I'm talking about chickens! You couldn't possibly think the diary title was a cheep cheap trick to draw you in, could you?
E.C.S.T.A.S.Y. —
End Consumption, Save The Air & Sea, Y'all!
A support group and discussion forum for those who want to kick the habits of consumption that are damaging the world we live in.
Below the fold, how backyard chickens help me reduce consumption of stuff. They also provide food, garden fertilizer, and hours of entertainment. Also, photos of hot young chicks with cute tails...and feathers and beaks.
Every household wastes some percentage of food. In my house, that's everything from the bread crusts my picky teen won't eat to the tough woody ends of asparagus and celery stalks to tomatoes past their prime. The City of Los Angeles solid resources manager estimates that 15% to 25% of the contents of the city's black waste bins are kitchen scraps; at restaurants, organic waste is as high as 70 to 80%. The urban City of San Francisco states that 36% of the waste sent to landfills, mostly kitchen scraps, can be composted instead of buried in landfills.
I should compost, she sighs, but every homeowners' composting website I've checked out has complaints about stench, flies, and other unwelcome aspects, and I fear that a compost bin would attract rats.
Enter Pojo
Irene
and Valkyrie!
They're not at all picky about tomatoes past their prime. They like asparagus stalks, bread crusts, and celery ends. And they love snails and slugs -- there's no accounting for tastes. Chickens are omnivores, i.e., the opposite of picky teens.
Besides being a stop for organic waste, they have additional benefits.
A brief introduction to backyard chickens:
- Make sure your city/county permits them. Search Municode and peruse Backyard Chickens' ordinances bulletin board, If your city doesn't, consider a political action. Basic organizing tips here, or rejoice if you live in Orem, Utah for a recent change to the city laws, or Portland, Oregon, known as the most chicken-friendly city in the country.
- Start with baby chicks. They're fun and cute. You can buy an incubator and a heat lamp. I repurposed an old guinea pig cage, and I'm pleased to report a use for the incandescent light bulb, which wastes 90% of its energy as heat rather than light. Get them for Easter/Passover/Vernal Equinox, keep them warm and inside for a couple of months, and then introduce them to the wide wonderful world of your backyard. You'll have your first eggs well before Halloween.
- For suburban amateurs with neighbors, stick to hens. Loud, obnoxious roosters are for breeders and people with lots of space.
- Fresh, free range eggs are a major benefit of backyard chickens. Their taste compared to supermarket eggs is like comparing backyard tomatores to supermarket tomatoes. Bright orange yolks stand up taller, have more nutrients, and less runny whites are better for cooking. Can you tell them apart in this photo?
- Given the chance, chickens will eat snails and slugs. However, given the chance, they'll also find a way to wreak havoc on your tomato garden. Consider yourself warned.
- I found Keep Chickens! and the website Backyard Chickens to be helpful.
- Neighbors who aren't sure about chickens should be given free eggs. Neighbors who like eggs may offer you some of their produce in trade. Pretty soon, you'll have a co-op along with your coop!
The benefits of backyard chickens go beyond the obvious ones of healthy food and composting. By growing your own, you're relying on yourself rather than a long chain of distribution of stuff, with all the carbon needed to transport eggs from producer to retailer to you.
Which brings up some additional valuable resources.
An invaluable tool for calculating the ecological footprint of your lifestyle, from the good folks at Redefining Progress. What's your score?
The Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping
If you have a resource that should be included in ECSTASY diaries, please include the link and a few words about it in the comments. ECSTASY diaries will appear most often on weekends and Wednesday evenings. All diaries dealing with the problems of living in a Consumerist society are potential candidates. If you think you've got something to contribute, please contact WarrenS and he'll schedule you in.
On Wednesday, March 24, we will hear from from G2geek on the subject of Measuring Your Waste.
The ECSTASY series thus far:
February 28: Introducing ECSTASY.
March 7: The Work of Julian Lee and Juliet Schor: Two Voices of Sanity.
March 10: G2Geek's Measure The Power.
March 14: Earthfire promoted Annie Leonard's appearance in Washington, DC