The signs of change are everywhere: not just in the economy, but also in the enormous wave of new ventures that are using cutting-edge technology, sustainable objectives and social consciousness to create a new paradigm of private enterprise for the common good.  Umair Haque, the Harvard economist, eloquently describes the collapse of the “Zombieconomy” and what he calls Capitalism 1.0 evolving into Capitalism 2.0, or constructive capitalism.  He also talks about old business models that produced good incomes and bad outcomes giving way to an “institutional revolution,” coming up from the grass-roots of society and changing the world as we know it.

In fact, once you start looking, the amount of organisations and companies trying to do the right thing for people, nature and the planet is simply overwhelming and far more than I could ever fit into one blog post.  So I’ve divided them into three categories: digital, physical and consumable.

Today I’m listing my top 10 in the digital category: ways in which with simply a click you can change the world for the better. (with thanks to Mashable)

Digital Actions for good:

1. Change your iGoogle theme to help the hungry

2. Every time you use Windows Live™ Messenger or Windows Live Hotmail®, our free webmail service, they’ll share a portion of their advertising revenue with the cause you choose from among their partner social cause organizations

3. Teach your Granny to Text: The big book of small actions to change the world is out now.  Written by children, for children, it’s a technicolour ‘how to’ for doing things.  And changing things. How can you change the world?  We Are What We Do is a new kind of movement inspiring people to change the world one small action at a time.  Their philosophy is simple: small actions x lots of people = big change.  They have the 130 small things that you can do to change really big things. Pick an action, track it here, and see how it all adds up.

4. Seventy-one ways to give without opening your wallet: mostly tweeted ideas, very brief and some very good

5.  Good is – the magazine.  Subscribe and 100% of the fee supports a social action project

6. Changing the Present -  Like Bothar but even more gift ideas: roof tiles, tutoring for deaf children, books, tetanus injections, and more.

7. The Case Foundation – another giving website, but this has suggestions of things you can do as well as donations or gifts that benefit those in need.

8. World Concern – More giving again, but they also do HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa, water wells, orphans, education and help prevent child trafficking.

9. Good.ly For all you eco-bloggers, a url shortener that donates to charity for every address you shorten.  Most Irish charities aren’t signed up yet, but using it creates the potential demand so try it out.

10. Blackle is a black version of Google that consumes less wattage. Apparently, it takes 74 watts to power a white screen, but only 59 watts for a dark screen. The site aims to “save energy, one search at a time.” You can also follow it on Twitter for more simple energy-saving ideas.

Next time, I’ll list my favourite sites for consumable actions for good – or, to put it another way – Shopping!!!  And please let me know of your favourites too so we can spread the word…

Problem:    Rotten odour is a sign that the heap is too wet or contains excessive green material.
Solution:    Turn to mix in air and add more dry browns such as leaves or straw.  If this does not work may want to relocate pile to a well-drained site.

Problem:    Composting process is too slow.
Solution:    This could be that the moisture content is not right.When building your compost heap, remember to water every 6 – 12 inches. It should resemble a wrung out sponge. Also water when turning pile.

Problem:    Amonian odour is a sign that there is excess moisture and nitrogen in the pile.
Solution:    Turn compost pile and add dry brown material such as sawdust, straw or woodchip.

Problem:    Your compost bin is attracting pests or rodents
Solution:    Make sure you bury your food scraps within the compost heap. Remove any meat scraps or fatty food scraps from the pile.

Problem:    Compost heap is damp and warn in centre only
Solution:    The pile is too small, you need to increase the compost heap in dimension (3×3x3 ft is the minimum). It may also be that during the winter your compost may need insulating – in this case an excellent low-tech approach would be to simply stack up straw bales around the outside of your bin.  Another less bulky anser is to create a carboard outer wall around your composter bin. Some second hand home insulation would also be perfect.

Problem:    I have excessive maggots are the larvae on the compost heap.
Solution:    Many of these are beneficial. If you want to minimize egg-laying by flies, keep fresh kitchen trimmings buried.

Problem:    My composter is invaded by ants.
Solution:    This is a sign that the material is far to dry.  Add water and cover the heap with straw, grass cuttings. A cloth can help to retain the moisture

Never composted before? Well don’t worry you’re in good company.

There are a lot of people out there that are green in heart but not in head.  The idea of recycling your waste and composting seems like an excellent idea in theory. But exactly how you go about setting up a good composting system, quite often seems complicated and frequently is put on the long finger as life gets in the way.

In the following paragraphs GreenMe will attempt to make composting easy and rewarding.

Why Compost?

I recently read somewhere that by adding just one decent amount of compost to your garden’s soil, you are adding as much topsoil as it would take nature a century to accumulate! Now if that is not compelling enough reason to put a little elbow grease into your composting efforts, consider the following:

Compost

• helps protect plants from diseases and insect pests
• enhances a plants ability to hold water and air – essential for their health
• warms the soil up quicker in the spring, extending your growing season!
• releases nutrients into the soil on a need basis, as opposed to soluble chemical fertilizers

Getting Started

Starting your own composting pile need not be a complicated process.

Balancing ingredients – an ideal composting pile would include a balance of three parts Brown to one part Green.  Browns refer to dry materials, such as leaves, saw dust, bark mulches, dead plants,  pine needles and other wood products.  Greens refer to wetter materials like grass cuttings and food scraps.

But don’t get too bogged down by this, you can still pile all your organic material together without worrying at all about greens and browns, and it will mature into compost.

Easy Steps

1. Set you commercial or homemade composter on the ground in an easily accessible place. Ideally your compost bin should be placed in a reasonably sunny site on bare soil.  If you have to put your compost bin on concrete, tarmac or patio slabs ensure that a layer of paper and twigs or existing compost is placed on the bottom so the worms and other creatures can colonise.
2. Add ingredients. Ideally place 4 inches of coarse material including stems, sticks etc in the bottom of the composter.  As they become available, add kitchen waste, dead plants, grass clippings and chopped leaves to the bin. Add water as often as needed to keep the material moist but not soggy (like a wrung-out sponge).
3. Rotate.  It is advisable but again not an absolute must to turn the compost.  Turning does however speed up the decomposition process and in turn the end product!  I find a pitch fork ideal for this, although you can buy composting tumbler that makes the turning a doddle. We love Jora ‘The Little Pig’ from Ecoshop in Greystones.
4. Hey Presto! You will know when the compost is ready to use when you no longer recognise the original ingredients.  Make sure you keep your compost protected from the elements until you are ready to use – you don’t want the nutrients to wash away in the rain!

And now for the important bit. I am constantly debating with my French brother in law, what should and should not be allowed in the composter.  And so together we have come up with the following guide, which,  if followed should reward you with a cracking good compost!

Good Composting Ingredients:

GREENS

Egg shells
Feathers
Flowers
Fruit and fruit peels
Hair
Seaweed
Tea leaves
Vegetables & peelings
Dead plant material  (make sure they are dead and are not likely to seed or take root)
Vegetable kitchen scraps (it is important  to  bury these in your compost pile so as not to attract animals or rodents)
Herbicide-free fresh grass clippings
Manure from horses, cattle, goats, poultry and rabbits
Green Garden Debris
Aquarium water, algae, and plants (from freshwater fish tanks only)

Browns

Dead Leaves
Tea bags
Shredded hedge cuttings
Tough fibrous plants
Coffee Grounds – Nitrogen rich nectar of the gods for your compost heap!  I am willing to bet your local coffee shop would be willing to exchange used coffee grounds for some customer loyalty in these tough times!!
Scrunched up paper
Torn up cardboard (e.g. from cereal boxes, eggboxes, toiletroll centres etc.)
Newspaper torn into strips or hand-sized pieces – layering paper ensures it does not get too water logged
Pet and human hair  (small amounts as breaks down slowly)
Egg shells
Corn Cobs
Paper
Peat Moss
Pine needles – use sparingly as they decompose very slowly
Sawdust
Straw – I prefer straw over hay, as hay can reseed and then you’re in trouble!

Do NOT Add: (most important bit!)

Meat or fish scraps
Grease, oil, cooked food scraps
Very fatty, sugary or salty foods
Chips or sawdust from treated wood
Clippings from herbicide-treated lawns
Manure from omnivorous animals (species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source – dogs, cats, humans, etc.)
Barbeque or coal ashes

Result!

What could be more gratifying than recycling all that waste from our garden and household to enhance our lives and the world around us!  So what are you waiting for, start today and get piling!

Note:   Check out our trouble shooting section below if you are having problems with your composting.

Related articles:

Composting Trouble Shooter

Composting Year Planner

With the new IKEA store opening up in Dublin on July 27th this year. GreenMe decided to have a nosey into the flatpack kings green practices and principles. If you’ve ever been to IKEA you know how easy it is to leave with a lorry load of items. So Is IKEA green? Do their corporate policies support a sustainable environment? Well!! IKEA has been actively cutting back its carbon footprint through manufacturing, suppliers, transportation, and materials among some of their actions are:

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