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SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2015
ASK A MASTER RECYCLER
Put your heart into recycling this Valentine’s Day
For the Siuslaw News
Q. Valentine’s Dayis this week. I
love the earth and want to shrink my
garbage footprint, but I work full
time, have a family and am busy with
my kids’ activities. What can I do to
in less than 5 minutes a day?
A. While it’s terrific to reuse,
repurpose and recycle, the most
effective way to reduce what you add
to the landfill is limit what you bring
home in the first place. Lane County
residents generate an average of 3.4
pounds of garbage per day (2012).
Here are five simple ideas to help
lower your average:
• Keep a reusable, lidded mug in
your car for that daily latte habit;
many coffee shops even offer a dis-
count if you bring your own cup.
• Still collecting plastic bags with
every visit to the store? Carry a stash
of reusable bags in the car so you
always have them on hand. Or con-
sider a bag that stuffs into its own
FRAA
Membership
drive
continues
Florence Regional Arts
Alliance (FRAA) invites
artists in all mediums, includ-
ing photography and 3-D art,
to join its membership.
Benefits
include
the
opportunity for you to partic-
ipate in several upcoming art
exhibits.
During the months of
March and April, FRAA
members have been invited
to exhibit at Peace Health
Medical Center. This is an
open-ended exhibit, without
a designated theme.
Also, on March 2, a new
exhibit will be hung at the
FRAA Art Center. The theme
of this exhibit will be “Still
Life/Portraits.”
FRAA will also be exhibit-
ing at the FEC during the
month of April.
Membership in FRAA pro-
vides many other benefits,
including an active website
and monthly newsletter of
activities and opportunities
for artists; an art center offer-
ing opportunities to take
and/or teach classes; dis-
counts on classes, work-
shops, and art festivals; your
art work being featured on
the FRAA website; an oppor-
tunity to hang your work at
different locations in the area,
such as the monthly changing
exhibit at Oregon Pacific
Bank; the opportunity to sup-
port and collaborate with dif-
ferent art groups in the com-
munity, such as participation
in demARTS at the Siuslaw
Library; the chance to net-
work with other artists;
speakers and presentations
impacting the art community
of Florence and surrounding
areas, and more.
Currently, FRAA’s Public
Art Committee is working
with the Port of Siuslaw
researching public art oppor-
tunities and, in May, plans
are being made for an FRAA
Rhody Arts Festival at the
FEC.
To become a member of
FRAA, visit the FRAA Art
Center, 4969 Highway 101,
Munsel Lake Plaza No. 4, or
call the art center at 541-999-
0859.
For more information,
contact Meg Spencer, mem-
bership chair, at
flo-
renceartsalliance@gmail.
com.
Business and individual
sponsorships for the FRAA
organization also are wel-
come.
Voice Your Opinion!
EDITOR@
THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM
pouch and clips to a purse or pack;
kids can participate by re-stuffing the
bag after use.
• Use cloth napkins and towels
instead of disposable paper ones; 17
percent of material disposed as trash
in Oregon is paper and cardboard.
• Bring your own water bottle;
there are myriad choices for reusable
water bottles now, for all members of
the family.
• Make recycling convenient. Keep
a small container next to the trash can
to hold all recyclables; sort as needed
for curbside recycling.
The most recent Lane County
waste study shows 68 percent of
waste going to the landfill is recover-
able (recyclable, compostable or for
energy/fuel).
Q. What do I do with yard trim-
mings? Do they go in the trash? How
hard is it to compost in Florence?
A. We are fortunate in the Florence
area to have a temperate climate con-
ducive to composting. We do have
black bears, however, and other ani-
mals, so it’s important to be aware of
local pests and compost accordingly.
For the least bear attraction, com-
post only yard trimmings; or use an
enclosed bin in a well protected area
and manage the pile actively. With a
few precautions, it's easy to recycle
organic material, produce a valuable
soil amendment, and reduce waste
going to the landfill.
How to get started? Composting is
an adaptable activity. If you have
plenty of time and energy, an active
compost pile can produce black gold
in just 6-12 weeks.
With a much smaller time commit-
ment, slow composting can create
usable compost in 6-12 months. You
may also compost in place and amend
the soil one patch at a time.
Finally, you can take yard trim-
mings to the City of Florence for dis-
posal monthly, for a nominal fee,
from May to October.
What goes in the compost pile?
For hot, or active, composting,
most materials may be composted,
including meat and bread. Pet waste
should be avoided. Hot compost is
made in batches, with no new materi-
al added (except water) while it is
cooking.
The recommended mix of ingredi-
ents for hot composting is 2:1:1:1/2.
That is, 2 parts nitrogen (kitchen
scraps, grains, teabags, eggshells) + 1
part hi-nitrogen (coffee grounds,
manure, fresh grass clippings) + 1
part carbon (dry leaves, paper towels,
cardboard, shredded paper) + 1/2 part
structure (wood chips, non-rotted
straw)..
For hot composting, the materials
are mixed well, turned frequently,
and begin to break down immediate-
ly, usually avoiding pest attraction;
pile size needs to be at least three
cubic feet.
For easy, or slow, composting,
avoid adding meat, dairy, oils, inva-
sive weeds or diseased plants.
Try to add about half carbon and
half nitrogen materials at the same
time. If your garden is plagued with
bears or other pests, avoid adding
fruit, bread or other attractants.
Cold composting can be added to
on an ongoing basis, or made in
batches.
For spot composting (soil incorpo-
ration), food waste is simply buried
in a hole; no need to maintain a pile,
the material decomposes in place. If
buried at least 12 inches deep, pests
will not usually bother the material. A
similar option is to cut the bottom off
of a garbage can and sink the can into
the dirt, then add compostable mate-
rial to the can.
More composting methods to con-
sider include worm bins or Bokashi.
For more composting information,
visit www.LaneCounty.org/Compost.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Florence Master Recyclers are part
of the Lane County Master Recycler
Program, a service of the County's
Public Works Waste Management
Division since 2002.
For more recycling information,
visit www.ci.florence.or.us/building
/recycling or www.lanecounty.org/
Departments/PW/WMD/Recycle or
follow Master Recyclers of Florence
on Facebook.
Local group to attend health care rally in Salem today
The Florence chapter of
Health Care for All Oregon
seeks concerned citizens to join
hundreds from across the state
to make a powerful statement
about our current system.
“The goal is for 2,500 of us
to show up today, letting our
representatives know we want
change in a system that leaves
so many people out and diverts
so much health care money into
wasteful overhead,” said organ-
izer Stuart Henderson.
Health Care for All Oregon
is a grassroots coalition of over
100 organizations determined
to create a better way of financ-
ing health care in Oregon. Its
mission is to provide publicly
funded, privately delivered,
high quality, affordable, uni-
versal health care to everyone.
For rally transportation
information,
contact
SK
Lindsey at 541-999-5875, or
come to the Kenneth B Gallery,
1458 First Street in Old Town
Florence, or call Stu Henderson
at 541-997-2997.
CYAN MAGENTA
S USY L ACER , M ASTER R ECYCLER
A MONTHLY COLUMN OF RECYCLING INFORMATION
PROVIDED BY F LORENCE M ASTER R ECYCLERS