How Low Can You Go?

Although many locals complain about the lack of recycling opportunities in our area, for those who care, there are a lot of options, especially now that the Progressive Waste single stream recycling is here.  Even before that option became available, my husband and I could go 2 - 3 weeks without putting out a cart, due to the amount of compostable materials that could go in the City compost bin. However, now we can also drop off bottles and plastics in the single stream dumpsters around town, reducing the need to roll out our cart even more.

My daughter and family have been living with us for several months now. Although it sometimes seems these adults cannot get the hang of sorting their trash, we are still doing pretty well. They got used to the single stream where they used to live and are a little lazy. We're working on that.

We have a compost barrel set up for most garbage (not meat), the City compost cart that goes out weekly, and we drop off plastics, glass and metal at the single stream dumpsters when we are out and about. I also periodically drop off those annoying plastic shopping bags that still seem to show up in the house when someone besides me goes shopping. My husband hordes aluminum cans and turns them in when he has a pick-up load of crushed cans to finance some of his projects.

But some online posts got me thinking...how low can we go? The Utne Reader had a good article on zero-waste living that is worth a read by anyone. Even if you don't want to go as far as some of the folks mentioned in the article, it does point out some ways in which you can reduce a lot of waste, save money and live healthier. A win-win-win. Here are some tips from the Zero Waste Home blog. I'm not sure I am 100% ready for all of the ideas, but most of them wouldn't require a lot of effort.

There are several blogs on this topic out there. Two good ones are mentioned in the Utne Reader article. Another I particularly like that also has some great idea for businesses is Pick Up America. The link here is to The Zero-Waste Home toolkit.  Zero Waste in ACTION is targeted more toward business and industry. There are a couple of other related blogs worth mentioning. One I particularly enjoy is My Plastic-Free Life.

Who knew there would be so many people making such an effort to reduce their trash production? If only there were more. Even if you aren't ready to take on the zero-waste challenge completely, all of us can do better. Why not see how low you can go?

Opportunities to Get Involved

Most of the readers of this blog are interested in environmental issues and are individually working to live more sustainably. However, I wanted to bring up some opportunities to get involved in the community on some important issues.

- Lake Wichita Study Committee. The City Council has appointed a committee to look at options to improve the recreational and economic value of Lake Wichita. The main committee, comprised of members of the cities of Wichita Falls and of Lakeside City has begun meeting. At the last meeting, the committee decided on several subcommittees to work on various issues. In addition to the main study committee, I will be serving on the Public Awareness and Permitting Subcommittees. There are several other subcommittees. These subcommittees provide a way for interested people to get involved in planning the future of Lake Wichita. If you are interested in serving in some capacity, email me at green.wichitafalls@gmail.com and I'll be happy to put you into contact with the right person(s).
- Region B Water Planning Group. Nominations are being accepted for members beginning September 1. There is a short fuse on applications as the nominations close Friday, July 19. For more information, see the public notice.

The more people who get involved the better.

National Pollinators Week

Bee covered in pollen
Photo by Sage Ross, Wikimedia Commons

National Pollinators Week is June 17 - 23.

Pollinators are responsible for the successful reproduction of 70% of flowering plants and over 2/3 of crop species. But the number of pollinators is dropping fast. They are also a keystone species in the environment, being vital to the success of many other animals. Pollinators are at risk from habitat loss,  pesticide use and introduced diseases.

These unsung heroes are a vital part of our communities and are under severe stress. We can all so our part to help keep these little guys around, without a lot of work.

The Xerces Society has a lot of helpful information on their website, including the following four principles:

• Grow the right flowers, shrubs and trees
• Don't use pesticides
• Provide suitable habitat for nesting
• Talk about the importance of pollinators

For a list of suitable plant species for our area, see the Pollinator Conservation Resource Center.

So this coming week, how about doing at least one thing to help the pollinators in our community?

Status of Community Garden

A question came up last week at River Bend about the status of the community garden project. Tom Hall from the AgriLife Extension office noted that the project was still on.

I brought up the topic at the city Park Board meeting as it has been a topic on and off for some time. The project is still a go. The initial garden will be on the east side of town, and if it is successful, additional gardens will be put in other areas of town. A group of volunteers from that neighborhood will be managing the gardens. There will be about 70 plots, depending upon the size.  It is anticipated the garden will be underway by the fall planting season.

Permaculture Tour

At last week's presentation on suburban permaculture, several people indicated an interest in working together to share ideas. I went to John Hirschi's house this past weekend to check out his front yard native landscaping. John's yard is beautiful. It was designed last year by Paul Dowlearn at Wichita Valley Nursery and is doing well. Many of the plants are multiplying. The only problem he is having now is a marauding wild pig which is rooting around in the yard and doing a lot of damage. John has traps out, trying to catch the critter. I hope he gets him soon, it is making a mess of a beautiful landscape.

We also discussed some of his ideas for his backyard.  Because we had such a good time talking about what he had done and his ideas going forward, we discussed putting together a day to visit one another's yard and share ideas with other members of the permaculture group. Even if we haven't done anything, this would be a chance to share ideas and talk over what we're trying to do with others with similar interests.

If you're interested in joining in, email me at green.wichitafalls@gmail.com or "Like" the Living Green in Wichita Falls page on Facebook and join in.

Great Program at River Bend

Last night River Bend Nature Center hosted Jan Spencer of Suburban Permaculture for a presentation on suburban transformation through permaculture.

Jan's presentation centered around what he considered the sensible actions we should all be taking:

• Downsize material lifestyle
• Reorient ourselves to live within what the Earth can accommodate
• Green homes, neighborhoods, communities, culture and economy

Personally, I was happy to hear Jan talk about the importance of civics. Too few people get involved with their local government and if we are to make progress, local action can have significant results faster. "Think globally, act locally." This saying was highlighted in Jan's talk by the examples of actions taken by individuals which are having an impact on his communities.

The crowd was relatively small but very interested. We agreed to set up a mailing list and look at ways we can help one another in our own initiatives and possibly collaborate on projects in the future.

Several questions came up about what is and is not permitted by the city. 

  - Can chicken/livestock be kept in the city? Yes, with certain restrictions. Permits are required which require inspection by animal control. No roosters, guineas or peafowl are permitted (noise). Livestock also require a permit and inspections. 

  - Can citizens harvest pecans from public property? (I wasn't able to find anything in the ordinance, but have a question pending with the city.)

  - Can homeowners plant vegetable gardens in their front yards, if there is no Homeowner Association restriction? (Again, I wasn't able to find any restriction in the ordinances, but have asked for a reading from the city.)

We also got an update about the community garden being organized on the east side of town.

If you missed the presentation, you missed a lot of ideas. We all learned what a "woofer" is (and no, it has nothing to do with a sound system.)

For now, I am going to encourage those interested in this topic to post their thoughts on the Living Green Facebook Page or comment here.

We're Back

You'll recall that months back I decided to add a Facebook page. The idea was to supplement this blog. The Facebook page was easier to maintain and did attract some people who did not subscribe to this blog. The downside was that there are a lot of people not on Facebook and I got a little lazy. So, although I plan to keep the Facebook page, I'm going to put more attention back here. In the meantime, you can join us on Facebook.