A Green Fire

I am very lucky to live “in the country” although my whole state is pretty rural so that is a relative term.  My house is not visible from the road, in fact, my driveway looks like it goes back to an old hay field instead of a residence.

I like that, I like it a lot.

So, because I am so secluded and have no fear of offending neighbors, I have a burn pit in my back yard.  Here is where I burn all my paper trash, thus keeping it out of the landfill.  All my food boxes, junk mail, old magazines, catalogs; I burn.  I burn about every other month, unless it is too wet, or in the summer, too dry.

I also have a compost pile in my back yard.  I use the slowest method of compost, which is throw it on, let nature do the work.  I put all my fruit and vegatable kitchen scraps here. I eat very little meat, so I have almost no meat waste.  However, if I do have a cow or pig bone, I give that to my dog.  I do not feed him chicken bones. Almost no paper goes into my compost, because I burn it.  I feel good that over time, I get fresh soil for my flowers or vegatables and I am taking two big items out of the landfill.