What Can I Do About Climate Change?

“How can I help with our climate change. I don’t garden but I want to pitch in. Any suggestions?” — Carla

What Can I Do About Climate Change?

Hi Carla,

You can start recycling the estimated 40% of food that collectively gets tossed out uneaten and unused in the US.

There are several ways you can do that, starting by saving your rotting produce in a bag in the freezer. Once the bag is full, move it outside and bury in a garden hole.

Once you get the habit of saving the produce, you can move to a small recycled plastic container with holes on the bottom and a lid. Mix the food with dried leaves, add a dash of water and close the lid. Here’s what it looks like right after it goes into a composter, which I keep outside but close enough to make it easily accessible.

You will find a variety of composters on the market from small ones to this one that rotates on rollers.

Kitchen scraps, plants pulled from the garden and dried leaves in one of my composters. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Don’t put meat and bones in but most other kitchen scrap can be mixed and exposed to heat to turn it into compost.

Within months, the produce and leaves will turn into compost you can then scattered back on your yard.

Still amazes me when compost is done and ready for use. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Compost is basically food for the millions of microorganisms that make up soil. Those microorganisms provide food for the soil that feeds plant roots, which in turn feeds us.

Yes, it can be unpleasant at first. That’s why freezing it will cut down on unpleasant odors. Also taking it outside and either buying it or placing it in a composter will mean you won’t have to deal with unappealing odors. As a matter of fact, once it doesn’t smell is one of the indicators that the produce, garden weeds and dead leaves have turned into compost.

Soil is a non-renewable resource. The better we treat the soil we have, the better off we will all be.

Do another thing. Get yourself one plant - an herb would be a good start, something you would like to include in your diet. I love spearmint, adding the leaves to water is a wonderful summer treat and they are an easy herb to grow.

Another good one for a pot is parsley or rosemary, they grow well both inside and out. Observing a plant will help you better understand how we are all connected.

Thanks for doing your part, let us know what you decide to do!

Charlotte