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Composting!

From Garbage To Your Garden!

Compost is the single most important supplement you can give your garden soil.

With compost, you are creating rich humus for your lawn and garden. This adds nutrients to your plants and helps retain moisture in the soil.

Composting can divert as much as 30% of household waste away from the garbage can and offers a natural alternative to chemical fertilizers.

Composting is free, good for the environment, and explained by this simple formula:

Air + Water + Carbon + Nitrogen = Compost


  • Air. Like most living things, the bacteria that decompose organic matter, and the other creatures that make up the compost ecosystem, need air. Compost piles need spaces for air to flow. Occasionally turning your pile moves new material into the center, and helps improve airflow into the pile.
  • Water. Compost microbes also need the right amount of water. Too much moisture reduces airflow, causes temperatures to fall, and can make the pile smell; too little water slows decomposition and prevents the pile from heating.
  • Carbon ingredients. The microbes that break down organic matter use carbon as an energy source. The most common high-carbon ingredients are leaves, straw, and corn stalks. These ingredients are called browns.
  • Nitrogen ingredients. Microbes need nitrogen for the proteins that build their tiny bodies. Ingredients high in nitrogen are generally green, moist plant matter, such as leaves, or an animal by-product, such as manure. These ingredients are called greens.

Carbon/Nitrogen Ratio
The secret to a healthy compost pile is to maintain a working balance between these two elements. A healthy compost pile should have much more carbon than nitrogen. A simple rule of thumb is to use two-thirds brown and one-third green materials. If in doubt, add more carbon!

Once your compost pile is established, add new materials by mixing them in. Mixing, or turning, the compost pile is key to aerating the composting materials and speeding the process to completion.

A new composting bin is now available through the City of Torrance Public Works Department


The Envirocycle mini composting bin is great for small areas like patios. Comes fully assembled Spins in place on its own base for aeration. Made with a high percentage of Post-Consumer and Post-Industrial recycled plastic (BPA Free).

Go to Envirocycle.com for more information about the bin.

To purchase ($70 each, Torrance residents only, cash or check only), contact Public Works at 310-781-6900

Christmas Tree Recycling!

Your Gift to the Earth!

With the holiday season now over, the year’s largest waste period is in full swing. The largest item of waste being the Christmas Tree!

Did you know approximately 33 million live Christmas trees are sold in North America every year? So, what can we do to help?

Well, from December 26, 2013 through January 9, 2014 the City of Torrance will recycle Christmas trees as part of their curbside collection for those unable to use the green waste container.

To recycle unflocked Christmas trees curbside, remove all tinsel, ornaments and stands. Trees can be up to six (6) feet long without needing to be cut. Then, place the tree at the curb at least four feet from your automated containers by 7:00 a.m. on your regularly scheduled collection day between December 26, 2013, and January 9, 2014. A separate truck will collect the trees to use as mulch and landfill cover.

Another alternative for next holiday season is investing in an artificial tree that you can use for years and years. Not only will you save the environment a bit of grief, but you will also save money. Not to mention not having to think about throwing a whole tree away every January.

For more information, call City of Torrance Public Works Department 310-781-6900 or click here to go to the City of Torrance Christmas Tree Recycling webpage.

Reuse!!

Reuses for Rubber Bands

Stop carelessly tossing rubber bands and start reusing them with the help of these inspirational ideas.

We each accumulate a fair number of rubber bands. They are wrapped around our mail, the broccoli we buy in stores or at farmers markets, the newspapers delivered to our homes and many other everyday items. Rubber bands are not compostable or recyclable, but don’t throw them away because they can be reused.

One of the most innovative ways to reuse rubber bands is rubber band lamps (see above). Made by Bath, England-based Orchard Studio, these lamps are created from reclaimed rubber bands and are cool and colorful.

Another designer, Christiane Diehl of Hanover, Germany, reuses rubber bands to make rubber band jewelry (right).

Here are some ideas you can use at home for reusing your rubber bands:

  • The United States Postal Service (USPS) reuses rubber bands. You can leave them out for your mail carrier or take them with you the next time your visit your local post office. You can even bundle them and drop them into any blue USPS-designated mailbox.
  • Wrap a rubber band or two around the lid of a jar to make a stubborn lid easier to open.
  • Keep a desk drawer more organized by using rubber bands to wrap around pencils, pens, markers and crayons.
  • Keep your sewing basket better organized by wrapping rubber bands around your spools of thread to keep them from unraveling and tangling up.
  • When mixing up cake, pancake or muffin batter, wrap a rubber band around the top of the handle of your spoon to stop if from slipping into the mixing bowl.
  • Secure rubber bands around the shoulder areas of a hanger to help keep clothing from sliding off the hanger.
  • This rubber band maternity trick helped me through two pregnancies. Continue using your jeans throughout your pregnancy by threading a rubber band through your jeans buttonhole and then around the button.

Do you know of other rubber band reuse ideas? Feel free to share them in the comments section!

Roofing Waste

The Staggering Impact of Roofing Waste (and a Recycling Solution)

Eleven million tons of asphalt shingle waste is generated annually in the U.S. What can you do to make a change?

When was the last time you thought about roofing waste? Yeah, we thought so.

Most of us think about asphalt roof shingles only when we need to repair or replace a roof. Recycling shingles probably doesn’t make your top 10 list of everyday recycling ideas to help protect the planet.

But, roofing waste is a big deal. Consider this: 11 million tons of asphalt shingle waste is generated in the U.S. each year. That is more than the combined weight of every Ford vehicle sold in the U.S. in 2011. If you think about how many houses and commercial buildings we have in this country — how many rooftops we have — you will begin to appreciate how much roofing waste we generate.

Recycling shingles can have a huge impact on reducing that waste. Consider the following facts about shingle waste:

  • More than 12.5 billion square feet of shingles are manufactured each year in the U.S.
  • That’s more than 448 square miles of roof shingles — enough to cover Washington, D.C., with shingles four-and-a-half times.
  • 11 million tons of asphalt shingle waste is generated in the U.S. each year.
  • Recycling 11 million tons of asphalt roofing shingles is the equivalent of saving 11 million barrels of oil.
  • The U.S. manufactures enough asphalt shingles each year to cover the entire Facebook campus 11,000 times.
  • Asphalt roof shingles don’t have to fill up landfills. They can be recycled!

Reduce, reuse and recycle shingles

Roofing contractors can reduce shingle waste by measuring accurately and only purchasing what is needed, which also keeps roofing costs down. When hiring a roofing contractor, ask each contractor you interview for an estimate of shingle use. A contractor who purchases an appropriate amount of shingles will contain costs and reduce waste.

Also, ask your roofing contractors if they plan to recycle old shingles after they have been removed from your roof. In many states, recycled shingles can be used in asphalt for paving roads. Choose a contractor who recycles shingle waste, rather than sending it to a landfill.

Finally, ask your contractor what will be done with surplus shingles. Extra shingles can be donated to Habitat for Humanity and other charitable organizations. Ask your local Habitat chapter if it can recommend a roofing contractor who supports this mission.

Recycling shingles when you replace or repair your roof can go a long way toward reducing the millions of tons of shingles sent to landfills each year. That’s a goal homeowners and contractors alike should work toward.