For the majority of us "northerners" (especially here in Ohio) fall is rolling to an end and the blistery gusts from the great lakes are descending upon us. Making for a not so fun commute in the morning as well as hibernation to set in. I personally do not mind winter....maybe that stems from living six years without knowing snow but I think its beautiful. I will miss my walks in the parks and outdoor adventures, in some sick and twisted way it makes me appreciate spring even more. Winter does bring about a doom and gloom to the area, especially when the snow becomes dirty sludge creating a not so pretty view from any window. Just because winter is setting in does not mean we can all become slobs and forget about the most advanced piece of technology around, Mother Nature. With that being said fall provides many opportunities to not only enjoy but help the environment.
Leaf me alone....
Not only is raking leaves almost as bad as mowing the lawn but....
Raking leaves may kill Fish
The Ohio Environmental Protection Society, asked local residents to not rake their leaves due to the leaves being washed away and carried into storm drains and waterways. This ultimately causes an over abundance of algae, which suffocates fish by greatly reducing oxygen levels in the water. Alternatively if you prefer a preened yard put leaves into a biodegradable bag like this one.
Nature will take care of them for you
If you only have a few trees in your yard leaves will not suffocate your lawn. Most lawns go into a dormitory state by the time leaves begin falling. So no, it will not kill your grass. Leaves are biodegradable and will decompose by springtime. To ensure they break down run them over with the lawn mower to finely chop them up, in fact this method will increase the health of your lawn by providing a great nutrient source to your grass.
Towpath Cuyahoga Valley
Don't forget you can always compost those leaves for your garden in the spring!!
Landfill Schmandfill...
When your filling up your trash can with all the eggshells, flower, burnt mystery things and leftovers from the holidays remember all of those things can still be composted. Just because its winter does not mean forget about recycling.
Silence of the Pumpkins
Toss your pumpkin back into the garden. This may be a little Dr. Lector ish but by spring it will have decomposed, leave your seeds in it or plant new and by fall next year you'll have some fabulous plump pumpkins grown from the nutrients from the previous years pumpkins
* many birds, squirrels and other small animals love pumpkin as well. If your lucky they'll gobble that pumpkin up and leave you some fresh fertilizer!
Wardrobe Swap!!
STOP!! Don't throw away last seasons clothes. Every year I dig out totes of winter clothes toss the grungy ones and the ones that last x-mas dinner do not make look nice out. But in all reality we shouldn't be throwing away clothes. One mans trash is another's treasure right? well there are millions of organizations around the world like the Good Will or Salvation Army that can help people in need put clothes on there backs. Additionally researching some local charities would be a fantastic idea. Many smaller local charities offer clothing for free to homeless or low income families.
Don't wanna get rid of all those college t-shirts? make a t-shirt quilt out of them. Other things you can utilize old clothing for is making purses from old jeans, Halloween costumes, and what I like to do use them for cleaning cloths. Use your imagination and anything can have another use!
Beat the Heat.....
We all know that cars emit some hundreds of gas emissions while there running, so why do we start the car then sit in the house for 10-15 min so it can heat up and melt the snow? Well I can answer that one.. who wants to freeze the first half of there drive to work, and its a lot of work de-icing and scraping snow of my car. We as humans are naturally lazy. Think about it there is always something that will make our lives that much easier. Anywhoo by not "heating" up your car you can greatly reduce your carbon footprint. A study in the UK found that 2,150 tons of CO2 are emitted from heating up cars a year. Can you imagine the amount for the US? Not only are you producing CO2 when you heat up your car but you are wasting precious and expensive gasoline. All in all by not warming up your car you can...
- Reduce you carbon footprint
- Reduce your gas usage
- Burn calories scraping snow off of your car by yourself
So in conclusion Fall doesn't mean forget about living green , its more of living green with lots of orange and brown around you.
Thanks for reading and check back for more being green today information!
As Always,
Peace, Love, and Green
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