“It’s sad how we take nutrients from the earth and
rather than giving them back we waste precious drinking water (see toilets) or fill dump sites.”

Good point, I thought.

Shortly after that I got introduced to wormeries and decided that this was my chance of giving back (a little).. What is a wormery?

“A Wormery is a box system that contains composting worms .. [and] .. is an easy, convenient, environmentally-friendly and efficient way of turning your waste kitchen scraps into high quality super-rich compost all the year round.”

For a normal compost one would need a garden, but the good thing about a wormery is, that it can be done indoors as well, in fact the worms work best at temperatures between 14-25° Celcius. I don’t really need all that earth, but some friends already expressed an interest in it and I bet the trees on my street will be happy takers as well.

So how do you get started?

1. Get 2 opaque boxes and a lid (In my case I use another box as the lid). Of course you can also buy wormeries in stores, but they are rather expensive (over 100EUR I was told)
2. Punch holes into one of the boxes and the lid. The box with no holes will be at the bottom, this is where very nutritious water (leachate) released in the process will be collected. The lid needs to have holes, so the worms can breathe.
3. Fill the box with the holes with a mix of 2-3cm shredded newspaper and cardboard. (I just teared it into small pieces.)
4. Get some worms and place them on top of the shredded paper mix. (Worms come with the compost they currently live in and can be picked up here for free)
5. Add some organic waste, approximately the amount of the compost with the worms. (Do not use orange peels or anything cooked.)
6. Cover with a sheet of wet newspaper (this will keep flies from enjoying the waste)
7. Leave the compost to itself for 1-2weeks. The worms have to get used to their new environment.
8. Now you can start adding more organic waste. Remember to always cover it to keep out flies (If you don’t like the newspaper approach a cotton towel can be used as well.)

Questions? Check out this FAQ or comment on this post.

Cheers,
Sylvia

About half the worlds population needs to battle with Red River Indians each month – some turn moody, some schedule vacations around it others just have a little bit less energy. You still don’t know what I am talking about? Maybe monthly flow, period or menstruation mean more to you.

Now why exactly would this be a topic for a blog on mainly environmental issues?
Unless you use washable towels, having your period produces waste: pads, tampons. Also these things can be quite pricy and when travelling to certain countries your preferred choice might not even be available. So when I heard about this thing called mooncup, I really liked the idea and thought maybe you would be interested in hearing about it as well!

What is it?
“The Mooncup is a reusable menstrual cup around two inches long and made from soft silicone rubber.” (Mooncup UK)

It claims to be better for your health as well as it does not introduce any chemicals or will leave fibres behind. Personally I never had this problem, but glad to hear it! Anyway, so you buy it once, use it for up to 15 years, you need to clean it, but this can be done with toilet paper and water and once in a while boiling it in water might be a good idea.

Here is a list of some companies where you can buy this product. Note it comes in different prices, but some will last longer than others: Mooncup, Keeper, Divacup, Lunetteinfo

Have a look at this presentation on how to be sustainable – every day:

A student from Taiwan invented this paper seat called ‘Flexible Love’.

This seat can expanded to a bench for 16 people and is impressively flexible. It has been produced from widely-available and low-cost recycled materials. The impact on the environment by the production of such a seat is incredibly low. Watch the video below to see how flexible this bench is:

For more informatin visit the Flexible Love website.

The Teekampagne (tea campaign) is quite a simple concept. Günther Faltin (professor for entrepreneurship in Germany & founder of the tea campaign) asked himself: why is tea affordable in China but so expensive in Europe?

After some investigations he finds: the reason are neither the transport nor the custom expenses but rather the fact that tea is not available all year around which means that distributors need to pay rent for an appropriate storage space. Another reason is the packaging: the tea has to be packed into consumer friendly small packs which does cost quite some money as well.

Günther Faltin decided to break this cycle and to sell tea directly to customers (using the web) in big packages and only when it is available. He did further research and found one type of Darjeeling tea that even has a quality certificate today which he now sells (less choice, high quality). Thanks to his direct contact to the manufacturer and his unusual business model he can sell the tea to a very affordable price.

However, the Teekampagne is not only a good place to buy tea, it is also a very simple and effective businessmodel, that can work with almost any product (e.g. energy saving light bulbs or vegetable oil).

Today everyone can be a successfull entrepreneur. In a postindustrial society ideas gain more relevance than capital.

For more information visit the Teekampagne website.

Yes, I get a vegetable box! Every week someone comes by my house and drops off a box full of local, healthy & organic vegetables. Hmmmm!

But there is one problem: How do I prepare this special local type of salad? And what about this vegetable? I’ve never seen this before and can’t even find it on Wiki or Google. If I don’t even know what it is, how should I find a recipy to prepare it?

Well, here in Brussels the answer is called Cookitude. Cookitude does not just deliver a bunch of vegetables but also a recipe that goes with it and explains you how to cook them.

Every day they deliver fresh meals for as many people as you like. Even some companies order food with Cookitude these days and encourage their employees to cook & eat healthy at their workplace. Cooking has never been that easy. I could imagine that this concept would work in many places around the world.

What sounds like a complete contradictury in itself is a smart concept that combines an inspiring brand with a technological solution to generate energy with the vibration of the dance floor.

Watch the video below to find out more on how this project was developed! Interesting to see how some people have transformed their passions into a sustainable business idea:

And maybe you are even interested in buying your own mini sustainable dance club for you and your friends?

Have you ever dreamt about a garden on top of your house? Why not install a green roof that does not only provide green space but also the perfect isolation?

Here an example from Building Green TV: Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas, United States