That’s right - Sylvia now has her own profile on Facebook and we’d love you to beocme one of her Facebook friends!

We’ve also set up a group on there call ‘The Recycle Works’ so that we can create our own online Facebook community and share the quest to get everyone to ‘Love Your Environment!’

If you are already a member, please do visit us, the profile is under Sylvia Hopwood and we’ll be getting lots and lots of photos and video uploaded for you!!

Let’s see if we can get 100 friends to begin with and see if we can make Sylvia feel really loved!

Debbie x

The EM Cleaner is still being used with vigour for all our cleaning tasks but the last time I saw SYlvia, we were talking about the amount of plastic that is being wasted in the world and I suddenly thought that I’m part of theat problem as I always get milk in plastic containers!

So, I’ve made another little step forward I hope as I’ve caught the milk person who visits our village and asked them to deliver our milk in glass bottle form only. I’ll wash them out once used and put them out to be collected instead of doing what I normally do and putting the empty plastic containers in the bin. I’m not sure exactly whata differnece in real terms that will be but surely eliminating 4 or 5 two litre containers each week per year will play its part. Imagine the difference if we all did it?

So have a think about the amount of milk in your home…… could you recycle?

Debbie x

Here’s a good one from Rita at Friends of the Earth:

Billions of plastic carrier bags are handed out in the UK each year, and it’s easy to find yourself down the shops without any other way of getting your groceries home so be prepared! Keep your stash of plastic bags by the door so you remember to take a couple when you pop out!

Compost bin assembly competion at Ashperton School fete

Well, we held our school fete on Saturday 21st June …the sky was very gloomy looking all afternoon and we had the odd spot of rain BUT it did NOT dampen our spirits AT ALL!

I am a Master Composter ( a community compost adviser) with Herefordshire Council/HDRA, as well as a parent of a child at the school, so I was there with my stall promoting the wonders of composting and the compost bin competition tied in really well!

The “Build a Bin”  competition attracted a fair bit of interest and made lots of money to add to our final total of around £2000 - the bin had kindly been donated by The Recycle Works.

The “Build a Bin” times ranged from just over a minute to just under 3 ….(we are all really good at composting here! )

The winner was Tim Finch …with an amazingly quick time of 1 min 16 secs..Tim took his bin home at the end of the day, very happy with it.

Tim  was very closely followed by Ian Blenkinsop (with help from Ellen) who were only 2 seconds slower…but then, they do get a LOT of compost practice at home!

The fastest solo child was Ellie Butcher who did it in a time of 1 min 41 seconds…a VERY good time indeed and one which was faster than many adults. She won a prize of a book about composting.

Everybody who entered  the “Build a Bin” competition also got a packet of sunflower seeds and a recycled newsprint pencil.

THANK you again  Sylvia for donating the bin, it was a really fun way of raising money!

Compostwoman

Visit Compostwoman’s Blog

I promised that I’d report back on how I got on with the Probiotic Citrus Cleaner that Sylvia very kindly gave me to try last week. I took it home and explained to Mark what it was, how wonderful it would be for our septic tank and how it would help look after the environment and the response I got was an unbelieving stare!

However, undeterred, this weekend, we decided that two weeks with filthy windows was enough and Mark set to on badgering me to help him clean them. How I adore cleaning - NOT!

So we took the sprayer, followed the instructions and diluted the fluid as per the label. It smelt really lovely I must say, really fresh and invigorating but Mark still wasn’t convinced as it looked as though we had just a sprayer full of water…… however, we cleaned the windows and to say we were impressed is an understatement! The windows were in fact so clean that the next day, a little bird flew in to them and I felt really guilty that I’d cleaned them!

But there’s more…. as since I’ve put this spray bottle under the sink, every time we’ve had to do any cleaning so far, including the window frames, wooden floor and kitchen surfaces  - guess what he’s pulled out? The EM Cleaner!! So we have a convert - which is no mean feat!

I’ve also turned into a money saving ‘Dometsic Goddess’ as well so I’ve done my maths and a a bottle of the Citrus Cleaner is £9.30 (inc delivery) so comparing it to another newly launched environmentally cleaner which retails at about £3 a bottle, you in effect get 50 bottles from a 500ml bottle which to buy in the supermarket would cost £150 and the concentrated EM Citrus Cleaner £9.30!!!! I love a bargain!!!!

Truly, truly converted!!

Next mission for this week is going to be milk containers after Sylvia has educated me on plastic usage! We’ll be having our milk in bottles from now on as they can be recycled! Small steps make a HUGE difference!!

Debbie x

PS - I’ll start adding some pictures as well for you!!

I’ve been asked to share with you my journey into becoming ‘green’ as I’ve just moved in to my new house and I’m determined to play my part in looking after the environment. I’m not professing that I’m going to become an eco warrior or start wearing hemp clothing (those of you who know me will no doubt be laughing at this point!) but maybe if I start in a small way, I can make a difference.

So where should I start? I’ve decided I’m going to start with small steps and as we now have a septic tank, I’ve been educated by Sylvia that I have to be really careful as to what goes down the plug holes as I could destroy the bacteria that makes the tank work! I wouldn’t have even of thought of that if she hadn’t have told me… so no bleach, toilet cleaner or chemicals whatsoever! And this is the biggest convenience girl you could ever meet!!

So, I’ve been very kindly supplied with some EM Probiotic Cleaner (citrus smell so very fresh!) that I have to dilute 1:100 parts and apparently I can use it for every cleaning job in the house. I’m intrigued that Sylvia says that it’s great for cleaning glass as I’ve got a LOT of windows and doors to clean as the house has been a building site for a while so I’ll be reporting back shortly. Mark will be delighted that I’m getting excited about cleaning as trust me….it’s a first!!

So one small step for the environment and a huge lot of love for my new septic tank! And a sparkling, clean home as well!

Debbie x

Using EM in the veg garden.

Now that summer has arrived its been a busy time planting out the veg and this year I am going to see how well they do if I use EM in the veg plot.

Earlier in the year, once I had added the contents of the compost bins, along with some horse muck and spread it over the veg plots, I then sprayed it all with activated EM (or garden Yoghurt) and covered it with a large plastic sheet. This was to get some warmth into the soil and help the EM do its bit. When I later came to rotovate the soil, it was wonderfully friable. The plastic sheet went back until a couple of weeks ago, once the sun finally arrived.

A couple of weeks ago the first broad beans went in - they had only had a couple of leaves at that point. When they were planted out, they all had some bokashi bran added to the holes they went into. They are now shooting ahead.

Last Wednesday, the runner beans went in. They too had just merged from the propagating pots. As with the broad beans, some bokashi bran was sprinkled into the holes and off they go!

Watch this space and see how they do!

30/5/08

Update: 12/7/08

Six weeks on and the veg are flourishing (as are the weeds!). Despite the wind and the rain, the broad beans are strong and healthy, but as yet no pods - plenty of flowers though.

Lettuce are doing well, as are the spuds - dug my first root of Mayan Gold I got at the BOG potato day, however will need to leave then another couple of weeks me thinks.  Pak Choi have been brilliant and has not bolted yet - need to get some more germinating!

Broad Beans 12.7.08

The peas in the other plot are heaving with pods, should have some nice fresh peas next weekend!

Looks to me that the EM is really working it’s magic, as I’ve never had a crop like this before and the weather hasn’t been brilliant. All the veg look really healthy, despite all the wet weather there’s no mildew on the peas.

Yummy peas!

The runner beans are just starting to ‘take off’. There are two wigwams, one of which had a big dollop of bokashi mixed into the center about 2 weeks ago - you can see the difference in growth (its the far one), so have added some to the other.  Lets see what they look like in a month!

Runner beans 12.7.08

The wire is not to keep out rabbits - instead my destructive chickens!

]]> http://recycleworks.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/growing-vegetables-with-bokashi/feed/ Broad Beans 31/5/08 runner beans 30/5/08 Broad Beans 12.7.08 Yummy peas! Runner beans 12.7.08 http://recycleworks.wordpress.com/2008/04/08/worms-worms-and-more-worms/ http://recycleworks.wordpress.com/2008/04/08/worms-worms-and-more-worms/#comments Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:54:05 +0000 recycleworks http://recycleworks.wordpress.com/?p=8

Product Brief - Wormeries!

Worms have sprung into favour in the last few weeks. Worms are getting really active and as the outside temperature has risen we are beginning to see explosions of them everywhere. Composting is going apace. Worms lay cocoons. These do not have a gestation period. Cocoons can all hatch at any time when the conditions are right, just as they are now.

This brings thinking minds to the subject of Worm Composting in Wormeries are compost bins in a confined environment where worms can live and work but not in the ground or compost heap. It’s a satisfying and interesting occupation rather more than just a hobby. Wormeries will digest almost all your kitchen waste. We and the worms favour natural wood and a biggish space to work in so do have a look at the Waste Busters on the website. They come with all the kit, the worms and Manual.

A Waste Buster will last for years and years and enthral the kids, especially the lads!

For loads of useful information on keeping a wormery - visit the Recycle Works Worm Forum.

Hello Again!

As well as some indisputably wonderful hours of Spring feeling in the air we have also been blessed with a visit from the EM people, Fran and Jan, this week.

There is a connection because both Spring & EM represent a kind of goodness associated with regeneration. So this week’s brief offer is dedicated to them and to EM.

Farming was top of their Agenda and they were thrilled to see the progress Simon is making with the slurry treatment. You only have to own a cat or dog, a few hens or a rabbit to benefit their health with some form of EM. I give my dogs a sprinkling of Bokashi Bran on their food. They love it and certainly bubble with energy all the time. If you have any questions about this use of EM please email me at the address below.

I also wanted to let you know that we have been thrilled with your responses to our Newsletters. Thank you so much! We do try to answer you all by return.

I reproduce an unexpected comment this week from a 13 year old lad, William.

“When I am feeling overworked and exhausted EM-X is very helpful. When I come home late from school (7pm) and have lots of work to do for the next day. When I play Rugby and don’t feel up to it because I am exhausted EM-X makes me feel loads better & I forget about my aches and tiredness. Since taking EM-X have never had a bad cold where before I used to get really bad ones”

We all love EM here but why not try it for yourself and find out why!
Have a wonderful weekend.

Sylvia & all the team x