An HOA Compliant Compost Bin

You might remember that at our condo, I made a small vermicompost bucket for the balcony. While we didn't have enough space there to take care of all of our compostable waste, those worms definitely made a good dent in our garbage and they gave us a decent amount of great worm castings in return.

In our HOA, compost bins are required to be approved. The idea is that they can be unsightly or smelly, but if you're doing it right they really shouldn't be! But, because so much of our yard is visible from the road or open space (great views of the mountains for us, great views into our yard for everyone else) we decided to play by the book and submit a plan for a compost bin.

The location that seemed the best for us, and our neighbors, unfortunately was also the most visible from the road. My solution: hid the bin with fencing, and then plant some shade perennials in front. Since this area was just mulch and weeds before, I knew that they wouldn't say "no" to something that would actually make the area MORE attractive from the street.

And I was right! The Architectural Committee approved my plans, so then Sean and I just had to wait for a non-rainy weekend to actually get out there and install the bin, fencing and perennials. We did just that this past weekend.

I wanted some taller, flowering perennials as well as some lower green. This area is in shade all day during the winter, and most of the day during the summer, so the plants couldn't require more than a couple hours of direct sunlight. At our local nursery we found one climbing hydrangea, two Camelot foxgloves, and a couple varieties of hosta. I filled in the front with some periwinkle ground cover.

A view that only people on our property will ever see: the actual compost bin. That window well isn't actually big enough to be a proper egress, so we weren't worried about putting the bin a couple feet away from it.

Pretty foxgloves helping to hide the compost!

We're definitely looking forward to being able to use this compost bin to reduce our waste, and in future years we will reduce the amount of money we need to spend on amending the soil. It's a win-win!

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Waste Not Want Not Wednesday

#WasteNot 30 Day Challenge: Day 20

Today is my 20th day of the #WasteNot challenge, sponsored by Travel Well Magazine.

This is a simple one, but an important one nonetheless: reusable water bottles.

This is the water bottle I took with me to pilates today. It always amazes me how many people at the gym have disposable plastic water bottles, whether they brought them or they buy them from the vending machine there. To me, there is no simpler way to reduce plastic consumption than by bringing a reusable bottle with me to the gym, on hikes, on trips (just make sure that there isn't any water in it when you bring it through airport security!).

Do you use reusable water bottles? How else do you reduce your waste?

#WasteNot 30 Day Challenge: Day 19

Today is my 19th day of the #WasteNot challenge, sponsored by Travel Well Magazine.

Here is my low waste coffee and tea set up:

We have an electric kettle to heat water, and a French press for coffee during the week. The French press is great because it makes just one mug's worth of coffee and there is no garbage since the grounds get composted in our garden.

On weekends when Sean and I are both drinking coffee at the same time, we use the old drip machine with a reusable filter. Again, the coffee grounds get dumped into our compost.

#WasteNot 30 Day Challenge: Day 16

Today is my sixteenth day of the #WasteNot challenge, sponsored by Travel Well Magazine. Today I'll share a way I reuse when working on a set.

Painting backdrops requires a lot of custom paint mixing. And because of the size, it's not so simple as mixing on a palette like you would when painting on a canvas. So, for the months leading up to painting a show, I collect any yogurt containers that otherwise would go in the recycling and wash them out very well. Then, I reuse them to hold paint. Yogurt containers are a great size for this, but any container with a lid that seals well will do: coffee cans, glass jars, etc.

How do you reuse containers before they head to the recycling?

#WasteNot 30 Day Challenge: Day 4

Today is my fourth day of the #WasteNot challenge, sponsored by Travel Well Magazine. Here's something that is making a difference in our yard waste:

Fiskars Reel Mower at Amazon

Our new lawn mower!

Because we moved into this house right before the first snow, we've gotten away with very little yard work so far. But now that it's spring and the temperatures are above freezing, the grass is growing again so it was time to go buy a lawn mower. We don't have a ton of lawn, and we preferred not to get a gas powered one, so when this Fiskars reel mower was nearly 50% off at Sears we grabbed it!

How is it waste free? Well, it came with no packaging (it was either a return or discontinued, hence the mark down); it has no emissions and takes only human energy; and after mowing the clippings can either be left in place to add nutrients back into the soil or they can be raked and put in the compost bin.


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Waste Not Want Not Wednesday

#WasteNot 30 Day Challenge: Day 3

For Day 3 of the WasteNot Challenge, I'm sharing my homemade lemon curd.

After all of the Passover baking at the beginning of April, I had a bunch of unused egg yolks. Not wanting them to go to waste, I decided to turn them into lemon curd.

This is actually a picture from the last time I made lemon curd, back in CA, but it's the same recipe and I even put it in the same clip top jar! This is the recipe I use. It's delicious!

I love lemon curd on toast, English muffins and scones. I also mix a spoonful into my plain yogurt, sometimes with some blueberries. There are so many great ways to use lemon curd.

What are your favorite ways to eat lemon curd? How are you reducing food waste? Share in the comments!


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#WasteNot 30 Day Challenge: Day 2

Today is my second day of the #WasteNot challenge, sponsored by Travel Well Magazine. Here's something you've seen on the blog before: our glass milk bottles.

Dairy delivery is a big thing in Colorado, and the dairy we chose was already delivering to many of the homes in our neighborhood. They use all glass bottles, which we rinse out and put outside for the delivery person to take back. The bottles get reused by the dairy until they break. The only "trash" is the lid, but it's actually a recyclable plastic!

We love that by getting all dairy products in these glass bottles, we don't have lots of plastic milk jugs going into the recycling or those Tetrapaks which can't really be recycled at all.

How do you reduce your garbage? Join the challenge, and share in the comments too!

#WasteNot 30 Day Challenge: Day 1

While I was gone for a wedding in NYC this last weekend, my awesome friend Ali started posting pictures of steps she takes towards a zero waste lifestyle on Facebook. She was tagging them with #wastenot, but since I was relying purely on my phone for internet it wasn't until today that I got to actually find out about the 30 day challenge she was doing, sponsored by Travel Well Magazine. That's a challenge I can get on board with! The official rules for the contest require a Facebook, Twitter or Instagram post, but I wanted to share on the blog as well. So, for the next 30 days I'll be sharing different ways I work to reduce my trash and make my footprint on the earth that much smaller.

To start off with, here's an exciting piece of mail we received:

Yep, we have approval to put in a compost bin! 

Our HOA is pretty lenient compared to most, and I did get a little designer-nerdy and draw up very detailed VectorWorks plans of exactly what I plan to do. Since the best location for the compost bin is on the side of the house that faces the street, my proposal includes using lattice fencing to block it and then planting perennial shade-lovers in front. So hopefully in just a few short weekends of work we will have a compost bin and lattice up, and I will be able to toss almost all of our food scraps in there instead of in the garbage. Plus, by next summer (if not sooner) I'll have "free" compost instead of spending money on bags and bags of it at the store in order to amend our very sandy soil.

Do you compost? How else do you reduce waste? Join the 30 Day Challenge and post in the comments!