ebook img

Environmental living : protecting the environment PDF

36 Pages·1993·1.5 MB·English
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download
Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.

Preview Environmental living : protecting the environment

'•=yc» C- VOLUME 2 Environmental Living: Protecting the Environment. Your Yard and Gardfn IN Ministry of Environment and Energy ® Ontario VOLUME 2 Environmental Living: Protecting the Environment Your Yard and Garden IN 'A Foradditional copies ofthis volume, contact: Ministry ofEnvironment and Energy 135 St. ClairAvenue West Suite 100 Toronto, Ontario M4V1P5 ISBN0-777S-1068-9(5v. set) ISBN0-7778-1070-0(v. 2) PIBS2t16E ® Ontario TableofContents '^j^ Environmental Living: Protecting the Environment in Your Yard and Garden ... A Down-to-Earth Guide to Composting TJwse Pesky Bugs! And OtherSmallHazards and Vermicomposting ofthe Great Outdoors How a Compost Pile Works 6 BugOff,Mosquitoes! 19 How toGetStarted withComposting 6 How toProtectYourselffrom BitingBugs 19 Choosinga ContainerforYourCompost 6 FeelingWaspishAboutThoseYellowJackets? 20 Layering the Compost Pile 8 LeafThroughThis IfBugs CompostingTips 8 Are BotheringYourTrees 20 NowYou'veGotCompost, CaterpillarInfestations 20 What DoYouDo With It? 9 And Then,There's theGypsyMoth 22 Vermicomposting 9 Alternatives toPesticides 23 When YourCompostHeapisa Problem 9 BugsThatCanEatYou OutofHouseandHome 24 PreparingforVermicomposting 10 CarpenterAnts 24 The FruitsofLabour 10 PowderPostand Furniture Beetles 24 More forYou to Read 10 More forYou to Read 24 A Grassroots Look at Your Lawn UsingInsecticides Safely Getting Established: StartatGround Zero 11 Different KindsofInsecticides 25 LookingAfterYourLawn 12 BuyingandStoringInsecticides 25 Tips onMowingYourLawn 12 UsingInsecticides 25 WateringYourLawn 12 Areyou usinganinsecticideoutdoors Dethatching,AeratingandFertilizing 13 (onyourlawnorgarden)? 26 Fertilizing 13 Are you usinganinsecticideindoors? . ' 26 DealingwithCommon LawnWeeds 14 Cleaningupafterwards: 26 What toDoAboutBugsinYourLawn 15 DisposingofInsecticides 26 OtherCritters 16 AerialSprayingon Rural Land 26 Lawnsand Disease 16 In an Emergency , 27 GrowingVegetablesOrganically 16 More forYou toRead 27 ControllingBugsand Disease in 17 YourVegetable Garden GettingHelp 17 Too Closefor Comfort: More forYou to Read 18 What to DoAboutNuisanceAnimals Skunks and Raccoons: Midnight Raiders 28 In the Shadow oftheGroundhog 29 Don'tDumpon BlackBears! 30 TheLittlestScavengers: House Mice and Rats 31 MoreforYou to Read 31 Morefor You to Read 32 — ould you like to do something to help the environment but do you feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problems? Do you wonder if your efforts as an individual can make a difference? Take heart. "Environmental Living" was written tur ail those people who want to protect the environment but need to know how and where to get started. The pages of "Environmental Living" describe how to conduct your everyday activities in ways that are environmentally friendly. It's a "primer" on environmental topics that affect people who live in the city, people who live in the country and people who spend time in the great outdoors. Everything is explained in simple, easy-to-understand, easy-to-remember language. Do you want to know how to cut down on the garbage you generate? How to start a compost heap? How to drive your car to improve its energy efficiency, lengthen its life and reduce the pollution it creates? "Environmental Living" shows you howeasy it is to.do all these things. — Do you live in the country or are you thinking about buying a cottage or rural property? Do you want to learn how to look after your septic tank system? How to test for bacteria in your well water? How to build an environmentally friendly dock? "Environmental Living" looks at all these topics,and more. Do you spend a lot of Hme in the great outdoors? Do you want to know how to avoid insects? What to do about zebra mussel infestations in thf Cnat Lakes? If it's safe to eat that fish you caught? "Environmental Living" has the answers. Living environmentally doesn't mean you have to become an environmental expert. You don't have to spend a lot of money or time. Nordo you have to make wholesale changes to your life. No single, dramatic act by one person can save this planet. But all of us, doing a lot of — simple, commonsense things,can save it a little bit at a time. What You'll Find in "Environmental Living" "Environmental Living" is an unusual concept in Environmental Living: publishing. It is one book, but it is published in five Protecting the Environment... in YourHome separate sections. You, the reader, decide which There's information of interest to everyone in this topics you want to read about, and you need order section, which has chapters about handling waste, non-toxic cleaning, how to drive to minimize only those sections. pollution, and what you can do about global issues This means "Environmental Living" uses less such asacid rainand global warming. paper, and you, the reader, don't have to wade • "Whata Load ofGarbage!" The 3Rs through pages and pages of information you don't (Describes the 3Rs and what to do with your garbage); need. • The 3Rs,TakeTwo: Little ThingsMean a Lot To order any section of "Environmental Living", (Quicktipson practising the 3Rs); contact the Ministry of Environment and Energy by • Cleaning Without Chemicals: Recipes for a Non- telephoningthe Public Information Centre inToronto Toxic Planet (Makingyourown non-toxiccleaning products); at (416) 323-4321 ortoll-free at 1-800-565-4923. • Cleaning Without Chemicals, The Sequel: The Each section of "Environmental Living" consists of Non-ToxicCleaningKit (Quickcleaningtips); several chapters that share a common theme. Every • Not Down the Drain: What to do With Household section and chapter is self-explanatory but, as you HazardousWaste read them, you may come across references to other • Water,WaterEverywhere (How toconserve water); sections orchapters thatcan giveyou related or more • YourCarand theDrive fora HealthyEnvironment detailed information. Those sections and chapters (Howyourdrivinghabitsaffectthe environment); will be referred to by their complete titles, to make it • GoodNewsaboutAcid Rain • GlobalWarming: The Gloves areOff easyforyou toorderthatsection. (Whatyou candoatoutglobal warming). At the end of each chapter is a list of publications you may want to read to get even more detail or technical background information; there's an explanation of where and how to obtain copies of those publications. Here's a list of chapters in each section (a descrip- tion ofthe chapter'scontents follows, in brackets). * What You'll Find in "EnVIRONMLNTAL LlVINf." Lni'ironiiicntiil Living': Lnvironntcnttil Living: Protectitt^^ the Ettvironitu'tit ... in Your Protecting the Environment ... at the Cottage Yard ami Garden Water quality (both groundwater and lake wafer) is Do you want cnvimnmenLiI tips you can put into emphasized in this section. practice in yourbackyard? Read these. • Testing the Waters: Bacteria and Your Drinking • A Down-to-Earth Guide to Composting and Water Vermicomposting (Gettingsafe drinking water from your well); • A Grassroots Lookat Your Lawn • Every Cottager's Covert Operation: Maintaining (Growinga lawn that looksafteritselO; that Septic Tank System (How to run your septic • Those Pesky Bugs! And Other Small Hazards of tanksystem trouble-free foryears); the Great Outdoors (Controllinginsects); • Keeping Aquatic Plants Under Control for Boating • Using InsecticidesSafely and Swimming • Too Close for Comfort: What to Do About • Stop Old Age from RuiningYour Lake Nuisance Animals. (Avoidingeutrophication ofyourlake); • All the Dirton Shoreline Alterations ("Do's and don'ts" of changing the natural Environmental Living: shoreline); Protecting the Environment ... when Building • GimmeShelter: Building Docksand Boathouses or Buying Your Dream Cottage (Environmentally friendly structures). If you are buying a cottage or rural property, read these. Environmental Living: • Before You Take the Plunge: Rural Life is Different (Adjusting tocountry living); Protecting the Environment... /;/ the Great Outdoors • Bylawsand Buildings: Unravelling the Red Tape (Buildingand zoning laws and permits); Thissection will interest outdoors enthusiasts. • Diga Well toTap intoGroundwaterSupplies • Campfiresand Cookouts (How toconstructa well); (Fire safety); • This is a Story about Sewage. Skip It and You'll • Could Swimmingin Your Lake Make You Sick? Be Sorry (Diseasesand parasites that affectswimmers); (Disposing of sewage when there's no municipal • Great Lakes! The Zebra Mussel Stor)' seWersystem); (The spread of zebra mussels in Ontario's • LandscapingYou Can Live With waterways); (Landscaping to protect and blend into the envi- • Boatingand the Environment ronment and toattract wildlife). • Goin' Fishing: Should You Eat the Catch of the Day? (Contaminants and the consumption of sport fish). A Down'TO'Earth Guide TO Composting and Vermicomposting 3S>V Canadians generate more garbage than anyone else Materials containing carbon and nitrogen, in the in the world. Every Canadian can lay claim to gener- right mix, must be put into the pile. The micro- ating about two kilograms ofwaste each day. Halfof organisms use carbon (found in leaves and wood that is generated indirectlyfor us by industrial, com- wastes) for energy. Nitrogen (from grass clippings mercial and institutional sources, while the other half and kitchen scraps) give microbes the proteins they is self-generated, household garbage. need to live and grow. The more nitrogen-loaded But a lot of Canadians are bucking the waste race materials you put in your compost heap, the faster bycompostingtheirwasteinstead oftrashingit. the heap will decompose. (On the other hand, too — You've heard of the "3Rs" reduce, reuse, much nitrogen, and your compost will smell of rotten recycle. Composting is one of the most popular eggs. To fix this,justadd high-carbon materials.) — forms ofrecycling and.it's the do-it-yourselfkind. — Anyone can compost household waste home- owners, cottage owners, apartment dwellers. It's How to Get Started with Composting easy. It's cheap. It does—n't take much time. It gives Composting is easy. You don't have to be a gar- you a tangible reward rich, organic humus that dening whiz to layer your waste, add water occasion- goes rightbackintoyouryard or garden. And it feels ally, and mix the pile once in a while — and that's all great to do something yourself that's so simple, yet there is to composting. effective,in helpingtheenvironment. First, decide where toputyourcompostheap. The There are two ways to compost household waste. site mustbe away from waterways and wells, and at The best-known way is to start a compost pile in a least 30 centimetres (one foot) above the water table. corner of the yard, using kitchen and yard waste. The site should have good drainage, so avoid areas — Another way popular with apartment dwellers where water tends to stand after a rainfall or during and people who don't w—ant to go out-of-doors in spring thaw. If drainage is good, a shady spot will winter to compost is vermicomposting. keep the compost pile from dryingout. Ifdrainage is Vermicomposting uses live worms to speed up the poor, choose a sunny site. compostingprocess. Your compost pile should be at least 0.9 metres (that's about three feet) square. How a CompostPile Works A compost pile is really a community of micro-organ- Choosinga Containerfor Your Compost isms. Bacteria break down plant Hssue. Fungi and You should consider enclosing the compost heap. tinyprotozoa join inthe cycle, asdo centipedes, milli- That doesn't mean you absolutely must use a con- pedes,beetles and earthworms. (Laterin this chapter tainer, but installing one will help you keep the pile we'll look at vermicomposting using"red wigglers".) neat, efficient and manageable. It should be covered to help control the dampness; damp as a squeezed- outsponge is the ideal. A Down-TO- tARin Guini TO Composting and Virmicomposting You cm make a one-square-metre (about three- tot»t-square) box from wood and wire mesh. Or use chicken wire, or some snow fencing, or old wooden pallets. A garbagecan (with the bottom removed and holes drilled in the sides) is good for small com- posting purposes. Here's how to taiJor-make an enclosure of one square metre (about three square feet), rising 30 cen- timetres (one foot) above ground. • Mark off a one-square-metre (three-foot-square) area on the ground. Dig a pit 30-50 centimetres (12-20 inches) deep. (The pit will keep the pile «D warm in winter, when low temperatures slow, down decomposition; it will keep the compost damp in summer.) • Drive four stakes, 60 centimetres (two feet) long, into the ground at the fourcorners. Leave half the length ofeach stakeaboveground. • Using a sheet of 6 millimetre (quarter-inch) aspenite plywood, cut four 30-centimetre-by-one- metre (one-foot-by-three-foot) rectangles. Nail ContainersforCompostiiij^ them to the stakes to form a one-metre-square (three-foot-square) enclosure. The bottom edge should stop about 2.5 centimetres (one inch) short — Spacelotcirculalionolair of the ground this is so air can circulate up through the heap. • Use the remaining half of the sheet as a winter cover. (In summer, use a sheet of heavy-gauge plastic, stapled to a one-square-metre/three-foot- square frame.) The cover keeps breedinginsects at bay, and helps retain moisture. • Startcomposting! If you're going to compost yard wastes only, and Custom Enclosure won't add woody items, you will have compost in as little as three months, with very littleeffort. A Down-to-Earth Guide TO Composting and Vermicomposting If you want to addfood waste as well, you need to Don't include meat, bones, or fatty foods do a little more work to encourage decomposition. (cheese, salad dressings, leftover oils) because That means ensuring the right mixture of materials, nuisance animals will be attracted to them. Also, turning the pile frequently and maintaining the right don't compost leftover dairy foods, pet wastes, amount ofmoisture. charcoal, or coal ashes. From the yard: Compost fallen leaves, dry lawn and garden clippings (spread then in the sun to dry Layering the CompostPile out before adding them to the pile), weeds (but Startwith a layerofleaves oryardwaste. Then, add a before, not after, they seed) and trimmings from layer of kitchen waste and grass clippings. Next, add healthygarden plants. — alayerofsoilorsomecommercialcompostormanure; Keep the pile slightly moist like a squeezed-out this starts decomposition. Then, just continue to sponge. If it's dry, spray it occasionally with water. layer: kitchen waste,yard waste,soil,inthatorder. Cover the pile, toretain moisture. What can you put in yourcompost heap? You can Turn the pile over every five to 10 days, to allow compost almostone-third ofyourhousehold garbage, air to circulate. (D^on't turn the pile any more fre- and virtually all ofyouryard waste! quently than that you need to allow time for the material toheatupand decompose.) In as little as 10 to 12 weeks, you'll have a rich 1 m- humus that you can add to the soil in your yard or garden, orgive away to others. —Woodsides » Composting Tips Earth Yardwaste To keep nuisance animals away, use a compost containercover that's hingedand latched. kitchenwaste Dig in food waste each Hme you add it, or cover it Bricks,stones,ortwo-by-fours with soil, todiscourageinsects and animals. LayeringWaste Compost leaves separately, if you wish, simply by piling them in an unobtrusive corner out of the From the kitchen: Put in fruit and vegetable peel, wind. Dig them into the garden to lighten the soil egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags, nut shells and for springplanting. Or, in the fall, shred the leaves cold ashes left over from wood fires (the ashes may with a lawn mower, bag them and let them look dead, but be sure they are dead by pouring moisten. In spring, you'll have leaf mould to put water over them before you add them to your com- in yourgardenor to add to thecompost pile. post pile. You may have a fire, or a melted composter Compostwood ashesby adding very thin layers to on yourhands ifyou're notcareful). the pile. Don'tcompostcharcoal orcoalashes.

See more

The list of books you might like

Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.