ORGANIC Bj Robert Rodale Learn What You Can Do Without by Robert Rodale What do you suppose you’d do If your trashman knocked on your kitchen door next week and informed you that he’s sorry, but he didn’t think he’d be back next week -or ever? Your first reaction would probably be disbelief, after which you’d probably start paging through the telephone book in search of a replacement. Only after you couldn’t find a substitute would sheer panic set in as you thought of the piles of trash and garbage your family accumulates every week. It’s probably time that we all sat down to consider what our lives would be like if we didn’t have some of those services we now look upon as essential to our well-being. And one of the most essential services is trash and gar bage collection. Surprising as it seems, garbage collection is one thing that many households can do without. Some people have already tried operating no-garbage homes and have found that they could actually survive without having to haul out bags of waste products two or three times a week. Wayne H. Davis, a professor of zoology at the Univer sity of Kentucky at Lexington has worked out a household economy that wastes nothing. Newspapers, cans and Jars go to local recycling centers. Magazines go to hospital waiting rooms. And garbage is buried in the garden, where it decomposes quickly, providing organic material and nutrients to the soil. Paper and plastic scraps are burned in a fireplace. The ashes are thrown in a flower garden. Dr. Davis says that there are disadvantages to his system. It’s “extra work. The extra bags'to separate garbage, trash, cans and jars are a nuisance.” But, he adds: “We consider our effort a success and think that others interested in organic living might want to try it. I doubt if we will ever go back to garbage cans and Dutch School Natural Foods LARGEST SELECTION OP NATURAL FOODS AND VITAMINS IN CENTRAL PENNA. RT. 222, AKRON, PENNA. PH. 859-2339 Think 318 bush* Single Beater PTO spreader—built to make short work of those big spreading jobs. 'Optional Upper Beater Breaks up big hunks, shreds the load for better /rT^ spreading pattern... adds Affljy load-carrying capacity, as 2-Year Warranty on Chain. When you think big, think conveyor chain. This giant has a super Heavy Duty Chain (20,000 lbs. tensile strength) that’s backed by this full 2-year warranty, Stop in. We’re thinking {jig on trades... right now! A. L HERR IBRD. Quarryville 717-786 3521 CHAS. I McCOMSEY A SONS «R« SUPPI, m-S'S m-*!■**> STOLTZFUS FARM SERVICE Cochranville Pa 715-593-5280 A.B.C GROFF, INC. New Holland 717-354 4191 LIVING ig- ROV’H BUCK, INC. Ephrata R D 2 717-859-2441 N.G. HERSHEY & SON Manheim 717-665 2271 LANDIS BROS., INC. Lancaster 717-393-3906 collection service.” Many may fell that Dr. Davis is advocating an extreme program. However, a recent survey by students and professor William L. Rathje of the University of Arizona proved that, despite talk of rising prices and flagging economy, residents of Tucson wasted approximately 10 percent of all food that came into their homes. Under Dr. Rathje’s direction, students analyzed the contents of the garbage cans of 380 residents. In his at tempts to find a relationship between material culture and behavior, Dr. Rathje found that the vast majority of 1975 ASCS Farm Program Explained The Agricultural Stabilization and Con servation Service (ASCS) issued a complete recap of previously announced farm program provisions. B. Snavely Garber, Chairman of Lancaster County Agricultural Stabilization and Con servation Committee said, “While most area farmers are probably aware of major program provisions, we want to assure that all farmers understand the various rates and rules as they progress with field work and planting. A few of the provisions are different from last year, but the basic programs, in effect for 1974, remain virtually unchanged. “Even though the Nation’s farmers are virtually free to plant what they feel the market prices indicate will be needed, every farmer certainly needs to know where he stands with regard to Federal farm programs,” Garber said. The highlights of the 1975 programs include: (1) no land set-aside or conserving base requirement; (2) no limit on the amount of wheat or feed grain acreage a farmer can plant; (3) disaster payments for prevented planting or ab normally low yields; (4) For Furthor Information On Our STEEL BUILDINGS And GRAIN STORAGE F I F T Mail A hod C deficiency payments if market prices fall below target prices; (5) acreage allotments used only to determine the maximun acreage eligible for disaster or target price payment; (6) crop substitution to protect allotment history; and (7) a $20,000 limitation on the amount of payments a person can receive under all programs combined. Specific provisions for the 1975 wheat and feed grain programs include: - a national feed grain allotment of 89 million acres and a Lancaster County feed grain allotment of 60,530 acres. -a national wheat allot ment of 53.5 million acres and a county wheat allot ment of 24,597 acres. -per-bushel target prices of $2.05 for wheat; $1.38 for com; $1.13 for barley, and $1.31 for sorghum; -per-bushel loan rates of $1.37 for wheat; $l.lO for corn; $.90 for barley, and $1.05 for sorghum; - per-bushel disaster payments (equal to one-third the target price) of $.68 for wheat; $.46 for corn; $.38 for barley, and $.44 for sorghum. VERNON E. STEEL BUILDINGS AND GRAIN STORAGE R.D. 4, LEBANON, PA. 17042 PHONE; (717)867-4139 Commercial & Agricultural Buildings We Offer Complete Erection on any Size or Style Building Lancaster Farmlnj, Saturday, April 26,1975 people questioned didn’t realize just how much food they were wasting. If you cut out all food waste and recycled as much as possible, you would cut your contribution to the solid waste-disposal problem significantly. But that should be just a start. Think about some other essential services that you might lose, along with ways that you could protect yourself against that eventuality. The flushless, recycling toilet is the ultimate in turning wastes into useful products. Surprisingly, several types are already being manufactured. The Clivus-Multrum is the best no-water toilet now made. Perfectly sanitary, safe and odorless, that Swedish device needs no water or energy, no chemicals, no liquid effluents, no plumbing, no cleaning and has no moving parts. Compare that to the modem toilet, which uses five gallons of water per flush and results in a tremendous drain on our fresh water resources - not to mention the waste of time involved at a sewage plant separating the wastes from all that water. Information on the flushless toilet can be obtained from Clivus Multrum USA, Inc., HA Eliot Street, Cambridge, Mass. 02138. The list of essential services that might be cut off, either short-or long-term, could go on and on. What if your oil man suddenly announced that he was halting service to you? You’d probably find yourself switching to a wood stove. Many people aren’t waiting. They’re putting in auxiliary stoves now before the crunch comes. Our food supply could be severely affected from one growing season to the next simply by the weather. You’d do well to lay in a supply of home-canned fruits and vegetables to see you through any stoppage of that essential service. A garden is an absolute must for anyone looking for that extra measure of protection. Vegetables raised in your own backyard give you that added bit of self-sufficiency that will be needed should shortages come. Garbage and yard wastes - if composted - combine to make excellent fertilizer. I don’t believe Armageddon is just around the corner. But we should start thinking seriously about a whole new way of life without some of the things we now consider essential. (Editor’s Note: The opinions appearing in “Organic Living” are those of its author, Robert Rodale, an in dependent columnist. Rodale’s comments do not necessarily reflect the thinking of the Lancaster Farming editor or anyone else on the Lancaster Farming staff.) FARMERS FERTILIZER WORKS ELIZABETHTOWN 367-1211 LIQUID NITROGEN SOLUTION AVAILABLE JAY WISSLER, APPLICATOR BOX 99, RD2, MT. JOY, PA PHONE 898-0675 MYER J Mail Ceufwc Twbgl """1 □ SEND STEEL BUILDINGS LITERATURE □ SEND GRAIN STORAGE LITERATURE lAME m tmiiiiiul ................—— .. ADDRESS... »TY. STATE ZIP. | ELEPHONE 1 49 vSTfT
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers