Composting - 2 1/2 months later!

We started composting back in late April (more on that here and here). Several people have asked for an update on how it's going so here's the post. Honestly, the biggest issue was finding a place for our compost tumbler. We picked it up at Costco back in May for about $100 (thanks to my friend with a membership).  I ultimately decided to keep it in the driveway next to our trash cans. Trash cans are already not pretty pretty or the cleanest so adding the compost tumbler to the same area really wasn't a big deal.

 Inside the compost looks like this. It really doesn't smell but there are a lot of little flies in there.

So far, it has been really easy once we started getting in the habit. It really does not smell bad - definitely not as bad as our trash can filled with diapers!  We are mostly composting kitchen food waste and some yard waste - grass clippings and plant trimmings - all "green."  We have thrown in some shredded paper and some sawdust for added "brown" stuff to balance out the carbon/nitrogen mix.  Although some people advised against composting fruit, we have composted fruit from the beginning and haven't noticed any extra smell. Our tumbler is rodent proof so the extra sugar should not be a problem. Fruit seems to break down quickly. In fact, everything seems to break down quickly! I am still experimenting with what needs to be chopped up. We do not put corn cobs in because we have heard they take forever to break down.

A friend recommended getting some compost accelerator (or starter) which seemed to get things going really quickly. I think we'll probably scoop everything that's in there now into a plastic box and let it finish in there. If we keep adding to the tumbler, it will never be "finished" and ready for use in the garden. If we take out what's in there later this week (it's supposed to be super hot here the next few days), I think we'll have a good shot at having some compost ready to use by later this summer.

We are still using our the World Market countertop compost holder. It sits nicely on the counter near the sink.

Definitely worth $14. When it's full or it starts to smell, time to take it out. Generally that coincides with either a full trash or recycling bin so it has not been a big deal at all.

Overall, I don't feel like we have greatly reduced our trash but I do think we run the garbage disposal less than we did before we composted. I definitely feel good about salvaging our food waste in a way that hopefully we'll be able to benefit from down the road.

Happy Earth Day!

Probably a total cliche to talk about environmental stuff on Earth Day but so be it. If you told me 10 years ago that I would be "environmentalist" I would have laughed in your face. We didn't even recycle back then - at least not regularly. But, somehow 10 years of life and 2 kids, and watching video of polar bears swimming between ice flows (thanks Al Gore) has brought me around. Although I am not a crazy tree-hugger by any means (although my brother would probably disagree), I am really happy we've made some important but relatively simple changes in our lives which will hopefully help decrease our impact on the Earth. Here are a few changes we've made which I think are relatively simple for anyone to do.

www.earthday.org

1) Recycle. Recycling is super easy especially now that most municipalities offer recycling services. Admittedly, it's soooo much easier when your recycling is picked up at the curb like it is in Arlington. As a sign of the times, the County recently upgraded everyone to a much larger recycling container which is almost the same size as the regular trash can. We previously had a small bin which barely held a week's worth of newspapers. We recycle all plastics, metals (including tin foil), glass, and as much paper as possible.We have a small recycling container behind our pull-out trash can and a paper recycling basket in our kitchen closet. Keeping the recycling containers handy makes all the difference. I am considering putting a recycling container upstairs so I can easily sort before they go in the regular trash cans.

2) Lights. As I am writing this, I am noticing how many lights are on around here. Earth Day Fail! I have been making an effort to turn lights off at night so only the rooms we are using have lights on. In addition, we are using table lamps instead of the overhead can lights more and more.

I have also been working on changing out our incandescent light bulbs for CFLs. Generally, the only bulbs we haven't changed out are the dimmable lights - chandeliers and flood lights for the most part. I still haven't changed all of the guest room lights but those rooms are rarely used so the impact would be minimal compared to the cost to change them out. I also need to change out the bulbs in a few overhead fixtures upstairs - maybe this afternoon! I generally use the Sylvania bulbs that I buy at BJs Warehouse. The Sylvania CFL instant-on bulbs are really great for bathrooms or anywhere you need immediate bright light. They cost about $10 for four 60 watt equivalent bulbs, compared to $11 for eight of the regular CFLs.



3) Compost. We started composting earlier this year which we hope will have the dual benefit of helping reduce waste that goes to a trash incinerator while also providing some great mulch for our plants. (Read about our composting efforts here and here.)

4) Appliances. Our most recent appliance purchases have been Energy Star Certified or more environmentally friendly. We bought our new washer and dryer earlier this year to replace our energy-hogging 8 year old models. During our whole house renovation we bought an Energy Star rated refrigerator and Bosch dishwasher. We also installed a second tank-less hot water heater, and a second high-efficiency furnace.

5) Insulation. When we redid the house we added foam insulation in the attic and a lot of insulation in the walls in the basement, first and second stories. I think this has made a huge difference in our energy consumption. In fact, our gas and electric bills are only a few dollars more per month than they were before our renovation - and that includes the extra 1800 square feet!

6) Reduce waste. Overall, we try to reduce the amount of waste we create. We use our fridge filter instead of bottled water whenever possible. I use a permanent coffee filter. We rarely use paper cups and plates except for very large parties. We don't use paper towels in the bathrooms. We still use paper napkins and paper towels, but hopefully when the kids are a little older (and maybe less messy?), we'll be able to reduce our paper napkin use. We sell, give away, or donate things that we are no longer using instead of putting them out with the trash.

What are you doing to reduce your environmental impact on the Earth? Any easy tips to share with others?
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p.s. The HOUSEography Room-by-Room House Tour continues Monday with your Home Office, Craft Room, Sewing Room, "Mom Cave", or other special nook in your home!

Getting our compostin' on: FAQs

Before we talk about rotting veggies, I have to wish my beautiful little girl a happy 5th birthday! Time flies but I enjoy each age even more than the next so there is always something to look forward to (except maybe the teen years!).

Back to the regularly scheduled programming...

As I blogged about yesterday, we're getting our compostin' on. In case you are thinking about composting, I wanted to share a little bit of the stuff that I have come up with in my composting research. Yesterday, I posted about our new compost tumbler so today I thought I would give you an idea of what we plan to compost and not compost. We also plan to involve the kids as much as possible, so we'll let you know how that goes. I have a feeling they are going to be itching to give their unwanted veggies back to the garden!


First, here are some of the sites that I used to come up with these answers. These sites are FILLED with info so definitely check them out if you need more info.

VegWeb
Mike McGrath
eartheasy
EPA
Planet Green

Q: Why compost?
Composting takes stuff you would throw away and turns it into a great soil supplement for your garden, plants, or shrubs. This minimizes waste that goes into landfills and incinerators. Compost is better for the environment than chemical fertilizers.

Q: What can we compost?

An amazing amount of stuff! Everything from strawberry tops to dryer lint! Here's a list of what we plan to try composting:

• fruit and vegetable scraps
• coffee grounds
• grass clippings
• leaves (ground up in our leaf vacuum)
• flowers and cuttings
• crushed eggshells
• dryer lint
• shrub prunings
• saw dust (hubby is happy!)

 If you have a giant compost pile, check out these ideas. Condoms? Really?


Q: What should we not compost?
Although most things are technically compostable, there are a lot of things that won't compost quickly or they will stink and therefore attract rodents. Yuck. So, these are the things that we will not be composting (among lots of others I'm sure).

Q: What's a good mix of compost?

It's important to balance between nitrogen and carbon compost. Carbon-rich material (ground leaves, sawdust, eggshells) keeps the compost lighter. Nitrogen-rich material (grass clippings, fruit and veggie scraps, shrub clippings) help make the enzymes necessary to break-down the compost. Here's a great list from eartheasy which delineates between the carbon and nitrogen. Most sites recommend getting a compost accelerator which can be purchased at garden supply stores.

Q: Does it smell?
It should not smell rotten or gross, but earthy. We'll have to let you know as we continue along in this process!

Q: Where should you put the compost bin?
I have heard a mix of advice between sun and shady locations. Some sun seems to be required to help create the heat necessary for break-down. For now, we are putting our tumbler near our trash cans for convenience which get some afternoon sun but not full day sun.

Q: How long until the compost is ready to be used?
I've heard a range of answers which probably depend on what you are composting. It seems like 8-11 weeks is a safe bet. When our compost tumbler gets fairly full, we'll probably move the compost to a smaller plastic storage bin with a tight-fitting lid so it can "finish" in there. We can store a few of those discretely next to our garage until we are ready to use them.

Q: What do you do with the compost once it's ready?
The compost can be added to soil around plants and shrubs. You can add it to veggie gardens but it seems that this should only be done after harvest because the compost should sit for several weeks before planting.

I hope you found this little summary helpful! I'm sure there will be loads of other questions as we go along so I'll work on keeping this list updated as I have more questions and find the answers!

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House Tour Link Party starts MONDAY with LIVING AND FAMILY ROOMS! Full schedule and details right here tomorrow!

Changing Parts of our Existing House During Renovation

Because we've lived in our house for 6.5 years, we are fully aware of the short-comings of our existing house which cannot be changed by simply adding a big box on the back. First, our dining room is just a couple of feet too short. With furniture on 3 walls (buffet, china cabinet, and liquor cabinet), it is difficult to center our table where it should be. Second, our closets on the second floor are ridiculously small. The closet in our bedroom is so small that you cannot get a hanger in the closet in the regular way so we had to put bars two bars for my husband going perpendicular to the doorway on one side and shelves for sweaters and t-shirts on the other. I think it's a rather ingenious solution (it was my idea after all!) but it's still a ridiculously small closet.

Finally, our upstairs floors have never been refinished since we moved in. In fact, we only ripped the carpet out a year or so ago, since it was practically new when we moved in. (Note: If I could do it again, I would have ripped out ALL the carpet before we moved in and had all of the floors refinished then - lesson learned!). Finally, our upstairs hall bathroom needs a new floor and possibly a vanity.

So, when we entered into this renovation adventure, our intent was to change all of these things. Since we needed to get the floors refinished upstairs, it made sense to adjust the closets at this point since there will be floor exposed and changed. Most of the patching will be in the new closets, but still it makes the most sense to do the floors all at once (yet another reason to move out!). Fixing the closets for long-term use is also important. We have one daughter (and we don't know the sex of baby-to-be), so we KNOW she'll likely have a lot of clothes that will need to be hung out.

As I said in a previous post about moving our stairs, a major bonus of this project is that our oddly L-shaped tiny bedroom (about 8 x 11) will become a real bedroom about 11x12 in the end, so there will be significant floor patching in that room which will warrant floor refinishing.

As for the upstairs bathroom, during our interviews with contractors, several said it may be impossible to just replace the floor because the old tile can be very brittle and the tile walls could be cracked in the process. If that happened, then that would mean gutting the bathroom. Since this is a totally separate project which would not affect anything else in the house, we decided to put this off. Our bathroom is totally usable and not in horrible condition by any means (although it needs new paint or re-wallpapering) so it can definitely be put off for a later date. If anyone has successfully replaced a tile floor but not the walls on a 70 year old house, I would love to hear about it!

So, we are moving forward with most of the changes that we want to make. The hall bathroom can wait but since it won't detract from the house as it is, we'll just wait.

As you consider your addition, look closely at the parts of your existing house which you would like to change and consider including those in the project. In our case, the additional cost was minimal but the long-term benefits are huge.

Reusing Brick

In the Washington, D.C. close-in suburbs, the majority of older houses are brick which presents some challenges for major exterior renovations. When adding to a brick house, you have to consider whether you want to continue the brick or whether you want to side the addition, or put a new finish on the entire house such siding or stucco. Another option is to side the addition and paint the rest of the brick to match the siding. Brick has a lot of advantages - basically maintenance free, has a classic look, and is incredibly strong. Our house has "brick and block" walls which means that the walls are cement blocks with bricks on the outside which are connected to the blocks every few layers. Our walls are approximately 9" thick!

We are planning to take a hybrid approach and will put siding on our addition but brick the foundation to tie in the old house with the new addition. Our foundation comes up quite a bit in the back because of the slight slope of our yard so it will be clearly visible in the back of the house. We've opted to try to reuse the brick from our garage and back porch (more pictures just uploaded to the "Before Pictures"). Although this is more labor-intensive because the mortar has to be removed from the brick before it can be used, it can ultimately save you money because you do not have to buy new brick and you do not have to dispose of the old brick. Also, depending on how old your brick is, it may be hard to even find new brick that matches, not just because of color but because of older bricks are generally smaller than bricks currently on the market. It's also a much "greener" approach to building which we fully support (we plan to incorporate some other green elements in our renovation).

Our builder took a hunk of brick out of the back of our garage over the weekend (as seen on the picture at the right) so that he can work with his brick-layer to match the mortar and examine the brick. Jim the builder (as opposed to Jim the husband) thinks that the brick can be reused because the mortar seems to come off easy enough and the bricks are hard enough. Fortunately we have a lot of brick to work with from both our garage and our brick back porch (photo above) which has to come off to accommodate our addition.

Keeping Classic Details and Character

When we bought our house, we felt fortunate that our house retained many of its original details - hardwood floors (protected by carpeting), original moulding, original kitchen, and no strange reconfigurations to the floor plan. When we were shopping for houses, we saw many houses which had undergone horrific "remodels" in the 1970s where all the molding was removed or horrible kitchen renovations complete with wood-grain formica cabinets and rust-colored countertops. So, although our house needed some cosmetic upgrades, we at least didn't have to undo anything that had been done previously. The majority of our work was painting, floor refinishing, and landscaping but nothing too serious. We also knew from the beginning that if we were going to stay in this house long-term, we would have to add on and do a major renovation. As a result, we only did a minor kitchen renovation (painted walls and cabinets, vinyl black and white tile, and new appliances) to make it livable.

As we are preparing to do change a lot of things about our house, we are making a big effort to keep the character of the house which we love. In our plans we stipulated that all moldings in the house should be matched in the addition including baseboard, window molding, crown molding, and wood floors. We are also looking for ways to make small details like the interior door knobs match our existing original glass knobs and brass back plates. We can probably achieve this by reusing the existing closet door knobs on the main hallway doors for the bedrooms so when you look down the hall, it's not obvious which are the new rooms. Over the years, we have replaced some chipped or broken knobs by purchasing new ones on eBay or at local garage sales. We'll probably do that again if we find we need more to match, or we'll check out some local salvage places.

DC has several great local options for architectural, including Community Forklift, The Brass Knob, The Brass Knob Backdoors (for big stuff), and Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Habitat has ReStores around the country so check their website for local options. You can also Google - "architectural salvage [your city name]" and you'll probably find some good local options. Many places (including the Brass Knob) offer nationwide shipping so if you find what you need in their catalogue (or they can find it for you), you can get it sent to you. Price-wise, you'll probably do better at Community Forklift or the ReStore, or even eBay as opposed to the speciality options, but you may be more likely to find it at the speciality store. Community Forklift and ReStore also have modern items such as appliances, new hardware, and other building supplies. I'll keep you updated on our efforts to make changes in keeping with our 1940s house as we move along with the renovation.