How to Grow Your Own Garden

Want to save money, improve your health, and spend more time outdoors? Start your own garden! Growing your own fruits and vegetables is the ideal way to control what chemicals come into contact with your produce, and more affordable than the grocery store. Even better, homegrown food is often tastier and healthier than its store-bought counterpart.

Since it is likely that we have passed the last Seattle frost, you can start planting new crops right away. Even if your housing doesn't offer a lot of space, you can grow gardens in a sunny corner of your backyard, in your nearby P-Patch, or even in the SPU organic community garden located off of 4^th Ave and W. Dravus St.

Luckily, growing your own plants is easier than most people think.

You can begin growing plants in indoor pots if the weather is still too cold or wet for the fragile baby plants, and replant them in tilled soil once the sun starts shining more. Or start a windowsill garden with small pots of culinary herbs like rosemary and oregano.

Although starter plants have the highest likelihood of living until they bear edibles, they can get a bit expensive depending on your plant of choice. Prices can vary from $3 - $30 and higher. A packet of seeds, on the other hand, only costs about a dollar, and has the ability to grow multiple starts. The cheapest growers are hardy vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, and squash.

But the cheapest and easiest option for growing food is to cut off the growing “eyes” of old potatoes and planting them in the nearest patch of dirt. Potatoes are very low-maintenance to grow, needing only partial sunlight and moist soil. Dig them up in 2-4 months to find a bunch of tender, new potatoes perfect for roasting or frying.

And if you compost, the free mulch from your yard clippings and leftovers is the best nutrition for growing plants (and if you don’t compost, start now!).

The SPU community garden

Have questions or concerns about starting up your own garden? Comment down below and we will answer any you throw our way.

Green Tips for a Cost Savings Autumn

As classes start up this fall, it may become a little more challenging trying to stay green while attempting to remember once again what homework was assigned (or that you have to assign) during the week. Never fear! Whether you live in a residence hall or off-campus, here are a few simple tips that will allow you to use sustainable resources, save costs and still have time to finish your homework this quarter.

• Use power strips
As the weather slowly starts to become cooler, both electrical consumption and city electrical rates are going to increase gradually. Power strips are a great way to cut costs and reduce your electrical output consumed by "energy vampires" (e.g., cell phone chargers and DVR's) that are hiding around your residence hall or house. Basic 6-outlet power strips can be bought online and in stores in a price range of $5 to $10.

• Efficiently using water
  Three easy solutions in water efficiency are:
  
  1. Shortening showers and using less hot water will help you see decreases in both your water and heating (or electrical) payments. For example, wash your clothes using cold water or if necessary a hot/cold combination for more soiled items.
  2. When running a dishwasher or washing machine, always make sure that you're running a full load in order to avoid wasting water. Make use of the available water saver feature on your appliances instead of setting loads on high.
  3. Remembering to turn off the water in between brushing your teeth and washing the dishes is always a good habit!

• Biking or busing around
  Don't let the rainy season bring you down! Try motivating yourself this fall to use sustainable modes of transportation such as riding the bus or biking around town. If you have your bike on campus or at your home, don't be afraid to bring it out a couple times a week and feel the fresh crisp autumn air. In addition, bus passes are provided to students on-campus for check out in exchange for their campus ID. Students can pay a $2 fee for a 24-hour bus pass or have the option of a free 5-hour bus pass.

• Reusable water bottles
  Seattle has been reported to have some of the highest quality tap water available in the country. Having a reusable water bottle will help you utilize this excellent resource that's provided in your very own faucet! Not only will you save costs on buying bottles at the local store but you will also enjoy the satisfying feeling of using less plastic bottles and decreasing your environmental footprint.

• Learning to turn down the thermostat
  Instead of cranking up the thermostat this year, try the power of bundling up! Extra blankets at night and wearing another layer around the house are great alternatives to raising the temperature on your thermostat. If you use a fireplace, turning down your thermostat while it's in use is yet another sustainable solution to cutting costs.

• Sealing your home
  Air leaks can become a tremendous nuisance around your house when trying to save money. Adding new caulking to the bottom of your windows and applying door sweeps are easy ways to increase insulation in your home. Door sweeps can be found online and at your local hardware store in a price range of $3 to $14.
  
  Newly constructed buildings are less likely to be prone to air leaks. However, there are still a couple ways to increase insulation in your room. Keeping your blinds closed, especially when sleeping at night, will help maintain heat. You can also hang an extra blanket over your windows, providing extra insulation in order to reduce heat from escaping your room.

Earth Day Recap

credit: DiscoverySchool.com

With all of the Easter celebrations happening over the past weekend, it was easy to forget about another important event - Earth Day. This year, Earth Day, which is celebrated annually on April 22, coincided with Good Friday. But don't worry! For all of those whose Easter festivities overshadowed their usual Earth Day celebrations, here is a belated Earth Day post just for you.

Sustainability... What Does That Mean Again?

Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. - Bruntland Commission

Sustainability has become a sort of buzzword, but sometimes the term is used so much that it loses its meaning.  What does sustainability actually mean?  Oftentimes sustainability is used synonymously with environmentalism, but isn't there more to it?  The more I used the term the more I realized it needed some definition.