Tag Archive for 'compost bins'

Escape! The Next Chapter in “The Green Experience”

Published on June 3, 2010 in HAYNEEDLE. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Wow! Well, now I have a worm composter. Great, but what to do next? I found out the answer the first time I went down to the basement to check on my little worms to discover… I have ESCAPEES! I retreated upstairs until I felt brave enough (I may have had a glass of wine) to go back down to the basement and clean the worms.

I called the vendor first thing the next day to explain the situation. It’s not that unusual he told me, especially if you’re starting out with as many as 5,000 worms. He then asked if I’d turned a light on for them. I had not left a light on for the little worms. (Instructions are important ;-) ) Easy fix. I will turn the light on. But what to do with these fugitive worms?

Luckily I knew Bruce, one of my coworkers at Hayneedle, liked to fish. I asked him if he was interested in about 2,500 worms, and lucky for me (and him?), he was. So I made a temporary bed for his worms and brought them in for him.

Now I was starting to feel extremely confident that this is going to work well. I did not overfeed the worms, they were starting to eat the lettuce, and things were really looking up. We had about 3 weeks of smooth sailing, until one night I went down to check if my worms were ready for more food, and I bet you can guess what I found: more ESCAPEES!

Again, I call the vendor first thing in the morning, and at this point he is just laughing. “You still have worms jumping out?” he asked.

Yes. Yes, I do.

Basically ,when worms keep jumping out of a compost bin, it means there’s something they don’t like about their new home. The vendor advised me to make a fruit cocktail for the worms. “They will love it,” he assured me.

So last night I prepared a fruit cocktail for the worms: a blended apple…yum. Let’s see how it goes. I’m really starting to get used to these worms.

About “The Green Experience”

Think of “The Green Experience” as a little slice of reality Internet, where anyone can follow one of Hayneedle’s own, Cayden, as she chronicles her transition to a greener lifetstyle on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. Her endeavor began with a compost bin and 5,000 worms in her formerly worm-free living space. Follow the “HayneedleGreen” handle on Twitter and check back here for her blog posts.  It’s bound to be messy for her, but ultimately a planet that’s a little cleaner for the rest of us.

So It Begins: The Green Experience

Published on May 5, 2010 in HAYNEEDLE, HOMEACCESSORIES and PETS & ANIMALS. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Hi. I’m Cayden, a buyer with Hayneedle. I started buying for two of our eco-friendly specialty stores, CompostBins.com and RainBarrelSource.com almost 2 years ago. Before I started buying compost bins I was not the greenest person in the world. I did not compost, have a rain barrel, or even recycle. But as soon as I started buying compost bins, I felt compelled to at least start recycling, and now I’ve finally made the leap to owning a compost bin, too- pretty exciting stuff!

Yet, I still feel pretty green-challenged and would like to take more steps toward a greener lifestyle. That’s the concept behind the Green Experience- through blogging, Twitter, and YouTube, I’m going to put my going-green experience out there. Follow me as I make a few changes!

Just a few weeks ago, I received my Worm Factory Worm Composter. I got the bin before I got my worms, so (lucky me) I did not have to make a temporary worm bed. I’m not going to lie, I’m not necessarily the type of person to go out into a field and start digging for worms. So it’s a good thing they just showed up at my door!

It was Friday, April 9th and I had been out for drinks to see off a colleague on her last day. I got home around 8, and that is when my boyfriend, Jason broke the news. “I think your worms are here,” he said before even saying hello. I can say that this is the moment when I started to understand what I was getting myself into. Or at least the moment when I wondered if I was getting in over my head…

Cayden's worms get familiar with their new digs.

The Green Experience

Published on April 23, 2010 in HAYNEEDLE and PATIO & GARDEN. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Now that Earth Day is officially over the hill (Happy 40th, Earth Day!), we think it’s time to make every day a little eco-friendlier.  Our country actually has a green-minded resume that predates Earth Day by 100 years- it started with Arbor Day in 1879. With humble beginnings in Nebraska, Arbor Day gained observance in every state by the 1920s, and our country is a greener, shadier place for it. Once a wind-swept expanse of Sandhills and prairie grass, Nebraska today has three National Forests to prove it. Seriously. There’s are three National Forest in Nebraska. Cool, huh?

Nebraska National Forest

At Hayneedle, we’re trying to rekindle some of that pioneer spirit with something we’re calling “The Green Experience.” Think of it as a little slice of reality Internet where anyone can follow one of Hayneedle’s own, Cayden, as she chronicles her transition to a greener lifetstyle on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. Her endeavor began a  few weeks ago with a compost bin and 2,500 worms in her formerly worm-free living space. Follow the “HayneedleGreen” handle on Twitter and check back here for her blog posts.  It’s bound to be messy for her, but ultimately a planet that’s a little cleaner for the rest of us.

Check out what Hayneedle employees are doing to tread a little more lightly.

<!–[if !mso]> <! st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } –> to keep people thinking about our great ball of rock and water beyond April 22, we’re rolling out a little reality Internet that we’ve dubbed “The Green Experience.” Cayden Biddle has volunteered for this voyeuristic social media experiment, which will chronicle her change to a greener lifestyle. It started with a compost bin and 5,000 worms… it’s gonna get messy, folks. Follow the “HayneedleGreen” handle on Twitter and look for features on YouTube and Facebook soon.