The Madill Rose Garden Club held their monthly meeting on March 6 at 10 a.m. in the Madill Methodist Fellowship Hall. Dena Atnip, Vice-President of the Marlow Patio Garden Club entertained and enlightened members and guests of their Trash Footprint and ways to bearesponsiblehumantothe environment.
Bettie Cooper, President of the Marlow Patio Garden Club, portrayed Trashy Mountain in the program. There were clean pieces of trash passed out to each of the attendees and as Trashy Mountain milled about, the guests taped it to her so to visualize how a little trash builds up to make big trash.
Atnip drove home how everyone’s addiction to plastics and disposables contaminates not just the land but the waterways and drinking water. She gave ideas and examples of how to reuse clear plastic carry out containers and turn them into a greenhouse, making grocery bags out of 50 lbs. bird seed sacks, crocheting Walmart sacks into sleeping mats for the homelessandturnaluminum cans into garden art.
Use what you have and avoid heavily packaged foods was a basic theme.
She shared ideas to help get back to the basics. Guests learnedtheycanmakebrown sugaroutofwhitegranulated sugar and molasses, save peelings from fruit and make jelly, make their vanilla with drinking alcohol and vanilla beans, save vegetable peels with peelings/scraps and boil then freeze until needed, cool pasta water and use it to water plants.
She taught attendees that there are different decomposition times for various items. Cigarette butts take approximately 10-12 years, fishing line takes 600 years, paper milk cartons take five years, rubber boot soles take 50-80 years and disposable diapers take 500 years to decompose.
Atnip challenged guests to assess their own individual trashy footprint and then sign a contract to have an improved score when she returns in a year.
Monica Bartling, of Waurika and representing Color Oklahoma,wasinattendance along with her husband, Roy. The group gave her a list of highway areas where they thought wildflowers would receive the most traffic.
She said she plans to visit the identified areas after the meeting and will make the final decision. She then will discuss with ODOT.
MRGC assured her that the club could make the initial $250 payment. This amount will be matched and then matched again by a ColorOklahomaBoardMember for a total worth of $1500. That will buy enough seed to plant seven acres. Seeds will be purchased from Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg, Texas.
Jayson Pruitt will head of the Bird Committee. Judy Parkey will chair the Publicity Committee including writing articles for the Madill Record.
Mary Jane Lowery heads the Sunshine Committee with Sue Schilling and Lydia Shaw assisting. The Sunshine Committee sends Get Well Cards, Birthday Cards, facilitates the purchase of a book at the Madill Library in memory of a deceased member and send a long-stemmed red rose to the funeral home when a member of the club dies.
Jo Wood is the chair of the Madill Christmas Parade Float. Lydia Shaw will be the March decoration for the Madill Library.
The next meeting will be Thursday, April 4, at 10 a.m. at the Madill Methodist Church Fellowship Hall.
MRGC is looking forward to a year of growth and healthy gardening. The purpose is to support and beautify Madill. For anybody interestedinbeingamember, please contact a member. The yearly dues are $15 and a small donation to the Sunshine Fund at each meeting.
There are plans for some members to attend the state meeting in Lawton with a tour of the Wichita Mountains and Medicine Park and the Regional Meeting in Alburquerque, NM.