Compost Consciousness

What happens when you compost?

Composting is a way of recycling organic matter. In the home, food scraps may be placed in a backyard compost pile or put into a variety of compost bins, where they will break down into humus, or compost. On the commercial level, food scraps collected by an industrial hauler are put into a giant tumbler where they break down into humus, or compost.

Compost is recycled back into the ground in the form of fertilizer for gardens, houseplants, and commercial farmland. Most food-based biodegradable plastic and paper products break down easily and quickly in the commercial composting process.

Are your single-use items biodegradable?
Read the label! Look for items made from: bagasse, bamboo, PLA, or potato starch.

Or look for this logo:

Why not put food waste in the trash?
Every year in the United States, we throw away 27 million tons of garbage. Much of that is food waste or recyclable material. Biodegradable items put in traditional landfills are usually mummified in the capping process used to protect groundwater.

One study cited at BPIworld.org found 40 year old newspapers that were still legible in a San Francisco landfill! Additionally, food is a major producer of methane in landfills. Methane is a greenhouse gas that cows have been blamed for in the past several years. Conscious Cow is glad to clear the air on this subject!

Families and business owners will find that composting saves both money and the earth.

Businesses can visit Find-A-Composter to find the nearest commercial composting facility.

Home composters will find a variety of composting bins at:

Want to raise awareness about composting?
Check out our Compost Consciousness Clothing line.

Conscious Cow chats with CET's JAMIE CAHILLANE:

(originally printed March 19th at the Cow's old blogsite)

Jamie Cahillane, of the Center for Ecological Technology in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, runs CET’s annual Earth Day Textile Drive. Conscious Cow caught up with Jamie today to get more information about textile recycling.

Cow: Why should people recycle textiles?
Jamie: Textiles constitute about 5% of the waste stream. It’s a good way to divert more material and to reduce the volume of waste that goes in the landfill or incinerator. If you think about it; it’s also a way to save energy. There’s a lot of energy that goes into the production of new fabric, whether it’s a natural fiber or oil based fiber. Once it’s made, the energy content is already in place. If you can recycle or reuse it, you’re actually saving energy.
Jamie says there are two possible applications for the fabric claimed at a Textile Drive.
1. RE-USINGCET partners with Goodwill Industries. If the clothing still "has life' in it, it will find it's way onto the bod of some happy discount shopper at one of their stores.
2. RECYCLINGIf the textile can't be re-used, the folks at Goodwill either cut it into rags, or they bale it up and ship it to a textile market, where it can be resold and ultimately made into new fabric.

Cow: Do you know of textile drives in other states?
Jamie: This is very unique. I don’t think anyone else does this [except] when a college has move-out. They’ll collect things and donate to charities. This is CET's 14th drive, and it’s unique because it is a way for people to donate materials. and it’s a way to raise awareness.
Last year we collected 26,000 pounds of clothes.
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Conscious Cow FACT: 26,000 pounds of clothing is enough to fill a semi-trailer.
Although Goodwill pays CET for the clothes collected, the endeavor is not profitable enough to support what CET does. CET organizes the Textile Drive each year to raise people’s consciousness about the clothing and textiles that should be reused or recycled. It’s also an opportunity for CET to tell people about the other things they do, such as working with utilities to coordinate energy conservation audits, and coordinating hazardous waste collection. CET even sells lightbulbs.


Jamie & Conscious Cow agree: it's time to raise consciousness about clothing and textiles! As part of the waste stream, fabric should be treated like paper.

It's up to you! Don't toss it in the trash; clean it up and make available for someone else to use. Re-use it or Recycle it!

If you live outside of CET's service area, Jamie encourages you to donate your old clothes, curtains, and other fabrics to organizations such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, or a local religious organization or community center. There are opportunities to donate clothing no matter where you are.
FOR MORE INFO, see the NEWS FLASH posted earlier today, or visit CET's website: http://www.cetonline.org/

RECYCLE OLD CLOTHES: Earth Day Textile Drive in Massachusetts

a NEWSFLASH from the Center for Ecological Technology

Don't miss CET's 14th annual Earth Day Textile Drive to collect old clothing and household textiles for reuse and recycling. All types of clothing will be accepted, including sweaters, shirts, skirts, pants, jackets, overcoats and raincoats. Blankets, gloves, socks, paired shoes and winter boots, sheets, towels, and curtains are also acceptable.
Clothing must be clean, dry and packed in strong plastic bags, such as garbage or lawn-leaf bags. Rugs, carpeting and pillows will not be accepted. Please do not bring clothes on hangers.
This collection is open to all Berkshire county residents as well as those living in southern Vermont and eastern New York state.
Clothing collected during the drive will be resold when possible or recycled, and donations of these materials provide a way for the community to support CET's environmental programs.
WHEN: Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 2610 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday
WHERE:CET112 Elm StreetPittsfield, MA
The event is coordinated with assistance from the Southern Berkshire Solid Waste Management District. For more information, contact Jamie Cahillane at (413) 445-4556 ext. 14.

२००९ ओसान कांसेर्वंक्य कास्टल क्लेअनुप इस Coming

Join the 2009 Coastal Cleanup!
Each year, the Ocean Conservancy sponsors a worldwide Coastal Cleanup. In 2008, over seven million tons of trash were collected at sites throughout the world. OC volunteers do much more than just collect the trash - they analyze it. Here's what they learned by combing through the trash (ahem... OUR trash) that washed ashore in 2008:
443 animals were found trapped by marine debris (aka trash!) Of those, only 268 were ALIVE and able to be released.
11.4 MILLION ITEMS were collected, which together equaled the weight of 18 blue whales.
Trash impacts wildlife, including sea animals.
The EPA reports more than 50% of trash found in the ocean starts out on land. Volunteers collected 1,362,741 cigarette butts in the United States; 19,504 fishing nets in the United Kingdom; and 11,077 diapers in the Philippines.