at the beginning of the year i moved from the suburbs of northern florida to beautiful san francisco, california. moving from the suburbs of the south to an urban area like san francisco has been quite the change, but definitely a good one. the city of sf recycles and composts, so i don't have to worry about that, but do any other members live in urban areas? what are some ideas for sustainability, going green, etc? i dumpster dive, and all of my furniture/appliances that are in my apartment were found/acquired on the street for free. that is one great thing about sf- you can find anything you need for free on the side of the road. has anybody read either of these books? are they worth looking into? farm city: the education of an urban farmer http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bo...781101059180&ourl=Farm-City/Novella-Carpenter growing greener cities: urban sustainability in the 21st century http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Greener-Cities-Sustainability-Twenty-First/dp/0812220374
I haven't read those books, but I live in a city like suburb university town in Delaware. I don't have a backyard, porch or balcony, but I do have a roof that I can access by my bedroom window. (Not the entire roof, but the section right outside my window) Right now, there are tree seeds growing (my husband's project), a small container for fruit/veggie/tea waste, a huge container for our stored water and a small space for container gardening. For some really weird stupid reason, the city were I live does to recycling, but only to houses. I live above a store and am not allowed to put out a recycle container in front. My landlord would have to approve it and that's not going to happen. As soon as we find out where there is a place we can take recyclables, we'll do that. The trash here is picked through for recyclables. I do (used to) dumpster dive, but the rich kids who live here dumpster all and leave nothing and pretty much trash it so there are cops everywhere. If i need anything, I'll use thrift shops, ask around or wait until the end of the year when the college kiddies leave. Let's see, I also do guerrilla gardening to a point, putting seeds wherever I see grass. I want to do more on the composting toilets and rainwater. I just try to consume less (or by needs). We've been car free for going on five years now. That saved what little money we did have.
I agree that it's utterly stupid, but here's the reason for it: where I live anyway, the cost for picking up the recycle bins is added to the municipal garbage collection bill. In the case of apartment buildings, etc, the owner of the building would have to agree to pay for the collection. This is terribly shortsighted of them, but that's the reason, as stupid as it is. It is true, however, that most cities have recycle centers where you can haul the stuff yourself.
I don't have a car, so the one that I do know about is pretty far away. There used to be one closer for the college kids, but they moved it... for some strange reason. I do try to recycle usage in my own home before ultimately being done with it.
Could you elaborate on how your city does composting? I was actually JUST thinking about writing to city hall about some possible program for collecting grass clippings for compost.
We're NOW living in the country, have an expanding garden, and I am learning to preserve some foods we are growing. Easiest way is just blanch and freeze, but there is also dehydrating, canning, fermenting. Seems like one thing that would be worthwhile to learn even if in the city, is how to preserve stuff in season, like, say, peaches, or strawberries. It is a lot of work! Or growing some herbs and then PRESERVING or DOING SOMETHING with them. Besides living outside the city, off the grid, in a hobbit home, or such, there are more basic things that everybody can try. Even learning to make beef jerky, or picking the pears off some huge old pear tree where the pears have just gone to waste for years and years, or teensy crabapples, and LEARNING to preserve them, or learning to prune and restore an old fruit tree in the back yard ... would be ... um ... good. Or, buy some acorn squash or other kind of what's called "winter squash," (called winter squash 'cause they're for storing over WINTER) or sweet potatoes, or apples, NOW, at "harvest time," when they are reasonably inexpensive (I got sweet potatoes for 69-cents a pound) and FIGURE OUT HOW TO KEEP THEM through winter. Sweet potatoes, mostly, just have to be kept dry in a basket or airy place and at about 55 - 65F and they'll keep months. So you can be eating 69-cent sweet potatoes in March when they're $1.59 a pound in the grocery stores. And in March if they start putting out sprouts? those are "sweet potato slips," you can pull them off the sweet potato and plant them to grow more sweet potatoes ...
if you are really interested in green living, my friend is starting a commune in Berkeley and he is looking for good people to help him get the house organized to have more people move in. There is an organic garden and orchard in the backyard, a biodome, fully furnished, very spacious and private. if anyones interested call (510)665-5942 ask for Sand
