It's Photo Friday Again!

  For this Photo Friday we’re doing a little feature on a DIY project we’re trying in the office. We recently re-pinned a tutorial on Pinterest that teaches you how to take old 2-liter bottles and turn them into self-watering, seed starter pots. It’s a great way to use up some of that old plastic and it works really well! For ours, instead of starting out little vegetables, we planted a small Blue Moneywort. It is a cute little crawling plant that does great along the bottom of flowerbeds as well as hanging baskets. Its small blue-violet flowers are really lovely to look at. We planted this little guy with some soil, and of course compost, about a week ago and so far it has been thriving. Thanks to Skruben.blogspot.com for the great tutorial! Here is the link to their tutorial: http://skruben.blogspot.com/2012/03/how-to-self-watering-seed-starter-pots.html

Photo Friday

We decided that this Friday, we would share a picture of one of our GreenRU trucks, hard at work out at our Eddyville site earlier this week. It was a sunny and beautiful day out there!

International Compost Awareness Week Kickoff Day

As many of you may be aware, this week is International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW). Later this week we will be at the Iowa State Capitol Building to have a proclamation signed by the Governor recognizing ICAW and Chamness Technology for being a forerunner in the state! However, there are ways that you can celebrate ICAW at home as well! Here are just a few.

Plant some Tomatoes
This year the U.S. Composting Council announced their 1 Million Tomato campaign, so planting one of the million yourself is a great way to celebrate ICAW. Tomatoes do especially well in a soil/compost mixture that can result in bigger, brighter, and juicier tomatoes!

Start Composting At Home
It may seem difficult, but starting to compost at home is actually pretty easy. You can't do all of the organic products that we can handle at the professional level, but eggshells, coffee grounds, and old salad are some great first steps in your own composting journey!

Get your Workplace Composting
A lot of companies are beginning to put corporate sustainability policies in place, so why not make it a very sustainable place to work? Many companies don't even think about compostings, or realize there's a company in Iowa that can help you do it! Contact GreenRU if you're interested in getting your work composting at sales@greenru.org or 855-RU-VERDE

Find A Local Composter and Buy Some Compost For Your Garden
Compost can help everyone have a more beautiful and bountiful garden, no matter what the size. Keeping the compost local reduces the environmental footprint and can work wonders in all kinds of soil! We sell compost at our Eddyville and Ames facilities, so make sure to stop by if you need some locally sourced compost!

Photo Friday

Hello! It's Friday again, which means time for another photo! Today's photo comes from last weekend's Yard and Tree Waste Free Day in Ames! Did you see us there? We were very impressed with these two bikers from Cycles Recycling who brought in yard and tree waste in the greenest way!

Featured Article: Scientific Proof that Trees Make Us Happier

We can't say we're surprised by this, but it's definitely good news. According to today's featured article there is now scientific proof that trees make us happier!
The study also found that being around trees and green spaces ranks at the same levels of big things like marriage in your overall happiness. How crazy is that?!
With more articles like this emerging seemingly all the time, it's great to go out and plan your own green space, complete with trees, today!

Read the article here.

Green Pest Control for Your Garden

Good news- it's nice enough to garden outside, and your plants have been getting plenty of rain.
Bad news? That also means that common garden pests will soon be out full force. If your garden contains edibles it is understandable to be hesitant towards chemical pest repellants, because you'll be eating what you're spraying them on later. So, today's blog features some great ways to deal with pests without the insecticide.

Increasing Garden Diversity
While it may seem simple, increased diversity in gardens can help deter many pests and minimize the threat of others.

Adding Compost To Your Garden
Adding compost to your garden is a great way to protect your plants from many pests, while still drawing in beneficial organisms. Before they get thrown in the compost egg shells, nut shells, and coffee grounds sprinkled around your plants will also greatly deter creepers and crawlers from entering your garden. Similarly, Banana peels deter aphids from your plants, so the finished compost overall will have a great effect on the garden and your pest problem.

Attract Natural Pest Predators 
Bird baths and feeders are a great way to lower your pest problem because to local birds these pest provide a tasty treat! Just making your garden bird friendly will lower your pest problem immensely.

Natural Made Pest Control
Mixing a small amount of soap with water does a great job at driving away a lot of pests. One great recipe we've found is:

• 1 Table Spoon Canola Oil
• A Few Drops of Ivory Soap
• 1 Quart of Water
• Shake well, poor into spray bottle.
• Spray plant from above down, and from below up to get the undersides of the leaves.

The Oil will smother the pests in their tacks.

Have any other pest problems? Let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to get you an answer!

Photo Friday

Happy friday everyone! This weekend is our Free Day at the Yard & Tree Waste Site in Ames. We figured a wood related picture would be best! This is from a wood grinding job we did last year.