Homestead Recycling

We've been focusing quite a lot on blacksmithing lately. Blacksmithing is an integral part of
my homestead, so I will be posting quite a lot on the subject. I'd like to switch gears for this
post, however. We'll definitely be getting back to the subject of blacksmithing. For now let's
consider an aspect of the homestead that every homesteader needs to incorporate. That's
our own brand of recycling. Recycling is a hot topic today, a buzz word of the green
movement, but not really well incorporated into any plans for a green industry. Why would I
say that when more localities are incorporating recycling in their garbage pick-up systems
than ever? It's simple when you compare our past culture circa 1950-1960, (hardly the era
of ecological awareness), with our culture of consumerism today. Anybody remember the
milkman of that era? The milkman brought fresh milk, eggs, butter and dairy products
directly to your door every morning. You left the empty bottle, egg cartons and butter dish
outside your door everynight, so they could be collected, cleaned and reused. Bottles and
containers were made of glass, not plastic. Today, it is plastic that is filling our landfills and
using energy to manufacture. Even when recycled, plastic is shredded, using energy,
melted, using energy, and re-molded, using energy. A glass vessel, when recycled, is
washed and reused, saving several steps and a lot of energy. Back in the day, a 10 cent
deposit per bottle meant that the bottle came back to be reused and the deposit collected
and placed toward the next 6 pack. No more plastic in the landfill. It was a reuse and truly
recycle culture rather than the consume and throw away culture we have today. Plastics also
contain a substance called BPA. A chemical substance perported to mimic estrogen and
progesterone in the human body. There are some who are concerned that chemicals used in
the plastic industries are being leached into the foods we eat and drink. You can mark me
down as one of those concerned. As such, I am limiting the material that I eat or drink from
to glass, ceramic, stainless steel or copper. Yes, I know there is one more, but I can't afford
silver.

So much for reminiscing. Common sense recycling is not going to make a come back. The
green movement is too politicized and won't offer solutions that don't come with
government control. Once again, it is up to the individual to lead the way into the future. We
can stop buying plastic, true and that will go a long way toward our health and the
environment. The most important thing we can do is to put our own homesteads into a
cyclic, self sufficient mode. On a homestead, the less you throw away and are able to reuse
or repurpose, the less you need to spend or take in from sources outside the homestead.
Such as fertilizer, chicken litter, greens, table scraps and fireplace ashes. In my area the soil
is poor. It is nitrogen deprived and slightly alkali due to a forest fire that moved through the
area in the 1920's. To grow gardens, the soil must be conditioned and fertilizers added.
Neighbors who have tried growing gardens for years have used chemical fertilizers and
eventually burned their soils. Since I began raising chickens several years ago, I compost
chicken litter to use as fertilizer. I cut wild straw and sweep up pine and fir needles as well
as saw dust and pine shavings for litter to place on the chicken coop floor. I add wood ashes
from the fireplace to give the chickens something to dust in. The chickens scratch through
the litter and poop in it. This turns the poop and litter and they become a nice compost. I
sweep this out several times a year and add more. The used litter goes in the compost pile
which adds all of the fertilizer and most of the minerals I need to the garden.

Instead of a gas mower, set aside a small portion of your yard to use as a lawn or park
setting and buy an old style muscle powered lawn mower. Convert the rest of your yard into
gardens to grow food. Do not use fertilizer or herbicide on your lawn. The more dandelions
and plantain along with other weeds that grow in your lawn, the better. Cut this with your
muscle powered push mower and feed the cut greens to your chickens. Add table scraps
and you will save a little on feed as well as add some living enzymes and necessary vitamins
and nutrients to your chickens' food. They'll reward you with healthy eggs, meat and
fertilizer. All of this is a closed system of food grown on your homestead that feeds your
chickens which, in turn, gives you food and fertilizer to grow your garden to produce more
food for yourself and the chickens. Everything you use is reused. Even the sawdust from
your firewood gathering and lumber making is used. As individual homesteaders, we can
accomplish this where movements like ecological concerns will fail. Self sufficiency adds to
our chances of survival and to be self sufficient we must be efficient. Recycling adds
immensely to efficiency.

Don't forget to check in on http://northwoodstraders.ecrater.com/. Tools and movies for
Halloween to be posted shortly.