Let's have a GREENER holiday!

Here are some tips that can help make this holiday the greenest one ever!

• Gift Cards are one of the greenest presents you can give. There’s no wrapping paper, no shipping costs, and no gas wasted driving all over town for the gift. It’s a quick, easy and convenient way to do your holiday shopping.
• ‘Tis the season to take out those reusable bags.  If you’re headed out to the mall for some holiday shopping don’t forget to take along a reusable shopping bag and you’ll help reduce the number of single-use, disposable bags distributed by retailers.
• Put old holiday cards to use. Used cards, especially those with large pictures to cut out, can also be used as decorations. Just put a hole at the top of the card and knot a piece of string or lace through the hole to hang on next year’s Christmas tree, or door handles another example would be making a holiday wreath out of old greetings cards.
• For those of you getting a tree this year- Remember to recycle trees locally or reuse branches to make colorful holiday wreaths and separate the pine needles from tree branches to create tree-scented sachet bags.
• Want a more festive looking tree? Did you know that the sprayed-on artificial snow (also known as flocking) can be made from environmentally harmful components and take away the ability to recycle a Christmas tree. For more Earth-friendly artificial snow, sprinkle on some baking powder.
• The end of the year is the perfect time to get rid of unwanted cell phones, outgrown toys, clothes and furniture. Try to donate to charitable groups like Goodwill Industries and The Salvation Army. A lot of local charities have there own thrift stores and are always looking for donated items. Why throw away something useful when you can give it to someone who needs it?
• Recycle old holiday lights, broken or burned-out holiday lights by mailing them to Christmas Light Source Recycling Program. The bulbs will be recycled, and proceeds will be used to purchase books for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. You’ll also get a coupon to save 10 percent on a future order of replacement bulbs.
• Buy Reusable Batteries. About 40 percent of all battery sales occur during the holiday season. In 2006 alone, more than 40 billion single-use batteries were sold worldwide. Consider purchasing rechargeable batteries instead; they can be used again and again.
• Recycle Packing Peanuts. Check with local postal shipping stores to see if they will accept foam peanuts for recycling. Call “The Peanut Hot-line” at 800-828-2214 to find the nearest location.

I hope these tips come in handy this holiday season. If everyone continues to do their part this year we can truly make a difference.

Modaa Inc

Don't forget to vote tomorrow! - November 2nd

I want to encourage EVERYONE to Vote tomorrow in the 2010 November Election. There are some pretty important propositions on this ballot and every vote counts! See you all at the polls!

Please remember to Vote no on Proposition 23!!

Modaa Inc.

Hello...Arclight Hollywood

Here are some photos from a past project

Building Sq Ft.: 40,000

Project Scope: Interior Painting 

                     Art Walls

                     Departure Wall
                     Restrooms

Here is a mix of Art wall, restroom interior and the Departure room photos.

www.modaainc.com

Composting Part 4

Be Careful When Adding These Ingredients!

Sawdust – Because of it's very high carbon content, and its very small particle size, sawdust can overwhelm a compost pile. But, it can also be quite useful if you have an overload of green material. I add some from my woodworking shop when I have a lot of extra fruit in my pile at the end of the season. Avoid using sawdust that came from Black Walnut wood, as it contains a chemical that will stunt or prevent the growth of some plants, tomatoes in particular.

Wood Shavings, Chips, and Bark – Like sawdust, the carbon content can overwhelm, and shut down, an otherwise good compost mix. Set them aside, if possible, and let them decompose the old fashioned way, over time ("cold" decomposition).

What NOT to do ( Don’t add these ingredients to your compost)

Meat, Fish, animal fats – Unless you can completely bury them, you run the risk of attracting unwanted visitors to your compost. You might be able to add very small portions, but they must be completely buried, and adding them makes turning or mixing the working compost very problematic.

Shredded Newspapers or Office Paper – Recycle them instead. The paper very likely contains chemicals that are not good for your compost. Newspaper shredders were very popular years ago, but the risk of adding ink chemicals isn’t worth it. By all means, recycle your paper and save trees, but don’t put them in your compost pile.

Ashes from Your BBQ Grill – Another no-no. Wood ashes can be very useful in small quantities. And, wood ashes can be helpful for certain lawn applications. But, never put BBQ grill ashes into your compost pile.

Dog and Cat Feces – Are never good for your compost. There’s simply too much risk of adding nasty diseases, not to mention the unpleasant odor! Chicken, horse, cow, and rabbit manure is fine

These are my final tips on composting. I hope it was helpful and informative Tomorrow is the Mar Vista Fall Festival so be sure to check  it out! I will be blogging about the event next week.

www.modaainc.com

Composting- Part 3

Smaller is BETTER

Smaller particles are simply easier to mix and easier for the little microbes to digest. Of course, the micro bugs don’t eat the whole particle, but smaller particles of raw materials means that you’ll have more surface area for the millions of microbes to do their work.

Turn, TURN, turn!

You’ll maximize your composting efforts if you continuously turn, or mix, the heap. Mixing your heap will help to keep the browns and greens in balance, will distribute moisture, and add essential air (oxygen) to the mixture. The core (the inside) of the compost heap is always hotter and is the center of activity. The outside is generally less active and much cooler. To increase the efficiency of the composting process, mix the heap to bring more of the raw materials from the outside to the core. Bring more food and water to the busy little micro bugs on the inside.

While the compost is working, or “cooking,” the best tool for turning is a pitch fork or garden fork.

    When and How to Use Compost

Soil Building – Compost is the single best additive for good, even great, garden soil. It improves tilth, fertility, water retention for sandy soils, water drainage for clay soils, and improves your soil’s disease fighting characteristics. Add compost in spring and fall, and till it in.

Garden Fertilizer – Compost can be used throughout the season as a garden fertilizer. Simply side dress vegetables and flowers for a slow-release food source and improved disease prevention.

Lawn Feeding – Screened compost (compost that has been sifted to collect the smaller particles) can be applied as a lawn fertilizer throughout the season. It will provide a wonderful slow-release food as well as assist in lawn disease prevention. And, given that the nutrients aren’t as concentrated as in chemical lawn foods, you’ll avoid the stripes that can easily occur when incorrectly applying chemicals. You’ll avoid chemical run-off, and you’ll save money. Your lawn will be alive, with earthworms (natures aerators) and beneficial microbes.

Compost vs. Mulch – Mulch is any material that is applied to the garden’s surface to prevent weed germination and to reduce water evaporation. Compost will help build the soil, and it will help retain moisture; but, it won’t do a lot to prevent weeds. It’s an ideal growing medium; so, weeds are likely to be very comfortable in it. Use shredded leaves for mulch, or a combination of shredded leaves and lawn clippings. The combination of lawn clipping and shredded leaves creates an attractive mulch that won’t blow away (as leaves alone tend to do) and allows water penetration (as grass clippings alone tend to matt and repel water).

 www.modaainc.com

Composting- A new trend in the Green movement Part 2

Using two Containers is recommended when composting. 
(The process can take several weeks)

Materials needed:

Pitch fork

Shovel

Garden cart

Key ingredients needed:

Food, water and air

“Greens” ( grass clippings, fresh manure, fruit, vegetables, coffee grounds , tea bags, weeds, leftover fruit from garden)

“Browns”  (dry leaves, dry grass, shredded cornstalks, sawdust, straw)

The best combination of browns and greens is about 4 parts of “browns” to one part “greens” by volume.

Hot & Cold Composting

Hot composting is fast, and a well maintained compost heap can fully decompose in several weeks.

Cold composting is slower, primarily because the environment is hospitable to some of the micro bugs, but it’s hardly ideal.

Getting Started – Activators, Worms, Microorganisms

               

After you’ve built or bought a composter. You have some dry leaves and you’ll be adding green materials (lawn clippings, kitchen waste, plant scraps) all summer. To some extent, you’ll be layering these materials to provide both a balanced diet and the best mix for air and water penetration. Also if you want to try compost activators go ahead they won't hurt.

Worms can significantly improve your composting effectiveness, just as worms in the garden can improve soil tilth. My open bin compost piles have a healthy supply of worms, probably because I occasionally add a shovel full of good garden soil to my bins.

More to come next week!

www.modaainc.com

Composting- A new trend in the Green movement Part 1

Basics of Composting

• Composting is simply decomposing organic material.
• The organic material can be plant material or animal matter
• Composting is great for your garden and environmentally responsible.
• Improves soil
• Improves soil structure/texture
• Provides all essential nutrients for healthy plant growth
• Environmentally beneficial by reducing the amount of solid waste and contribution to landfills
• Reduces dependency of chemical fertilizers
• Save money on expensive fertilizers

To make compost you will need space. In or near your garden and close enough to where you can get to your waste.

You Can Do Your Composting In Two Ways:

1.       An open bin (constructed from wood, chicken wire, or recycled plastic.

Advantages of Open Bin Composting

Open bins easily collect rain water

Open bins are very convenient for adding materials

Disadvantages of Open Bin Composting

Open bins can attract pest and can be an eyesore

Open bins can become too wet, if not covered

Open bins may be more difficult to mix (more on that later)

2.       Enclosed container  (upright box or rotating drum)

Advantages of Compost Containers

Rarely attract pest, easy on the eyes

Rotating drums are usually easier to mix or turn

Rotating drums are easy to unload 

Disadvantages of Compost Containers

Enclosed containers usually require you to add water

Upright containers may be very difficult to mix or turn

This is part 1 of 4. Keep an eye out for for more to come.

www.modaainc.com