Compost on Shine

Bag It: How to kick the plastic bag habit for good

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When polyethylene plastic bags hit the American supermarket about forty years ago, they were hailed as convenient and easy to use.

A lot's changed in forty years.

Post-Katrina Environmentalism in New Orleans: Can I Get An Organic Sno-Ball With That?

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I spent last week with my family in New Orleans where people still feel the wake of Hurricane Katrina. That was five years ago but there are areas where the city looks like some kind of Potter-esque villain pointed a wand and waved a swath of nothingness across a neighborhood. No cars. No trees.…

Compost and its rewards

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On the first day of spring, in this corner of the Epi office, thoughts are turning to deck-, backyard- and rooftop-based urban farming. Some of us have a headstart.

Last winter my boyfriend and I bought an indoor composter. I was…

Staycation, all I ever wanted

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What do you do when you have three kids and your husband just got back from a 20-day business trip? You take a vacation. What do you do when you have three kids and in-laws who can only take about 24-hours of them? You take a staycation. It’s cheaper, shorter and surprisingly more…

Eco-Efficient Appliances for the Home and Garden

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Conserving energy and water is a smart move for both the environment and your wallet. These eco-intelligent appliances will not only cut costs but also help make your home—and the planet—a better place to live.

13 Ways to Reuse Coffee and Coffee Grounds

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I run on coffee. Even my dog knows not to bother me in the morning until I have a few sips of java percolating through my system. That means I have a lot coffee grounds. In the spirit of the 3 green R's Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, Iâ€™ve found 13 ways to reuse those old coffee grounds....

Learn How To Cultivate Compost

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Looking for a practical, inexpensive, and ecologically sound way to grow your best garden ever? With compost you can improve the soil, deter disease, mulch, prevent weeds, conserve water, and fertilize plants. Compost happens when the right ratio of nitrogen- and carbon-rich organic waste is mixed with soil, water, and air. How it gets from garbage to gold might seem like magic, but the breakdown of organic waste is due to billions of soil-dwelling critters and good microbes that include bacteria, fungi, earthworms, and other beneficial creatures. Here's the proper recipe to follow.

Speak for Yourself: How often do you clean out your pantry?

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Yesterday, Apartment Therapy blogged Sunset magazine's story "7 organizing tips that really work," and although a lot of the advice, while wonderful and sound, is stuff you can more or less figure out with common sense, I did stop short at the instructions for organizing/cleaning out the pantry. Wait, what? I'll admit, fridge-clean-out day happens with some frequency at my house, as I have a nasty habit of not managing to eat all my perishables before they, um, perish, but it's possible that I have never in my life (save when moving apartments, which actually used to happen pretty often, too) cleaned out my "pantry"—or whatever served as a pantry at the time. Am I alone here? Does anyone else have years-old packages of Minute Rice (or the last forgotten packets of ramen from your undergrad days) tucked in the back corners of the cabinet? If so, set aside 15 minutes of your day and let's do this together.

1. First, pull all the food out onto the counter where you can see it. (This also means you get to see all the little left-behind stuff at the back of the pantry shelves and clean it out.)

2. Then, take Sunset's advice and sort the food into 3 piles:

How "green" are you willing to be?

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How far are you willing to go for the planet?

I passed my TCNP Exam, I am Texas Certified!

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Our First try at Proven Winner Sedum (unusual look and so fantastically fun) I will take a pic of them as potted up quarts and 4", soon as they are ready. This is how we received them as plugs. Whew! Another great week in the Greenhouse. I am now a Certified Texas Nursery...