composting

After asking you to vote on four composters we selected from your suggestions, the first round of the Gaiam Compost-Off has come to a close and only two composters remain standing. Here are the results:

Finalists:

Orb Composter – 51% Votes
Earthmaker Composter – 29.5% Votes

Voted Out:

Green Cone Composter – 15% Votes
Wigwam Composter – 4.5% Votes

If you’re a Gaiam fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or are a member of Gaia, you’ll recall that we recently asked for your input on how to make the best compost, best materials to use for composting, and suggestions on your favorite composters. Why, you may ask? Because we want to step up our selection of composting products to make it even better — and we want you to help us pick the next composter we should carry in our catalog.

I could barely contain my shock and awe when my brother asked me a few months ago which compost bin he should buy from Gaiam. We’re talking about a guy who arguably has the cleanest fingernails on the planet (he’s a heart surgeon) and has never been remotely inclined toward tree-hugging tendencies. His SUV gets 13 miles a gallon. He doesn’t have a single compact fluorescent lightbulb in his entire house. He occasionally bikes to work, but mostly to avoid becoming like one of his patients. But his 13-year-old son came home from Boy Scouts one day and said, “Dad, we have to start composting.”

Every week we highlight the best articles, blogs, news, videos and interesting Web tidbits to help you live green, be healthy, and connect with your sense of spirituality. Read our roundup for info that helps you live better.

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Every week we highlight the best articles, blogs, news, videos and interesting Web tidbits to help you live green, be healthy, and connect with your sense of spirituality. Read this week’s Valentine’s-Day-themed roundup for info that helps you live and love yourself and your partner better.

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According to the National Association of Diaper Services, more than 18 billion single-use diapers go into the landfill each year and they can take up to 500 years to decompose. Then there’s the issue of the energy and materials that go into making the diapers and the byproducts of bleaching them. Add to that the worries about the chemicals we are exposing our babies to with many popular brands of disposable diapers, and you’ll begin to see the problem.

Nice … half-frozen veggie scraps molded together in a solid mass. Not exactly what I want to see in my compost bin. With at least five more months of cold weather before warmth and sunshine reappear, why do I even bother keeping the pile going?

Me and my veggie scraps

It was slightly more than a year ago that a tech-savvy friend convinced me to add a blog function to my website. And a further three months until I could post my entries without him walking me through the process. To call me a Luddite is to be generous.

One of the best amenities at our new campus in Louisville, Colo., is the fresh, healthy food served up right here in our much-anticipated on-site Gaiam Café.

The Gaiam Café opened for business in September

Gaiam partnered with Savory Cuisines, a company dedicated to promoting “a choice of lifestyle that is healthy and life enhancing” to create a “Green Cafeteria.” We love the fact that our new café brings farmer’s-market-fresh food right to the office using 90% organic and local products.