It's Time to Start Those Seeds... And Reuse That Shredded Paper

Today is looking to be a very cold day and we are expecting ice this evening! Yuck! But I know spring is right around the corner. My friends at Timebank and various blogs are talking gardening and I realize I'm missing my garden, badly. Moving to an urban apartment, I don't have a great green space I can just till up and community gardens have waiting lists. This year, though, I have decided I'm not going to let that stop me. I am planting a container garden! 

Of course, I don't want to just go buy plants...I want to grow from seeds! And NOW is the time to start them... So I found this great way to reuse shredded paper or torn newspaper to make seed starters. It was so easy! 

You need: Blender, Newspaper, Water, Strainer, Muffin tin, and the sun preferably or an oven will do. 

Tear the paper in about 1" squares (doesn't have to be precise) or use shredded paper and fill your blender about half way. I don't have a blender, so I used my 'shake maker.' Fill the rest of the way with water. I let it soak for a little bit because the newspaper soaks it up. Blend until its a soggy mess paste. Add water or paper as needed.

Pour in the strainer and press most of the water out,until just moist. You don't want it to be completely dry. Then just put a bit of the goo the muffin tin, spreading it up the sides and making sure your bottom is good and covered. You don't want too thick, but you do want it strong enough to hold your dirt. 

I would have preferred to use the sun's heat to dry these, but the day I decided to make them was cold and rainy. I set the oven to 250 degrees and put the muffin tin in. I honestly didn't time it and at one time I turned the oven off because I could smell them baking. Later, I turned it up to 350 because they weren't drying fast enough. My suggestion is to turn it up to 400, then turn it off and put the muffin tins in. Best time is after you bake something and you can put them in when you've finished cooking and use the heat left in the oven. 

Once completely dry, they pop right out of the tin. Fill with compost, soil, seeds and give them sun, water and love. When ready to put them in your garden, the whole thing can be planted. Happy Gardening!

For more awesome repurpose, reuse and recycle ideas, follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@GoodGarbageSDF) and Pinterest! 

Keep up with our Materials List & Wishing for a Scale

Be sure to check out the list of materials we accept HERE and start saving for us. I'm planning to get out in the community very soon with educational talks and make-and-take projects and I need inventory, especially items on the wish list. The list is updated often so keep checking back.

We are looking for businesses to partner with too. Things like corks, wine bottles, colored pop and beer bottles, bottle caps, scrap vinyl (signs), etc. If you have a business or know of a manufacturing business here in town that has something unique that is cast off as seconds or scrap, let me know. We would love to sit and see if we can join forces to keep as much as possible out of the landfills.

Also note the Terra Cycle Brigades we are collecting for. These will help raise much needed funds for our education and community programs.

And at the top of our Wish List is a scale! Something big enough for us to weigh bags/boxes of items as they come in. A postal scale that would go up as high as 50 pounds and have a clear view of the weight. We will use this to log the weight of all donations and be able to see the tonnage we are keeping out of the landfill. We have so much already in our storage facility, I'd really like to get that all weighed soon. Anybody have an old one they want to get rid of?

Email me with any questions or info.  

~Lynn (Lynn.GoodGarbage@gmail.com)

The PosSOUPbility Experience

What on Earth is posSOUPbility?

PosSOUPbility is an easy and fun way to bring our community together over food to support new and emerging projects that create innovative ways to celebrate, and/or benefit people, places and things in the Louisville area.  Applicants and projects can be based in a variety of fields and disciplines - the only requirement is creativity!

Somewhere along the way of building Good Garbage, I came across this wonderful group. I wanted to be part of it, not just as a presenter, but to go listen to all the new innovative happenings around this town I love! 

Anne had spoken with Nick Covault, one of the wonderful people behind the event and he really was excited about Good Garbage and our vision and encouraged us to apply. And we did. Since we are currently still completing the piles of paperwork to become a non-profit, and building our followers, we thought this would be a great way to one, get our word out to like minded folks, and maybe even possibly get enough money to buy a used trailer so we could start a mobile popup shop and give us something to pick up large donations with.

Compassionate Louisville
Trackers

The application process was simple. Once they receive the applications, they are looked at by a blind panel and three are chosen to present at the event. This was their year anniversary celebration and word is getting out. They had a record six applications. We were one of the lucky ones chosen to present, along side Educational Justice and Compassionate Louisville Trackers at First Unitarian Church on Sunday, January 27.

Anne and I worked long and hard on our presentation. We practiced and edited and practiced again. We had a lot of fun with sharing our vision while sharing a few laughs with our audience, and from the video, +Rhoden Streeter,  did for us (and we will share once it's edited properly), and the grand response we received afterwards, it seems we did exactly what we set out to do. 

They had a record crowd and amount of money to give away. They collected $1490, which at $10 per person, means there were 149 paying supporters. WOW 149 people paid to eat some fabulous soup and to see the small projects happening in Louisville! How awesome!!!! For us, that meant there were a minimum 149 more people we got our vision out to. There was one person in the audience that couldn't stand the odd dollar amount and offered up another $10 right before the winner was announced to make the take and even $1500!!! This means that the winner received $1350. PosSOUPbility holds 10% to cover their costs, but if that is more than needed, they will add it to the amount the next winner receives.

Nick Covault, Organizer

Educational Justice, Winner

Unfortunately for us Educational Justice won, hard to beat out the needs of our kids. But you know what? You will not find any disappointment here!!! What we took from this event is exactly what we wanted. We got to meet so many wonderful people, garner lots of support, and make Louisville aware we are on the road to build another way to assure waste that could end up in the landfill, will have an alternative home, a place teachers, artists and crafters will be able to access inexpensive materials to help keep the arts alive, as well as a source of education on reducing, reusing and recycling! 

Thank you Nick, Beth and all the other volunteers for the wonder thing you are doing with posSOUPbility and the opportunity you are giving all your presenters and the Louisville community. Please check posSOUPbility out on their blog possoupbility.blogspot.com or on Facebook. Their next event is on April 7, 2013. Be sure to mark your calendar!!!!

(Photos all courtesy of posSOUPbility)