are hauling recyclables to the curb for pickup, taking compost to the beds, transporting mulch, building a stone wall, moving firewood from the storage area to the house, the Smart Cart is there for us.

Second Pan: An added benefit to having a Smart Cart is that you can have a second tub. The Second tub can be the same size or can be the other size. If you have a 7′ tub, you can add the 12′ tub. If you have the 12′ tub you can add the 7′ tub. The second tub is great for those who need to feed or water pets and livestock or need outdoor storage.

Smart Cart hauls up to 600 pound EASILY. Frontwards or backwards. Perfectly balanced design.

Green Ideas for dealing with dog poop

Man’s best friend can wreak havoc on the environment.  If you have a dog, think about alternatives to “curbside” toilets and consider the many ways you can help minimize the impact of dumping dog poop.  In NYC, a very dog-friendly place, fines of up to $1,000 are assessed upon owners who don’t scoop the poop, and most people abide.

In addition to cleaning up after your dog, if you live in an urban area, consider using a biodegradable bag, which unlike plastic, will not take years to decompose.  And if you have a large yard, you can put dog poop in worm farms (but use the compost in your flower garden but not on your vegetables), or install a doggy loo, basically a bucket with holes in the bottom which you place into the ground on a bed of stone and you add an enzyme to break down the poop. When the bucket is full, you simply pour water into it and the broken down materials will flush away. There’s no risk to your plants, you can have the bucket hidden away in your garden.

Composting pet poo in this pet loo is good for the environment

Children get fit with a NaturCut reel mower and support President and Mrs. Obama’s fitness challenge

First Lady Michelle Obama’s  “Let’s Move” campaign and the Presidential Active Lifestyle award program challenges familes to choose gardening as an outdoor activity and to use a push mower to mow the lawn.

Children can enjoy composting with the Can-O-Worms Composter

Mowing your lawn with a push reel mower can add to a healthy lifestyle and benefit the environment.  The Let’s Move Campaign and the Presidential Active Life Style Award Program are targeting the problem of childhood obesity in America. Getting children involved in gardening has been a focus of David Temple, a former teacher and founder of Peoplepoweredmachines.com

Rolypig is a fun way to get children involved in composting and you can sponser a child for the Junior Entrepeneur Program (JET) to help a child start a small lawn-mowing business.

The Rolypig Composter will  entertain as well as educate your children on how to compost and will deliver great fertilizer.  Open the snout of this adorable pig and turn kitchen scraps into fertilizer for your garden.  Peoplepoweredmachines.com has lots of fun and educational information for kids on gardening and the environment

SunMar offers a $75 rebate for toilet purchases until November 27th

Special Offer: In celebration of world toilet day Sun-Mar is offering a $75.00 rebate for any composting toilet purchases made between September 10th and November 27th. Composting toilets save water, recycle nutrients, and have zero odor, and are an inexpensive solution to the toilets we see in most restrooms and home bathrooms.  So order your composting toilet soon and save even more money than you would normally with a composting toilet.

Some Tips for Better Compost

We just read a great article on gardenguides.com and thought we would share some of their composting tips with you.  While compost is very easy to maintain and pretty much takes care of itself, there are some small things you can do to make sure your compost pile is thriving and producing nutrient-filled soil.

Compost Care:

Keep your compost pile in a semi-shaded area in order to keep it from drying out too much.  Make sure to sprinkle your compost with a garden hose when it appears dry. Remember to keep your compost moist, but not wet because beneficial organisms cannot survive in soggy conditions.

Using your Compost:

When your compost is ready, you can mix it into the soil before planting or use it as mulch.  Either way, make sure to use it as soon as possible because the longer it sits, the fewer nutrients it contains.

Quicken the Composting Process:

If you would like to speed up the composting process, turn the pile once a week to allow oxygen into the center of the pile, where it encourages growth of bacteria and fungi. Also, particle size has a lot to do with the decomposition speed, so try to make your pieces of compost smaller if you want it to go by faster.

What to Compost:

-kitchen waste

-lawn clippings (use thin layers so they don’t mat down)

-chopped leaves

-shredded branches

-garden plants (use disease-free plants)

-shredded paper

-weeds

-straw or hay

-newspaper

-wood ash (sprinkle lightly between layers)

-tea leaves and coffee grounds

What Not to Compost:

-meat scraps and fatty trash

-excessive wood ashes

-sawdust (generally slows the decomposition of the pile)

Potential Problems:

-If there is an unpleasant odor coming from your compost it is because there is either  too much nitrogen in the pile, compaction, or the pile has been over watered.  To solve this issue of too much nitrogen, add high carbon material such as straw, pine needles, or grass trimmings. to solve the compaction problem, aerate the pile and to reverse the effects of overwatering, add dry leaves or wood chips to soak up the water and aerate.

-If the pile is not heating up it could be due to lack of nitrogen, it needs to be turned, low moisture, or the compost is finished.  If there is not enough nitrogen, add fresh manure, grass clippings, or blood meal and mix the pile.  If the pile needs to be turned, mix the compost by bringing outside material to the center.  If there is low moisture make sure to water the compost so the moisture gets to the center of the pile.  Poke deep holes in the pile before watering.  If the compost is finished it will smell earthy rather than rotten or moldy and it will be dark and crumbly.

-If the compost is damp and only the center is warm it is because the pile is too small and you will need to add more compost material.

Finished Compost

Video Shows You How Worm Composting is Done!

Yesterday we blogged about the benefits of worm composting, how worm composting works, and the types of worm composting bins.  Today we found a video that shows how beneficial and simple worm composting really is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcqTiy9xE6I&fs=1&hl=en_US

Everything you Need to Know About Worm Composting

How does Worm Composting Work?:

After setting up the container, begin feeding the worms the same organic waste that you would normally compost.  The worms chew on it for a while and when they’re done eating they digest it and there you have your worm compost!

The Benefits:

Not only does worm composting increase the nutrient levels in the soil but worm castings also contain millions of microbes that help break down nutrients that are already in the soil into plant available forms. The mucous that the worms release slows the release of the nutrients and prevents them from washing away with the first watering. Worm compost can be too rich for use alone as a seed starter but it is useful as a top dressing  and as an addition to potting mixes. Try using the ratio of one part worm casting to four parts mix and watch your plants grow!

Using Worm Composting Bins:

Unlike regular compost, which can work on its own in a pile, worm compost requires a little more structure.  These bins can be made out of almost anything but they need drainage and air flow to be built in.  The design usually depends on where you want to store your bin and how you wish to feed the worms. The are three categories of worm composting bins.

-Non-continious: undivided containers that start with a layer of bedding materials to line the bottom (shredded paper, etc). Worms are then added and organic matter is added in the layer above the bedding so the worms will start to composting the organic matter.

-Continuous vertical flow: a series of trays stacked on top of one another. The tray on the bottom is filled first like the non-continuous bins (bedding, worms, organic waste) but it is not harvested once full.  Instead, a thicker layer of bedding is added on the top and the tray above is used to add organic material. Once the worms are done composting the bottom tray they go for more food and migrate to the tray above. Once the worms have migrated, the bottom tray can be collected.

-Continuous horizontal flow: Similar structure to vertical flow, but you must line up the trays horizontally.  The bin is then divided in half by a screen of chicken wire.  One half is used until it is full and then the other half is filled with bedding and organic matter.  Then the worms migrate to the side with the food and the compost can be collected.

Worm Compost

Video + Reviews : Nature Mill Indoor Electric Composter

Naturemill Indoor Composter

Nature Mill’s new redesigned XE series award winning indoor electric composters have the following improvements.

• stronger motor
• more powerful filters (5-7 years now)
• energy saving mode (vacations etc)
• improved ergonomics for the foot pedal
• waterproofing upgrade

The Naturemill operates on about 50 cents of electricity per month, is absolutely beautiful, and has a cabinet kit to sit inside standard kitchen cabinets. The Wall Street Journal product review declared  “The NatureMill Pro XE gets the highest marks...”

NATUREMILL VIDEO FROM HISTORY CHANNEL :

HELPFUL NATUREMILL REVIEWS:

My little home composter has been chugging away for nearly a year now. It has made dozens of batches of compost. I still can’t believe how fast it turns our organic waste items into hot, black, fragrant compost. I was always under the impression that compost takes years and is very messy, but this system is different because it has a small motor and an air filter. There is basically no smell. It takes a few weeks to get the cultures activated, and during that time the instructions say to keep the machine closed. It all makes sense if you follow the instructions.

In summary, this is an expensive machine but worth every penny. The convenience alone, of not having to take out wet smelly trash or make trips to the compost pile is worth it. As a bonus you get tons of your own compost whenever you want it. – Daniel

I’ve had a NatureMill composter for several months now and it really is changing the way we think about trash. What a great invention, to turn trash into something useful that you can add to your garden and watch as your vegetables grow and come back to your plate.

The little machine takes pretty much anything we trow away in the kitchen (except big bones). It can handle meat and fish and egg shells which our regular backyard composter can not. We had some learning to do at first, getting the cultures started, which is explained pretty well in their instruction manual. Definitely worth it if you consider all the trips you save going outside to the compost bin. And now our regular trash (what’s left of it) has basically no smell at all since there is no food in it.

We have made several batches already, and we have learned that some things compost better than others. Coffee grounds, egg shells, and lettuce all go down fast and smell nice. Flowers for some reason do not – the stems on ours are probably too hard, so it takes a long time to break down. We tried paper, they do not recommend that, and a little seems to be ok but really not like a whole bin of shredded paper. Guess the junk mail will have to go elsewhere.

Overall, a great little machine, definitely worth the investment. We are saving up for another to put outside for our pet waste (yes, they have a model for that too). – RICH

naturemill- electric composter

Initially I was very hesitant about this machine. I saw it on Oprah but it just seemed too good to be true. They’ve obviously been in business for a while and have made the refinements over time. It’s a little quieter than my fridge, and smells kind of like vegetable soup when you lift the lid – certainly an improvement overy my kitchen trash bin, which is no basically odor free because these days it has only a few plastic wrappers in it and I hardly even have to take it out. To me, the NatureMill is almost like just another recycling bin, but for food waste only. It doesn’t take corn cobbs or steak bones, which is understandable. But it does quick work on coffee grounds, spoiled fruits and vegetables, table scraps, etc. It gets very hot inside there so the company says you can safely compost cheese, egg shells, and meat scraps, which I have just started to do and so far so good.

My compost is amazingly dark and rich. You can’t buy stuff like that. All you get in a store is dry, dusty, dirt-looking material which probably is mostly dirt with hardly any compost at all. When I make my own compost, I know it’s real, and boy is it good stuff. – Steve

What’s Better? Feed your NYT to your Worms or Recycle?

The New York Times has been regularly publishing articles about composting. It seems there are a lot of hip people in NYC apartments feeding their NY Times to their worms! I too shred my Sunday times (the only day I get a paper delivered) and use that on top of my can-o-worms composter. I was feeling like that was the best solution until this article today: Urban Composting: A New Can of Worms.

I was Wrong: Better to Recycle that Paper::
In this article they state that it is better for the environment to recycle that paper than to compost it. They also reiterate the importance of not throwing food waste into the landfills ::

Composting does not have as big an environmental effect as recycling, Environmental Protection Agency figures show: recycling one ton of mixed paper is four times as effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions as producing the same amount of compost.

But keeping food discards out of landfills does more than twice the good of keeping mixed paper out, E.P.A. officials said, because decomposing food that is buried and cut off from air releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas, at higher rates than paper. (The ventilation in composting prevents methane creation.)

I have always wondered this and am grateful to have an answer. Seems I’ll start using other forms of non-recyclable paper to lay on the top level of my wormery.

Add a Fan to your Excel NE model of the Sun-Mar Composting Toilet

New to PPM: There is now the option add a fan to your purchase of the Excel NE Sun-Mar composting toilet.  The fan costs $50 and can be powered by a solar panel, which costs $150.

The Excel NE:

The Excel design means that the three chamber unit can be specifically designed for those with no continuous 110 volt supply.  The Excel NE does not come with a fan or heater but the 12 volt fan should be installed if you need to install the toilet with any bends in the vent.

Advantages of the Sun-Mar Composting Toilet

The Three Chamber Technology

The Bio-drum Composting Chamber

-Optimizes mixing and aeration and allows for moisture to be evenly distributed.

-Ensures there is no excess moisture by removing it directly into the evaporating chamber through a screen.

-Offers simplicity of operation.  In order to mix and aerate turn the Bio-drum handle periodically.

-Offers an ideal environment for aerobic bacteria to flourish and quickly break down organic material through perfect mixing, oxygenation, and moisture control.

The Automatic Evaporating System

-Offers the ideal environment for evaporation: has a large evaporating surface with thermostatically controlled heat and lots of air movement.

The Evaporating Chamber

– The floor of the unit below the drawer is the evaporating chamber.  The large evaporating surface is accessed simply by pulling out the drawer.

-The heater is on continuously only when there is liquid to evaporate into the chamber.

-A long lasting squirrel cage turbo fan pulls air into the unit to ensure odorless operation and over the evaporating surface to optimize evaporation.

-The fan setting can be adjusted to optimize the mix between recirculated and vented air for every installation.

The Finishing Drawer

-The finishing drawer is an isolated container, into which finished compost drops automatically when the Bio-drum is rotated backwards.

-This is where the compost can be left to complete the composting and sanitation process.

-While in the drawer the compost is surrounded by a stream of drying air and gradually dries out prior to removal.

The Collection Chamber

-The finishing drawer is pulled out by hand with no tools needed and no screws to undo.  The sanitized compost can be removed, emptied, and the empty drawer replaced whenever more compost needs to be extracted from the Bio-drum.

The Three Chamber Technology

Sun-Mar Composting Toilet

Coming Soon to PPM: Sun-Mar Composting Toilets!

Check our website in the next week to check out the new composting toilets!

Benefits of Sun-Mar’s composting toilets:

-Sun-Mar composting toilets have already saved over 2.75 billion gallons of  drinking quality water and counting.

-The composting toilets evaporate liquids and compost the solids so there is almost no output and no contamination of ground water.

-Composting toilets offer the safest and most environmentally friendly method of waste treatment.

Why Sun-Mar?

-Their unique and patented BioDrum design provides super fast, odor-free aerobic decomposition.

-They are the only toilets certified to ANSI/NSF standard 41 for residential use.

-The unique 3 chamber technology guarantees simplicity of operation.

Why use a composting toilet?

-No plumbing

-No Water

-No odor

-Inexpensive solution

-No pollutioin

-Saves Water

-Recycles Nutrients

-Little or No Liquid Output

Sun-Mar Composting Toilet

Vermont Senators Propose Tax Credits for Energy Efficient Lawn Equipment!

Great Green News:

Senator Patrick Leahy, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Representative Peter Welch have come together in drafting a bill that will give homeowners a 25% tax credit when they purchase alternative energy powered lawn, garden, and forestry equipment.  The legislators call it the “Greener Gardens Act” and say that it would reduce air pollution more than the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because it would provide an immediate incentive for people to purchase clean and alternative machines that operate on little to no fossil fuel.

Similar to Cash for Clunkers, the government would give a credit of up to $1,000 to anyone buying the equipment that meets certain green requirements. The qualifying power sources would most likely include electricity, propane, natural gas, biodeisel, ethanol, methanol, compressed natural gas, and even gas-electic hybrids.

As Senator Leahy said, ““Building early consumer demand for cleaner technologies is a proven way to create a growing market that can harness American ingenuity to create new jobs and reduce our reliance on foreign oil”.

The bill encourages energy independence, promotes cleaner air, and drives development of new technologies and new products,  all being components we  will need to rely on in the future.

Senator Leahy

Why Compost?

Composting is beneficial to both you and the environment. Read on to find out about the major benefits of composting!

–Composting improves soil. The nutrients from compost can regenerate poor soils and encourages the production of beneficial bacteria and fungi, which break down organic matter and creates humus. Hums increases the nutrient content in soils and helps it to retain moisture.

–Composting prevents pollution. By composting organic materials, you are keeping them out of landfills where they can contribute to the production of methane and leachate, which are both harmful to the environment. Compost can also prevent erosion  and pollutants in storm water runoff.

–Composting leads to economic benefits.  Composting reduces the need for water, fertilizers, and pesticides. Composting is also a low -cost alternative to landfill cover and artificial soil amendments.