August 1, 2021 DIY Backyard Composting

There are many different ways to compost at home.  Options include: an open backyard pile, a bin that you build yourself or a bin that you buy.  Whatever you choose, put your compost pile:

1)  In a shady area so it doesn’t dry out

2)  Directly on the soil/grass so critters have access

3)  Near kitchen and garden hose for easy access

Click here for LOTS OF DETAILS about backyard composting!

July 25, 2021 Alternatives to Curbside Composting

If curbside composting does not work for your household, you can take your own kitchen/yard waste to the Longmont Waste Division center during staffed hours.  Don’t forget your utility bill to show at the window. Click here to see all items accepted for composting at the Waste Division Center.  
140 Martin St. Longmont Mon-Sat 8am-4pm

July 11, 2021 Curbside Composting Costs Less!

Did you know that when you compost AND recycle, you need a much smaller garbage bin?  And that makes your monthly trash collection cost LESS! $19.50 compared to $24.00 for weekly  OR  $13.10 compared to $24.00 for every other week trash pick-up.  A win for you and a win for God’s beautiful Earth. Click here for details via the City of Longmont website.

July 4, 2021 Curbside Composting.

The curbside composting process is as easy as putting your yard waste and branches, food (including meat, dairy, and bones), soiled paper (e.g. napkins, paper towels, tissues), shredded paper, and other organic materials in your curbside compost cart provided by the City. Click here for a list of compostable items.

June 22, 2021 Composting cont...

Every little bit helps. By choosing to compost, and by getting in the habit of sorting your waste, you help:

• Save landfill space and delay building a new one
• Reduce methane (a potent greenhouse gas)
• Enrich and improve soils
• Support Longmont's sustainability goals for waste reduction. 

June 6, 2021 Let’s (start) Talking About Compost!

Consider: waste is a human invention; we are the only creatures on Earth that don’t live a zero-waste existence. The result? Over 60 billion pounds of mineral-rich food materials unnecessarily go to landfills each year in the U.S. alone.  Food waste that goes to landfill creates methane gas, which is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide and worsens the climate crisis.   

The amount of methane emitted through a well-managed compost heap at home? ZERO. Easier still, curb-side composting with our City.

March 2021 Tips for committing to a Lenten Carbon Fast. 

A carbon fast, or practicing a low carbon diet, means making lifestyle choices to reduce greenhouse gases.

One way to do that, is to commit to low or no waste grocery shopping.   Some ways to reduce the waste when shopping for groceries are to buy unpackaged fresh fruits and vegetables, bringing your own container to a bulk food store, investing in some produce bags to transport fresh foods, avoid prepared foods, and bring your own grocery bags.

You can also watch where the food you purchase is grown or raised.  Products that must be transported from across the country or world have a much higher carbon footprint than locally raised and harvested options.

This one seems hard, but consider limiting your meat intake.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture's recommended dietary allowance for most adults is 56 grams of protein per day for men (an 8-ounce burger made with 85 percent lean ground beef) and 46 grams for women (a small skinless chicken breast). But Americans typically consume twice that amount. So try buying half as much protein-based foods and opt for pasture-raised meat and dairy. 

February 2021 Tips:

Commit to an Earth Care Lenten Practice: Presbyterians for Earth Care have shared a beautiful Lenten Devotional for 2021. "Let the voices in this devotional move your heart, and accept their invitation into joining in communion with all creation."  Or choose the daily action calendar written by the Presbyterian Hunger Program called Tread Lightly for Lent.  Both devotionals can be found at this link.  You may also consider trying a carbon fast.   Not a low carb fast, a low carbon fast.  A low carbon diet means making lifestyle choices to reduce greenhouse gases. Such a diet minimizes emissions released from the production, packaging, processing, transport, preparation and waste of food.  Just google the phrase "low carbon diet" to find all sorts of suggestions online.

Change your lightbulbs to eco-friendly types: CFL and LED bulbs can emit 25-80% less energy than traditional incandescents, plus they last longer!  Consider this greener alternative when it comes time to replenishing those bulbs.  We did!  CENTRALongmont found an LED bulb that works in the 12 uplights around the cornice in the sanctuary. Thank you Mike Weaver for installing them!   The total wattage will drop from 3600 watts to 360 watts.  Next up, the can lights in Fellowship Hall! 

Final Tip of the Week for 2020 Connect with God's Creation

Christmas is a time for giving and a time for family. What a great opportunity to start a family tradition of giving back to the earth and instilling the values of sustainable living to your children, friends, and community.  Bundle up and spend some time outdoors, connecting with God’s Creation.  Take a hike as a family, participate in the annual Christmas Day bird count or decorate a tree with edible treats for the birds.  Click here for more details.   Merry Christmas from the Earth Care team!

Tip of the Week 12/13 Have a Green(er) Christmas

Did you know that Americans produce 25% MORE TRASH during the holidays? But we don’t have to!
This green holiday guide will help you have a meaningful, waste-free holiday season.  It is filled with ideas such as alternatives to gift wrapping paper, which is made from high clay and low paper content, making it difficult to recycle.  For more ideas, click here!

Tip of the Week 12/6 Have a Green(er) Christmas

Some holiday gifts fill a practical need and need to be bought new. But many gifts are really gestures of thoughtfulness. You can give more while spending less.  Not All Gifts Have to Be Store-Bought

You can give more while spending less by giving gifts that are personal and unique. While young children may favor the bright, shiny store-bought item, most adults appreciate anything that shows thoughtfulness. Here’s a page with some great ideas for meaningful holiday gifts that aren’t found on store shelves: Tips for Sustainable Giving.

Tip of the Week 11/15 - 11/30 Revisit Previous Tips of the Week

We have published 18 tips of the week since we started this journey in July.  For the remainder of November, we encourage you to revisit previous tips.  What were your favorites or
where do you think you could still improve?  And thank you for caring!

Tip of the Week 11/01 Read the Commentary I Can’t Breathe

This week, we defer to the Eradicating Systemic Poverty reflection shared with you in this week’s

e-newsletter. This essay was shared through the Presbyterians for Earth Care newsletter earlier in October and was written by Dave Wasserman, a retired minister residing in Taos, New Mexico.

For the full text, please click here.

Tip of the Week 10/25 Watch A Life on Our Planet

A Witness Statement by Sir David Attenborough

This film serves as Attenborough’s witness statement for the natural world.  In his 93 years, Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. Now, for the first time he reflects upon both the defining moments of his lifetime as a naturalist and the devastating changes he has seen.  Honest, revealing and urgent, David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet is a powerful first-hand account of humanity’s impact on nature and a message of hope for future generations.  

It is currently streaming on Netflix.  Click here to view a preview.

Tip of the Week 10/18 Final Climate Friendly Meals: Do not waste!

Did you know that 40% of the food grown, transported and processed in the US will go to waste? Try not to use more ingredients than necessary in your cooking.  And if there are left-overs, reuse them in yet another delicious dish.  To avoid waste, also avoid buying packaged products.

Tip of the Week 10/11 Vote. 

Ballots should be arriving soon. Consider adding an understanding of, and a commitment to, climate and God’s Creation to your list of qualifications as you evaluate the candidates running for office, and the persons for whom you will vote. As you consider the role of government in addressing climate change, contact elected officials from the local level on up or spend some time researching their views.  Tell them what you'd like to see changed in government policy.  And factor their responses into your decisions on how to vote.  Pledge to vote with climate and Creation in mind.

Tip of the Week 10/4 Climate Friendly Meals; Eat less meat.

For many of you, this might be hard.  But according to the UN, “the meat industry alone emits more greenhouse gases (GHG) than all transportation worldwide.”  Meat always has a higher carbon footprint than vegetables, with beef and lamb emitting the most.  Try going meatless one or two nights a week.  And let us know how it goes.  Perhaps we need to start a CENTRALongmont meatless recipe book to share with each other?

Tip of the Week 9/27 Climate Friendly Meals; Choose local ingredients.

Agriculture is one of the key drivers of climate change.  Small adjustments to your cooking and shopping routines can be both climate-friendly and healthy for you!  Choose local ingredients. Transportation is a key contributor of the carbon footprint of food, especially if it travelled by plane.  Choose ingredients which did not travel far from pitchfork to your fork!

Tip of the Week 9/20 Go DIY on cleaning products; #3 Heavy Duty Cleaner

This cleaner should be used fresh each time you need it for a harder to clean situation or when you really want to make sure you disinfect.  It uses bleach, so be careful and use it sparingly. Good for bathrooms and countertops:

3/4 c bleach, 1 gallon warm water,
1 T powdered laundry detergent

Let solution stand on surface for 5 minutes, rinse and let dry.  Happy Cleaning!

Tip of the Week 9/13 Go DIY on cleaning products; #2 Glass Cleaner

Forget those cheap plastic single use bottles of commercial cleaners.  Purchase some sturdy reusable spray bottles and fill (and then refill) them with your own nontoxic formulas for cleaning.

This week’s recipe, glass cleaner: just equal parts distilled water and white vinegar.  Happy Cleaning!

Tip of the Week 9/6 Go DIY on cleaning products; #1 All Purpose Cleaner

Forget those cheap plastic single use bottles of commercial cleaners.  Purchase some sturdy reusable spray bottles and fill (and then refill) them with your own nontoxic formulas for cleaning.

This week’s recipe, all purpose cleaner: equal parts distilled water and white vinegar with a few drops of an essential oil of your choosing, such as lavender, citrus, tea tree or eucalyptus.

Tip of the Week 8/30 Buy Bar Soap

Bar soap beats liquid formulas in single-use pumps or other plastic packaging.  Bar soaps are minimally packaged (if at all . . . look for loose bars) and last a long time, making them an economical choice. 
To cut even more plastic from you life, search for options that do double duty as shampoos or body wash.

Tip of the Week Ending 8/16 and 8/23 Try out a plastic waste audit.

Thank you for exploring ways to reduce plastic with us these last weeks! Have you had luck in changing your plastic habit?  Try doing a plastic waste audit to find out where you can still reduce your plastic waste use.  Download your own How to Quit Plastics workbook to find out your most common items of plastic still in use and suggestions for kicking those habits.  

Click here to download your own workbook!

Tip of the Week Ending 8/9/20 Why do I care about reducing my plastic consumption again???.

We see plastic everywhere, from food packaging to beauty supplies, cleaning detergents to beverage bottles. We know the growth of plastic production is a problem, but often what we don’t see are the upstream impacts plastics have on people, wildlife, and the environment. These upstream impacts—the effects plastics have before they reach consumers—threaten the health of communities and ecosystems across the nation and around the world.

Click here to spend 2 minutes 35 seconds  learning about the upstream impacts of plastic.

Tip of the Week Ending 8/2/20 Let’s talk about our furry friends!

Take your best furry friend on the plastic free journey with you.  Commit to swapping out the single use plastic bags for a pooper scooper.

Click here for more ideas!

Tip of the Week Ending 7/26/20 Learning how to quit plastic; Kitchen and Bathroom Ideas.

Check out this list of alternatives to many of the plastic items you find in your home kitchen and bathrooms.  Can you find some that you would be willing to swap out in your daily life?  Let us know how it goes!  

Click here for more ideas!

Tip of the Week Ending 7/19/20 Live a life a little less plastic.

 Are you at the grocery store, but forgot or cannot use your reusable bags due to COVID restrictions?

Instead of packing your groceries in plastic bags, place them back in the cart during check out, and then load them into your car trunk. When you get home, grab your reusable bags to bring your groceries inside! Don’t have any reusable bags handy? You can save a few cardboard boxes from items you've had delivered to your house, fill those boxes with your groceries, and bring them inside!  

Tip of the Week Ending 7/12/20 Live a life a little less plastic; Partake in a Plastic-Free Diet

Each and every day, many of us have the opportunity to reduce our single-use plastic by purchasing and storing our food in non-plastic packaging, by reducing our use of plastic straws and bottles and cups, and by advocating for better alternative packaging. Take on these Food actions and challenge yourself to eat and drink with a zero-plastic diet.  

Click here for ideas!

Tip of the Week Ending 7/5/20 Recycle Plastic Films

What do bubble wrap, plastic overwrap around paper towels, cereal box liners and bread bags all have in common? They’re all recyclable! In fact, the list doesn’t end there: dry cleaning bags, produce bags, newspaper sleeves, plastic shipping envelopes, clean sandwich bags – so many things which, not too many years ago, would have been tossed in the garbage, are now able to be turned into something new! How?  Drop these items in the bins in front of King Soopers where they collect plastic shopping bags. 

Click here for more information!