Bowdon, ND

Wednesday night, April 2, a group of Bowdonites gathered at the Library and learned about circles–the circles of recycling and composting.

As we move toward a Green Bowdon, recycling has become an important part of our efforts. Angela Boeshans, Executive Director of the North Dakota Solid Waste and Recycling Association, gave us a rousing presentation of all aspects of recycling and how we can easily integrate it into our households, our businesses, our farms and ranches, and our community. We learned that when we recycle, we put our refuse and waste back into the circle of manufacturing and use, instead of having it wind up in the dead end of the landfill. Interest was high, and the group asked lots of questions. The answers will be a great help in moving us forward to becoming the little green town on the prairie.

Following Angela, Ron Wiederholt of the NDSU Research Station at Carrington gave us important information about how we can keep even more stuff out of the landfill and move it back into the circle of life by composting. We found out that composting is simple and easy and will result in a 70% reduction in the volume of organic waste, while helping us to grow fruits, vegetables, and flowers that are vigorous and healthy. According to Ron, anything that is derived from something once living can go into the compost pile/bin/barrel. He did caution us, however, that we shouldn’t recycle potato or tomato vines because of the possiblity of plant diseases. With anything else that goes through the composting process, though, the heat from the process will break down toxins, weed seeds, and all the rest of that bad stuff. What we get at the end is clean, crumbly, rich, organic, earthy-smelling compost–manna for the garden. To illustrate, Ron passed around a two-year-old bag of compost that was made from manure.  It smelled, according to Gary Heintz, “earthy–like rich soil.” The group concurred that it was black gold!

All this information will be a great help in our community gardening and beautification efforts. Thanks Angela and Ron! 

This really isn’t about politics but about what it is that makes the Horizons Program so successful in our rural areas. That said, I’m very excited about being a delegate to the ND Democratic-NPL state convention this coming weekend and hearing two of the three major presidential contenders speak.

When I lived in Maryland, I voted, of course, and read about and listened to the candidates and the issues, but I didn’t feel that I–and other “little people” like me–could be easily heard or have much influence.  Here in North Dakota, however, our voices are heard, our legislators are friends and neighbors, and we only have one or two “degrees of separation” between us and those we elect to serve us. Horizons taps into that nearness of power and gives us tools to access programs, agencies, and people who can help us make a difference and move toward thriving communities.

No matter what our political affiliation, we are gaining the skills to make ourselves heard and to influence our own destinies. What a gift!