Cream City Ribbon – Biodegradable. Compostable. Eco-friendly.

By: Kimmy Maclang

Most of the ribbons on the market today are made of petroleum and polypropylene – materials that are harmful to the environment. Consumers today rarely care about where their products come from, and what they are made of. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has continually made efforts to encourage consumers to practice the three Rs of waste management – reduce, reuse, and recycle. In addition to this, consumers are urged to buy environment-friendly products in an effort to lessen non-biodegradable waste in landfills, contributing less to environmental degradation.

This campaign by the EPA is known as “Source Reduction”, an effort through which trash toxicity that is thrown into landfills is lessened. This may be accomplished by reducing the design, production, and consumption of materials and items that are toxic to the environment. This keeps these products out of the landfills and the environment, thereby reducing the source of toxic waste. There are a lot of eco-friendly products in the market today, and supporting these products encourages Source Reduction.

Cream City Ribbon is the only company in America that manufactures natural ribbons made from non-woven cotton yarns that are grown and responsibly dyed in the US. We make our ribbons as natural as we can, using non-toxic water based adhesive. This makes Cream City Ribbon biodegradable and eco-friendly.

Imagine that the beautiful, decorative ribbon that you use for various projects right now will pile up in a landfill for centuries. Because they are made of plastic, it is not degradable, and does not decompose after a certain period of time. What kind of use would there be after your ribbons are used? None. Instead of your decorative ribbon being useful, they will end up turning into harmful and toxic decorations to the environment.

Now, imagine your gorgeous Cream City Ribbon being reused in your garden to tie up your plants. After which, you can put them in your compost bin, where it can be put to better use. A bird can find it, and use it to build a nest for her young, or it can decompose and you can use it to fertilize your plants or garden. How wonderful is that?

Composting

There are many chemical factors and processes involved in composting. Wikipedia briefly discusses “compost” and “composting” in simpler terms for us to understand.

Compost is composed of organic materials derived from plant and animal matter that has been decomposed largely through aerobic decomposition. The process of composting is simple and practiced by individuals in their homes, farmers on their land, and industrially by industries and cities.

Compost can be rich in nutrients. It is used in gardens, landscaping, horticulture, and agriculture. The compost itself is beneficial for the land in many ways, including as a soil conditioner, a fertilizer, addition of vital humus or humic acids, and as a natural pesticide for soil. In ecosystems, compost is useful for erosion control, land and stream reclamation, wetland construction, and as landfill cover.

Making your own compost from wastes around your home is easy. However, you must primarily follow the three Rs of waste management, and separate your waste. Below are several tips and instructions on how to generate your own compost for your garden or plants.

There are a lot of wastes that may be used for compost. However, most organizations and experts recommend the combination of green and brown wastes. Avoiding perishables such as meat, cheese, milk, fish, and cooked food is also a must, as these promote the spread of disease-causing microbes and pathogens. In addition, they bring about a very putrid odor that you may not want around your home.

Plants treated with pesticides and herbicides should not be added to your compost bin as the pesticide’s chemicals will affect the decomposition process.

Below is a list of the recommended brown and green materials according to Go Organic Gardening.com (How to Compost).

Brown materials:

· Cream City Ribbon (belongs under the “Brown” category)

· Old, brown grass, leaves and twigs

· Pet rabbit and hamster bedding (any vegetarian pet bedding)

· Some Sawdust and wood ash

· Very little pure charcoal ash (not too much, as it contains high levels of iron and sulfur)

· Straw

· Dryer lint

· Shredded pine cones and pine needles

· Shredded, non-glossy newspaper and cardboard

Green materials:

· Grass clippings

· Fruit and vegetable kitchen scraps

· Coffee grounds and filters

· Manure from vegetarian animals (cow, horse, sheep and rabbit)

· Hair

· Tea bags

· Egg shells

Top 10 Composting Tips the Cream City Ribbon Way

Tip #1. Get a compost bin. You can use old crates, or better yet, a sturdy plastic bin that has a secure lid to avoid organisms and microbes from spreading around your home environment. Of course, your bin must be placed outside, away from your children or pet’s reach.

Tip #2. Keep your compost pile in a black or dark-colored plastic bin. Put it in direct sunlight to further the composting process when it's cold. Hay bales can be used to add insulation to the pile.

Tip #3. Grass clippings add much needed nitrogen to your compost pile, however, mixing it with "brown" materials that add carbon is better, and optimizes composting. Both green and brown materials are necessary for quick decomposition, making for richer compost. Piles made up of just grass will compress, slowing down the decomposition process.

Tip #4. Newspaper or plain white copy paper is great for composting. Shred it to small pieces to speed up the process (shredding them is a great way to let air and oxygen in). As such, cut your Cream City Ribbon into shorter pieces before putting them in your compost pile.

Tip #5. Keep your compost moist, but not soaked. The idea is to keep it wet (just like a wrung-out sponge or towel) to help the decomposition process. When your compost dries out, the decomposition will stop. Make sure to check once in a while, and add water when you think it’s starting to dry up.

Tip #6. Sift through it using a pitch fork or a long branch. This allows more oxygen to circulate through your pile, as the microbes that are eating away at your pile also need oxygen to survive. The more oxygen these microbes have, the stronger they become, and the faster the decomposition.

Tip #7. Keep your pile warm. A higher temperature is more conducive for microbes, and a cold climate can stop the decomposition process. If it gets colder, make sure to sift and aerate your pile.

Tip #8. Put some red wriggler worms in your pile. These worms will reside in the top six inches of your pile, and would gladly eat away at your organic compost. Ask your local gardening shops about red wrigglers.

Tip #9. Your worms love coffee ground. You can get these from your local café. They may be given out for free. Add coffee ground to your pile, and you get healthier, richer compost.

Tip #10. Finished compost is usually less than half the amount of materials you started with, but is much denser. It should look, feel and smell like rich, dark soil, and you should not be able to recognize any of the materials you put in there.

Now, you can place the finished compost to your garden soil about 2 to 4 weeks before planting. This allows the nutrients of your compost time to seep into the soil and fertilize it. This makes your soil healthier and optimal for all your garden plants.

Cream City Ribbon: Great for Your Projects, Excellent for Your Garden, Terrific for the Environment

At Cream City Ribbon, eco-friendly and cost effective ways of living are encouraged. Using Cream City Ribbon, which is made from natural cotton and with renewable energy resources, is an excellent way of starting your eco-friendly routine. Our custom ribbons are bound with non-toxic adhesive and printed with water based dyes, making it safe for your children and pets. You can’t lose with Cream City Ribbon.

Make a gorgeous handcrafted project.

Create an amazingly beautiful scrapbook.

Wrap your gifts prettily.

Make elegant handmade accessories.

Hang photos, frames, and home decorations.

Use as a gardening material to tie up your plants.

Put in your compost bin to help aerate and neutralize your compost.

With your Cream City Ribbon, you get boundless possibilities. Be bold. Explore.

At Cream City Ribbon, our mission is to be an environmentally responsible company that creates a quality natural product, provides excellent service and value to our customers and dignified work for our employees. As such, we purchase electricity from renewable energy resources such as wind, solar, hydro and biomass. Our packaging and spools are made with biodegradable and post consumer content materials wherever possible.

Remember that without each individual’s effort, we cannot achieve the goal of having a greener and safer place for our children, and our children’s children.

Your daily efforts in practicing proper waste management and disposal are vital to nature. Encourage your family members, friends, and neighbors to do the same, and you get a cleaner, greener, and safer environment.

Create your projects using biodegradable ribbons.

Be proud of how you helped the environment by using natural ribbons.

Choose Cream City Ribbon.

Make “THE NATURAL CHOICE”.

E-mail us at ccr@creamcityribbon.com for more information, or go to our main website at www.creamcityribbon.com for orders and inquiries.