Being Green

Sitting on my sofa, I can hear the pitter-patter of rain on the rooftop.

As I look across the room, I see drops of rain running down the bay window. Earlier today, I had opened the window to enjoy the warmth from the early October day, but now the air has cooled slightly and has that unforgettable late afternoon dewy scent to it. As I take a deep breath, excitement fills me, knowing that I’ll head out to my garden as soon as it stops raining.

Soon enough, I pull on my garden boots and a warm, scratchy wool sweater and make my way outside. I take a little stroll through my garden, just as I have all summer long. With the arrival of fall, my once-thriving garden is showing obvious signs of slowing down. Still, the harvest this year has been one of the best in recent memory thanks to the ample rainfall over the course of the summer. Even during the dry portions of August, I was able to keep my garden well-watered, thanks to my rain barrels.

My rain barrels have helped me practice true water conservation for the past several years.

While the region has gone through many above-average rainfalls over the course of a season, it has also experienced some very harsh dry spells between those heavy rains. My community has undergone several water-use restrictions and water use for gardens is always the first to go. With the use of my rain barrels, I have been able to keep my garden lush.

Working at Palermo’s has opened my eyes to the fact that there are so many ways we all can make a difference. Palermo’s has fuel and energy conservation programs, repurposes more that 900 tons of food waste annually as feed for livestock, uses sustainable packaging, and recycles tons of cardboard and plastic. In fact, we even donated dozens of plastic barrels to city projects for use as rain barrels – a cause near and dear to my heart!

Inspired by the efforts I see every day at work, I’ve been trying my hand at composting. It’s proving to be a great way to eliminate as much waste from my kitchen as possible. Leftover table scraps and odds and ends that are unable to be used in my recipes go right into the compost pile in the corner of my yard. Over the spring and summer, I rotated the pile several times and could see the change from organic material to rich, healthy potting soil. I can’t wait to incorporate the compost into next year’s garden and start the process all over again.

Does anyone have any suggestions on other environmentally friendly projects I could incorporate into my life? I’d love to hear what you’re doing to preserve the environment for future generations. Thanks!