Green Options

Editor’s note: This week, Celsias writer Jessica Gottlieb takes a look at some of the practical aspects of incorporating green practices into a household’s routine. Is it easy? Not always. Is it worth it? Definitely! This post was originally published on September 25, 2007.

Yes? No? Maybe so?

The conversations all start the same.

I’d really like to be green but I don’t see myself with a compost pile at

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I’ll admit it, I was one of those little kids who patrolled gutters during rainstorms to save drowning worms. All these years later, I have a new appreciation for them. Honestly, what’s not to love about critters that reduce global warming, help you garden, and will eat most things that you toss their way? As pets, they may not be much to look at, and they’re decidedly bad at playing fetch. But compare them

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One morning this summer, my family and I drove to a warehouse in an industrial park on the west side of Chicago to do our eco-duty. We were finally going to buy a composting bin for our condo building. I was delighted to see we weren’t alone in that dusty parking lot. Dozens of other Chicagoans turned out to take advantage of discounted composting bins and rain barrels on offer from the

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I’ve been feeling the pressure to compost lately. Once the domain of country-dwellers, composting has come to the city in a big way. Recent news from Vancouver, Canada, reports that composting is way up, thanks to a strike by the city’s municipal workers that has stopped garbage pickup.

The benefits of composting are undeniable: reduced waste to landfills, and the result of compost is a nutrient-rich material called humus that makes the

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The Earth Tub

Question: What are some ways that hotels who produce large volumes of food sraps minimize wastes? Currently all food scraps are thrown into a large commercial compactor bin. Any ideas how this can be overcome and a more eco-efficient strategy adopted?

Answer: My local co-op recently implemented one solution for large amounts of food waste. It's called the Earth Tub, a commercial duty composter made

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Bentley Christie is co-author of the EcoSherpa Sustainable Living Blog.

Setting up your own indoor worm composting bin can be a fascinating and truly rewarding experience - but it's not without its fair share of potential headaches, especially for the uninitiated. I've been an avid vermicomposter myself for nearly 10 years, so I can honestly say I've developed a certain 'feel' for it by now, but it wasn't always second nature.

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I wrote about my class visit to the landfill (oh yes, I've been to TWO different landfills in the last six months) and about how that has impacted both my students and our school. Along with kicking butt in paper recycling (our Abitibi dumpster was filled to the brim today in our first post-spring-break recycling collection), we've slowly but surely started plastic bottle recycling.

Even our small school (320 students) generates

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Poster and essay contests are widely-used avenues to engage students in environmental activism, but are often solitary activities that involve individual students.

For those teachers looking for something more hands-on, opportunities beyond the traditional poster contests challenge teachers and students to design creative solutions to environmental problems. Students benefit by having a structured setting to think critically and creatively, problem solve, and work cooperatively (not to mention the possibility of extrinsic reward for

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Editor's note: "Weekly DIY" is a new Green Options blog series that will show you green projects, both small and large, that you can do yourself with readily available materials.

Worm composting is one of those practices that's going to earn you strange looks — mention your "worm bin," and you'll inevitably see a raised eyebrow, often followed by the question "What's a worm bin?"