Erik Levy, owner of the recycling company Save That Stuff, has taken repurposing to a new level — buying a surplus Brockton fire truck that he may retrofit with a pizza oven and grill to provide snacks for his employees, clients, and neighbors.
“I’ve never bought a fire truck before; my life is now complete,” Levy said. “We are not exactly sure how we will use the vehicle, but we’ve talked about a pizza oven and grill. I like the idea of an emergency vehicle in a non-emergency situation.”
Levy bought the 1981 pumper truck in late November for $7,400 in an online auction.
“It was a little bit of an impulse buy,” Levy said. “But it relates to what we do and is kind of a three-dimensional business card.”
Levy said the truck probably will stay in Brockton — where his company has a storage yard on Oak Hill Way — after getting modified at the headquarters located under the Tobin Bridge in Charlestown.
Save That Stuff started in 1990 with a single 1971 Volkswagen Double Cab — a half bus, half pickup truck — that Levy used to pick up cardboard in Boston. The company now has 35 trucks collecting waste from about 3,500 businesses in the Boston area, with an emphasis on hard-to-recycle materials, Levy said.
For example, Save That Stuff picks up coat hangers from the Gap, shredding and granulating the plastic parts to be made into new plastic products, he said.
Like humans, plants need certain nutrients in order to survive. So if you have a plant, and it doesn’t look exactly like it’s thriving, you may decide to give it a little nutritional boost. But does it need plant food, or fertilizer? And what’s the difference between the two? Here’s what to know.
The difference between plant food and fertilizer
Although the terms are often used interchangeably, plant food and fertilizer are not the same thing. The biggest difference is that plant food is made by the plants themselves, while fertilizer is a synthetic or natural substance that is added to a plant’s soil. Here are a few more specifics:
Plant food
The easiest way to remember the difference between plant food and fertilizer is that only plants can make plant food: It’s not something that can be purchased (no matter what product labels say). To produce the simple sugar they use as food, plants convert water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight during photosynthesis, and absorb nutrients in the soil through their roots.
When a plant isn’t able to get the nutrients it needs through its soil, it may benefit from the addition of some fertilizer or compost to make up for the nutritional deficits.
Fertilizer
The nutrient content in soil depends on a variety of factors, including its texture (loam, loamy sand, silt loam), organic matter content, and pH. Testing your soil is the best way to figure out which nutrients are present in sufficient amounts, and which you may want to add to the soil using fertilizer.
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Commercial fertilizer comes in formulations with different ratios of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—the nutrients a plant needs in the largest amounts. this Lifehacker article from May 2021 decodes the letters and numbers on fertilizer bags, and explains how to select the kind that would most benefit your plants.
Plus, this page from the University of Minnesota Extension provides further details on the different types of fertilizer, and when to use them.
FoodShare, Wisconsin’s version of SNAP, is administered by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and helps boost the food budget of low-income households. Benefits are distributed to FoodShare accounts according to the same monthly schedule, including December 2022.
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The Wisconsin QUEST card looks like a plastic debit card and has your name, card number and the QUEST logo. The QUEST card can be used to pay for food at stores and some farmers’ markets. It can also be used anywhere that accepts EBT payments online.
FoodShare benefits can be used to purchase the following food items:
Fruits and vegetables
Meat, poultry and fish
Dairy products
Breads and cereals
Snack foods and non-alcoholic beverages
Seeds and plants, which produce food for the household to eat.
Among the items you can’t buy with FoodShare are alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, vitamins, medicines, supplements, live animals, pet foods, cleaning supplies, paper products and cosmetics. In Wisconsin, you also can’t use your benefits to purchase hot meals.
To find out where you can use your FoodShare benefits, check the US Department of Agriculture’s SNAP Retailer Locator. Click “Enter the SNAP Retailer Locator” and enter your address. For a list of markets that accept FoodShare benefits, visit here.
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According to the Wisconsin DHS, your family may be able to get benefits if you don’t earn enough money to pay for basic necessities. If your family’s gross monthly income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, then your household passes the gross income test. However, there are different income limits for people who are at least 60 years old, disabled and unable to buy and prepare their own food.
How To Score EBT Discounts
SNAP benefits also come with other perks that go beyond purchasing food. Here are a few additional bargains you can get with your Wisconsin QUEST card:
Amazon Prime discounts: Recipients of SNAP and SNAP EBT Cash benefits (or Medicaid benefits) can qualify to save 50% off their Prime membership. To see if you qualify, visit amazon.com/prime/qualify.
Museum discounts: Those receiving SNAP benefits can get free or reduced admission to hundreds of museums and arts groups throughout the US, including through the Museums for All program.
Farmer’s markets: You can also use your SNAP EBT at participating farmers’ markets to purchase fresh produce. The USDA’s Food Nutrition Service (FNS) provides a monthly list of the names and locations of markets across the country that are currently authorized to accept SNAP benefits.
Internet and phone: Through the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), eligible FoodShare recipients in Wisconsin could receive up to a $30 per month discount on internet services and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. SNAP households may also qualify for free or low-cost landline or cell phone service through the Federal Lifeline Program. Consult with your service provider for more information.
Home energy assistance: Anyone receiving FoodShare benefits may also qualify for home energy assistance. Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) — which is funded by the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Public Benefits (PB) program — assists eligible households with their heating and electric bills.
To apply for the FoodShare program, you can apply online through the ACCESS website, call your local agency, visit your agency or fill out a paper application.
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Wisconsin FoodShare benefits are sent out over the first 15 days of each month, based on the eighth digit of your Social Security number. Here is the deposit schedule for December 2022:
The eighth digit of SSN is:
Benefits available:
0
dec. 2nd
1
dec. 3rd
2
dec. 5th
3
dec. 6th
4
dec. 8th
5
dec. 9th
6
dec. 11th
7
dec. 12th
8
dec. 14th
9
dec. 15th
All SNAP recipients, including those receiving FoodShare benefits in Wisconsin, will get a financial boost thanks to a major cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for fiscal year 2023. The COLA kicked in starting Oct. 1, 2022, and will hike the maximum monthly benefit by 12.5%.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Food Stamps Schedule: Wisconsin FoodShare Benefits for December 2022 and How To Use SNAP for Discounts
