The New Face of Green

I walked into the bathroom earlier this week and found this on the floor:

They've done this before, offered composters at a very low cost. This time, I took them up on it.

I wish I'd arrived early, though.

The line was actually longer than this when I first arrived. I did some soul-searching about standing in line, drove home and got my camera, then took this picture and got in line.

Hey! I made the first turn!

The whole time I was standing in line, I kept thinking - This is just like standing in line for concert tickets, but no one's drunk or smoking dope and the only person walking up and down the line trying to sell something is the old hippie from the Living Green Center hawking rainbarrels. It really was odd. No one was talking about music or sports either. The talk was all about recycling and what you can compost and isn't it funny that the rainbarrel hippie is driving it around in that gigantic truck?

The people were of all ages. Little kids with their yuppie moms, older folks excited to be in on the next big thing, and yes, there were a few long-hairs wearing bandanas and flipflops, but you had to look hard to find them. I found myself between an older couple and a just-out-of-college couple. Most of the wait found the five of us in sporadic conversation. The young couple got to hear about my dad's chickens and the rainbarrel he made for them. The older couple got to hear what I found out about this particular composter from visiting the website. There were kids and dogs and umbrellas for the sun. But no potties. And I was alone in line. About halfway through, I suddenly had to go. I looked around but no port-a-potties were in evidence. I'd have to go into the mall to find relief. But no guarantee that I'd still have a place when I came out. I held it.

Guess what the first thing I did when I got home was?

After I unloaded the composter, I got back in my car and headed out again, this time in search of a Doggie Dooley. Basically, that's a mini-septic tank for dog waste. I love Kida, but she is quite prolific in the poop category and despite our efforts, she was stinking up the joint.

I did find one at PetSmart. I almost came home with a dachsund puppy too, but managed to control myself. THAT was touch and go for most of the afternoon. Anyway, I put it together and started digging the hole. Started feeling woozy, so I went inside to eat something and sit down for a couple of minutes. Darling Man finished the digging job for me! I set the thing in the hole and filled in around the sides. Then, I used my new pooper scooper set (rake and "dust"pan) and picked up every bit of poo that I could find. And put it in the Dooley. Mix in a couple of tablespoons of enzyme into warm water, let it rest for 10 minutes and pour it in. Then fill the rest of the way to the top, close it and let it "cook". I'm hoping this is a huge improvement over the previous procedure!

We're going green all over here at the house of Smiles.

When I went grocery shopping, I bought 10 of these (10 for $10) and my giant shopping trip only filled 7 of them! They're about the size of 2/3 of a brown paper bag.

ZBoy was VERY pleased.

Speaking of ZBoy, this is his display board for the Science Fair:

Honestly, he got the review I kind of expected, given that it was thrown together in two days. However, the judges were enthusiastic about future projects - they said that ZBoy exhibited great enthusiasm and interest in science and that they were looking forward to next year. I didn't get to see his presentation, but he must have really put on a show!

Who? Me?