Journal Reflection

Journal Reflection Blog Entry

Writing in the journal has been helpful in that it sets goals for me and keeps me focused. As mentioned in class, for my ecological lifestyle change I have decided to put a compost pile into my backyard in order to reduce the amount of waste going to the dump. I still need to actually go to Loews to get the materials for it, but I know how they work now and how to build one. My social change is a little more broad- I simply want to be able to communicate with my friends better how they can also become more environmentally conscious. I’ve seen some success with this so far- my housemates are showing interest in the compost pile and asking me what they will be able to put in it, where it will be in the yard, etc. The entry I have included below is a summary of some of the info I found on composting structures. Since writing this, I have actually decided to build something similar to the snow-fence design, but using chicken wire- my dad said this would be cheaper and easier to make.

September 11
So I am currently debating between constructing a snow-fence holding unit or employing a soil incorporation method. I did a Google search on how to build composting structures and a University of Missouri site turned up which lists several different types of structures and provides diagrams and instructions. The advantage with a snow-fence structure would be that when I have organic waste to dispose of, all I need to do is throw it into the bin. They’re relatively inexpensive to make and easy to construct as well. As long as I don’t throw away anything fatty or animal products, I should be able to avoid attracting rodents. With soil incorporation on the other hand, the items to be composted would be covered at all times. However, every time I would want to throw waste out, I would have to shovel out the dirt on top and replace it again. I don’t have a shovel, so cost-wise I might not be that much better off using this method than the snow-fence one once I buy the shovel. Also, I might have an easier time getting my housemates to compost if all they have to worry about is throwing waste into a bin.