...aren't you assuming that the grass is turning brown while in a compost pile? Grass does not turn brown while it is in the pile. It turns to compost. Why would straw always be considered a brown, yet dead, dried brown grass a green? Because straw does not have any protein in it. Grass does. Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalk of a cereal plant, after the grain or seed has been removed. Before the grass forms a seed head, the protein "lives" in the grass blades and stalks. When it forms the seed, all the protein is concentrated in the seed. Wheat is an example. There is an old saying about separating the wheat from the chaff. Straw is chaff. Based on that wouldn't other dead leaves, once green and high in carbohydrates and proteins always be a green? Yes...until they decompose into compost. Alafalfa, clover, and vetch are three examples of plants with leaves that hold on to protein. The concentration of protein in a plant is a characteristic of grass, nuts, seeds, and beans as well as some legumes. If you are thinking of tree leaves, only mimosa and acacia trees have much protein. Most garden variety trees have flowers. Those flowers become fertilized by pollen and develop into to seeds or fruit with seeds in them. The leaves don't have that much in the way of protein. What makes dead grass different than other greens gone brown in its ability to absorb ammonia? The presumption that greens turn brown is incorrect. Greens decompose into compost, and browns decompose into compost. Protein sources are the cause of ammonia gas. If grass is mowed and remains moist, it starts to decompose. If it is in a pile, you can smell the ammonia. If it is not in a pile, it dries out. The microbes that decompose it into ammonia need moisture to do that job. So if the grass is allowed to dry out, it may discolor as the leaf dies, but it does not lose that much nitrogen. Browns absorb ammonia as does the finished compost itself. Wasn't the ammonia already locked in pile to begin with? Yes if the pile had adequate "browns" (dry tree leaves are great for this). The ammonia is the result of the decomposition of protein. If your pile never had any protein in it, then there will be no ammonia to absorb. If your pile is composed of nothing but protein sources (like grass), then the ammonia will escape and the pile will smell. If the pile already had carbohydrate materials (browns), then it would have absorbed any ammonia from prior decomposition of protein.

I hate it when people feel superior towards other living things on our planet. When will they get it we must live with them and protect them, so they keep the great balance our world feeds on. Just because they don't think things will get bad during their lifetime doesn't mean it won't effect their grand kids and their kids. Well I have a protected speices who I live with and welcome more.

rosebud- I think "green" buiding can take many forms, solar panels and other high ticket items notwithstanding, there are lots of other green options. Not only can we choose VOC paints and energy efficient windows, but we can limit SF, limit the goodies (such as multiple body jets in a shower, installing A/C in an environment where it isn't needed, making children share a bathroom, etc.), choose light fixtures that work with CFL bulbs, limit the use of vinyl (go ahead, shoot me now), using locally milled or quarried materials, etc. There are many things that can be done without spending an extra $$ on solar panels. Yes, in our build we have done many things right, but we did not spend the extra $$ on solar or wind cuz we chose to spend our money in other areas and we were on a tight budget, and when you're looking at a 50+ year payback for solar panels, well, that's a no brainer for me. Nova had a great show on solar and wind power in Germany last night and they made a big deal out of how the German government has made renewable energy affordable to average citizens and how Germany gets 30% of their electricity from renewable sources compared to 1% for the US (worthy, no mention of Canada, sorry). Then they went on to say why the American people would never support such measure here and that we depend on the market to make our changes for us. Oy. The truth hurts. sandyponder

I used to get upset at how much money people spent on animals. But, it is their money and none of my business. We owned horses for 20 years---if you think dogs/cats can be expensive-----Oh My!!!!!! Horses are bigger and much less hardy----there are many simple things that can result in the death of a horse---a stomach ache is often a death knell, for instance. Feeding a pregnant mare the wrong kind of hay can abort a foal. And the list goes on. We had a mare whom I discovered one fine june day with a wound on her leg so large, I thought someone had used a chain saw on her leg. The mare was down---not a good thing for a horse that is hurt---that is a precursor for the animal giving up life. I got her up on her feet, called the vet(this was before cell phones---and in the pasture---so had to run back to the barn, get the truck, drive to the closest occupied house and get permission to make a long distance call.) The vet came out and told us(wife had arrived) if we wanted to spend the money, the horse could be saved. Now, the vet knew us---and knew our financial situation---we regularly treated whatever was wrong ourselves to save money. Well, $1200 and three months later---three months of giving the mare antibiotic shots twice a day and rebandaging the leg once a day, the vet was right. That mare actually healed so well the scar was difficult to see. We had the time---and could afford the money---plus a friend boarded the mare for free---spaced over that time. We did without some things, like fun and new clothes---but the whole family wanted to do it---and the most important thing was we had the expertise. I had a friend who had a really expensive horse---a horse his daughter had ridden to a AQHA Western Riding World Championship---they were the best in the world that year. The horse was boarded at a very good trainers facility---his wife was the vet I mentioned above. That horse still got a case of colic---got so sick my friend had the horse med-evaced by helicopter to the facility at Kansas State University Veterinary School---and the horse still died. So, we love our animals. I still cringe when I read about a person spending thousands of dollars on an animal, but I try not to be too judgemental.