Smelly Garbage

We have been on a waste reduction goal for a few months now.  I am very pleased to announce that it is working.  On average, we have a bit less than a kitchen catcher garbage bag of curb side waste that will end up in the landfill.  We are working on reducing that further.  Part of the reduction in household waste is due to the installation of an Insinkerator food waste disposal last August but the rest is due to an increased awareness with respect to packaging that can't be recycled.

Kitchen waste tends to be smelly and while the food waste disposal takes care of most of this problem, it does not take care of all of it.  Smelly garbage is problematic on a few levels.  We spend extended periods of time away from our main home.  If we miss garbage day before leaving, that garbage can sit for a month or so attracting rodents while stinking up the garage.  Our last home was rural so stinky garbage attracted racoons, skunks, squirrels and birds.  Let me tell you, crows and grackles are horrid for ripping apart garbage bags if they get any hint of a smell.  This home is urban bordering on farmland so again, stinky garbage attracts the pests especially the birds and occasionally dogs.

We have virtually eliminated smelly garbage.  Now, we can leave for a month at a time knowing our garbage is not going to smell or attract critters.  It was actually easier than I thought it would be.    Here's a few things we have done to curb the smell garbage issue:

• food waste disposal - The food waste disposal takes care of most of the food waste the compost can't handle due to volume.  I do a lot of home canning so the compost cannot always handle a large influx of produce waste that can become rather smelly during the warmer months.
• bones and fat - Bones and fat can quickly become smelly during the warm months.  Larger bones and fat are not put down the food waste disposal.  Rather, large bones are given to a friend with a dog that really enjoys them.  Fat is scooped into a zipper style storage bag then discarded when full with the exception of bacon grease that is collected and used for cooking.  I also mix some of the fat with bird seed to feed the birds during the winter months.
• zipper style storage bags - I have a lot of this style bag used mainly for on the boat and traveling with a few used for food storage.  I don't throw them out and they can't go into the recycle bin.  If I have kitchen waste (eg. meat wrappers, fat, bones) that I know will smell that can't go into the compost bin or food waste disposal, it goes into a used zipper style storage bag.  Now, odours can escape from these types of bags so I keep the bag in the freezer until garbage day.  If I miss a garbage day, the bag simply sits in the freezer until the next garbage day.  At best, I may have about a half a quart bag of waste that could smell each week so saving it until the bag is full isn't a huge problem.  

How to Build a Solar Light Bulb

Solar power really is the wave of the future.  Currently it is a bit too expensive for many homeowners and not easily incorporated into rental units.  However, there are many simple, DIY solar projects using recycled or low cost parts that can help save a bit of money.  For example:  solar ovens, solar water heating,  solar window heaters, solar greenhouses and cold frames are all something anyone can make using recycled materials.  You really don't have to spend a lot of money to start using a bit of solar around you home.  What you do need is a bit of imagination!

I was browsing YouTube videos the other day for a few gardening ideas when I stumbled upon solar light bulbs.  Now this is about as ingenious as you can get!  Each light bulb is made using a recycled 2 L plastic pop bottle, water, a little chlorine bleach, a small piece of corrugated metal, glue and sealant.  As simple as this sounds, each one of these solar light bulbs produces the equivalent of a 50 W light bulb but uses only solar power.  Basically, the solar lights work this well because the water causes the natural light to refract resulting in a amplification of the light hitting the solar light.  These solar lights are being used in under developed countries like Brazil and Mexico, bringing light into homes where little existed and they are even being used in storage facilities and factories.  The down side is these lights only work during the daylight hours but that is when most of household lighting is used anyway so they will still save money.  Household lighting at night is task or room specific, usually only for a couple of hours.

I can see a definite use in our area of southwestern Ontario for lighting up chicken coops, out buildings like tool sheds and covered boat wells.  It might be possible to adapt these lights for use in an attic but that would mean cutting one or more holes in your house roof, something that might not be desirable.  Well sealed, the solar lights should not leak but for household indoor application an actual solar tub be a better solution.  It does freeze in our area during the winter but a clear anti-freeze agent could be added to the water that wouldn't interfere with the light refraction.  Either glycerin or alcohol would work to prevent the water freezing. 

Here's a video demonstrating how to make the solar lights: 

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Introducing Simple Solutions

Last week I posted a simple solution.  Quite often in homemaking and decorating, simple and inexpensive solutions are all that is needed to make your home a bit more comfortable.  I'm tagging these under the label of simple solutions.  For the most part, these simple solutions are inexpensive and easy DIY projects designed to solve those little, irritating and nagging problems faced by homemakers.  Please watch that label for new posts.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Painter's Tape Isn't Just for Painting

We've all heard how useful duct tape is but my favourite multi-purpose tape is painter's tape.  It is inexpensive and doesn't damage surfaces the way masking tape can.  Although I have a couple of specialty, no bleed through painter's tape, the one I like for general purpose use is the Painter's Mate Green or similar in the 1 - inch wide width.  Here's so of the ways I've used painter's tape:

• temporary labels - Painter's tape is excellent for temporary labels.  I use a Sharpie marker to write on painter's tape creating temporary labels for filled boxes of home canned foods, as a label on filled jars of home canned foods using the Tattler lids, as labels on plastic totes and essentially anywhere I need a label that can easily be removed later.
• furniture placement - Sometimes it is difficult to determine where larger pieces of furniture will go in a room.  Using painter's tape is a lot easier than moving around heavy furniture.  I measure the piece then make the outline on the floor with painter's tape.  It can be moved a couple of times, then once the location has been determined, I mark the centre with painter's tape so the piece can be positioned properly.
• temporary draft stop - A piece of painter's tape placed over electrical outlets is a quick draft fix if you don't have enough of the childproof plug covers that double a draft stoppers.  It works well to stop drafts from any cracks on outer room walls until you get a chance to fix the crack properly.
• hanging pictures - I use painter's tape to aid in the proper planning and placement of painting groups or other wall hangings.  Unlike using string to run between two picture hangers when planning groupings, painter's tape will not sag.
• renovating projects - Painter's tape is a great tool to help you visualize ideas when renovating.  For example, I thought some type of trim would accent the tub/shower unit in the main bathroom but didn't know exactly what.  I taped a 1 - inch strip all around where the trim would go then went ahead and painted the room.  Once the paint was dry I removed the tape to show the old paint behind to see if a frame would work as I planned.  This was a simple solution with the worst case scenario being painting the strip the same colour as the wall.  We did like the effect and chose to have a custom wood frame made.
• temporary indoor game markers - We use painter's tape in the games room to temporarily mark boundaries or other special marks like 'stay behind this line' for indoor games like neurf ball toss, darts and the holy board game. 

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012