Environmental Talk

Rebounder, defensive specialist, composter …

…Continued from Part One. You can read Part One here.

In Part One, we learned that building a worm composting box is almost as easy as an Amish barn raising. In Part Two, we’ll explore some of the common problems involved in the care and maintaining of your box of soon-to-be nutrient-rich dirt.

According to The City Farmer, “It is necessary to provide a damp bedding for the worms to live in, and to bury food waste in. Suitable bedding materials are shredded newspaper and cardboard, shredded fall leaves, chopped up straw and other dead plants, seaweed, sawdust, compost and aged manure. ”

Ask your local manure sommelier to recommend a good aged manure. Despite the fact that they eat garbage, worms are very discerning when it comes to manure.

Some good values can be found in the Australian and Chilean manures but the best manure is produced in Washington, D.C. during Presidential election years. Consider treating your worms to a dry, complex manure from 2004 on those occasions where you really want to make an impression on your red wigglers.

When in doubt, consult the ratings in the current issue of Manure Spectator.

Where do you get the worms for your little compost factory?

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Red wigglers and The Wiggles: Both create output that can be used for compost …

My biggest problem with trying to adopt a green lifestyle is that I never know when people are being serious with their suggestions.

I remember the first time someone advanced the idea that I should sift through my own garbage and pull out cans, newspapers and bottles. My initial reaction was, “Isn’t that why we have homeless people?”

But, here we are, some years later and I’m dutifully separating my garbage into four color-coordinated, plastic-bag-lined milk crates. Go figure.

We’re continually asked to do all kinds of crazy things in the name of being green. I now buy CFL bulbs, despite the fact that, if I ever break one, I have to don a haz-mat suit and call three different government agencies to handle the clean-up.

I’m convinced that one day we’re going to learn that Greenpeace employs a secret brigade of some of the country’s top practical jokers who do nothing but sit around all day, think up wacky ideas and bet each other, “How many people do you think we can get to do that?”

This secret cabal is getting more outrageous all the time. I have it on reliable reports (and by “reliable” I mean the voices in my head) that the heaviest betting action so far is on the latest suggestion that people should be vermicomposting in their apartments.

Vermicomposting is a method of creating a “nutrient-rich, natural fertilizer and soil conditioner” in your own apartment by using worms, preferably red wigglers, that you can buy for $29.00 per pound.

As a long time Manhattan resident, I’ve spent a good number of years trying to keep creepy, crawly things out of my apartment. Now, websites like the City Farmer, are telling me I should set aside six to ten square feet of prime urban real estate for the care and feeding of tens hundreds thousands of worms.

Okay, I’ll do it … but only if I they chip in for the rent.

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Shameless plug …

The News as Gossip blog has a piece on GM’s efforts to build an electric car at: GM Leading Race to Build Unreliable Electric Car.

Don’t miss the other piece further down on President Bush rejecting tax hikes as a way to help raise money to repair the country’s infrastructure.

An excerpt:

President Bush today said he opposes tax hikes to repair bridges, and instead believes people should simply avoid bridges by purchasing more gas and taking the long way home.

Former Showbiz Show and Craig Kilborn writer Julius Sharpe is a long-time EnTalk favorite.

News As Gossip, Julius Sharpe, electric car, GM, President Bush

“What do you mean, ‘There’s a bit of a network problem?!’”

Hey, gang! After two days of network problems we’re back up and running.

(Try to contain your enthusiasm….)

As with all things bad, we’ve managed to trace the network outage back to global warming.

Either that or it had something to do with the backhoe that cut the network cable … but that only happened because the guy running it was dehydrated from all the hot weather and wasn’t able to concentrate.

Internet outages are at an all-time high this year. This coincides perfectly with the increase in greenhouse gases.

Clearly, we’re nearing a tipping point - if you want consistent service, you need to tip the guy who comes to repair your cable connection.

Internet outages are real. Let’s act now before it’s too late.

Um, I’m not really sure what we need to do but we definitely need to take action.

Somebody recycle a hard drive or something ….

global warming, climate change, Internet outages, service, tipping point, recycling

Check this out…

The PTB (Powers That Be) here at 451 Press are holding a contest.

All you need to enter is an opinion … on pretty much anything.

Comment on any 451 Press site (say, Environmental Talk or Get Incensed just to name a couple) during the month of August and you’re automatically entered.

451 Press has over 300 blogs. Each time you comment on one during the month of August you get a chance to win cold, hard cash.

Three comments will be chosen at random to win a cash prize of $300, $200 or $100.

Enter early and often. Operators are standing by.

global warming, climate change, blog contest, cash prizes, contest

Previously, on “24″ …

Everybody tells me that we’re close to a tipping point on global warming, but I’m not worried because Jack Bauer is on the case.

The Washington Post reports that, starting next season, producers of 24 “will take steps to reduce and offset the carbon emissions from the show’s production, with the goal of having the season finale be entirely carbon-neutral.”

In addition, anyone who is identified as a global warming skeptic will have a hood put over their head, be taken to an undisclosed location and Jack Bauer will demand to know, “WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR?!”

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Future carbon cops?

In a recent article, Robert Tracinski wrote about some disturbing features of the global warming movement in contrast to previous movements that attempted to exert political power.

He mentions two points that set climate change activists apart from some of their predecessors.

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Ed. note: I’m on vacation in Colorado this week … thought I’d leave you a couple of excerpts from “The Sky is Falling: A Global Warming Survival Guide” to keep you going through the week….

Just think about it. What if everyone took some steps to stop global warming? At the very least, you might make a few friends, and you’d get the chance to pester your elected officials.

Meanwhile, if you’re busy dealing with day-to-day woes, we’ve got you covered. Here are 12 things you can do to feel like you’re doing something about global warming:
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Our consensus delivered in under 30 minutes … or it’s free!

Ed. note: I’m on vacation in Colorado this week … thought I’d leave you a couple of excerpts from “The Sky is Falling: A Global Warming Survival Guide” to keep you going through the week….

With all the talk about a scientific consensus on global warming, we thought we’d take a look at some of the great consensuses consensi group-thinks and their consequences throughout history. Today, the Top 5.

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