News of the Arroyo
Title: | Making the most of trash |
Subtitle: | Composting a way of life for Altadenan |
Date: | 2007-11-17 |
Summary: | November 17, 2007 - Altadenan Bill Ward takes a thorough and comprehensive approach to composting biodegradable waste. The Star-News story is accompanied by a photo gallery and a video. |
Author: | Michelle J. Mills, Staff Wrier |
Publication: | Pasadena Star-News |
Content: | Photo Gallery : Composting way of life Video: Altadenean composts own trash ALTADENA - Steam rises from a pile of lawn clippings and leaves as Bill Ward stirs up his backyard compost heap. His 2-year-old daughter, Aleksandra, runs over and asks to see the worms. The squirmy creatures are in the cooler spots of the pile, working tirelessly to change waste into rich soil. \"I compost everything that will bio-degrade,\" said Ward, who started composting in 1993, when he lived in Medford, Mass., and was looking for ways to enrich the soil of his property. That inspired him to learn more about the science of composting. But his biggest inspiration came when he realized that the more he composted, the less trash he had. Now, nearly all of his biodegradable waste ends up in the pile in his backyard. \"Napkins and of course almost any kind of leftover food - vegetables, rice, kitchen scraps, peels from fruits and vegetables, paper towels, paper bags,\" he said. The family also recycles cans, glass, newspaper, cardboard, metal and plastic, as well as aluminum foil and TV-dinner trays. To make sorting easy, the Wards have a drawer in their kitchen with three bins - one for composting, one for recycling and one for trash. To quell the smells, the composting and recycling bins are emptied every other day, but the trash bin only needs emptying once a week. Ward conserves in other ways, too. \"I water my lawn to the brink of death - I give it just barely enough water to keep it alive. I only water the yellow spots, and that\'s just to keep my wife from killing me,\" he said. At their previous home, Ward replaced the lawn and garden with xeriscape - drought-resistant - plants. His wife, Louise, was unhappy, though, because it wasn\'t organized or landscaped. In Altadena, Ward is slowly replacing the edge of his landscaped yard with xeriscape plants. His green ways even extend to his job. Every week, Ward brings home about 10 pounds of coffee grounds and used-up filters from his office to add to his compost pile. His worms love it. Ward started worm farming by purchasing a pint container of about 50 of the wrigglers from a hardware store. \"Now I have thousands in less than six months,\" he said. \"I have them in the compost pile, and all they need is moisture and food, which is what my kitchen generates.\" Aleksandra enjoys helping her dad throw scraps onto the compost piles. They also work together checking the worm nurseries and spreading fresh soil around the plants in their garden. \"It\'s actually not that big of a project and requires almost no effort.\" Ward said. \"It really requires nothing because everything that happens in the compost pile happens naturally.\" He recommends that anyone interested in composting find an unobtrusive spot in the yard and begin with a pile of garden waste. \"You can simply make a pile on the ground with your grass clippings and leaves, and it will happen by itself,\" he said. \"If you want to throw food scraps in, you should probably get something to cover it because it will attract skunks and squirrels and other animals.\" Apartment dwellers can get involved by creating a small compost bin under their kitchen sink, Ward said. If they search the Internet for vermiculture, he added, they can find a container to hold worms and waste, and if they follow instructions, it won\'t smell. \"There\'s a huge benefit - your trash doesn\'t smell anymore because there\'s no more rotting food in there,\" Ward said. \"I would guess my trash is 80percent reduced because of the recycling and composting.\" It has changed his Ward\'s in other ways, as well, such as providing extra exercise and making him feel more connected with the environment. \"My goal ultimately is to replace all the things that are growing in this yard with plants that produce food of some kind,\" he said, \"so what will happen is the food that comes from our kitchen will go out there and be composted, then spread around the plants, and the plants will make us more food and there will be a cycle going on.\" michelle.mills@sgvn.com (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2128 |
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