The GREEN Thread

[sattie]

Hi folks!!! I have been thinking about this starting this thread for a few days now and finally decided it would be a good to get tips and ideas from other DC'ers on what they do to conserve our precious resources. To live green or at least try to do what we can to live a greener life. I just would like to know what other folks are doing that maybe our family could adopt to live in a manner more considerate of the earth....

Here are a few things that we have done to try and promote living a greener life. I can't say that we are entirely where we want to be at, but I hope to get better at it as I learn.

Water:
I use to wash my face in warm water, turning on the water for several minutes waiting for it to heat up... well you know that leads to water waste. So now I simply wash in cold water, only takes a minute or two and I use way less water.

Also turning off the water while brushing, or rinsing dishes as opposed to allowing it to run.

Taking shorter showers... I think I am going to time my shower and see how long I spend in there!

Only watering the lawn when needed.

Recycle:
We try to recycle when ever possible, card board, containers, what ever we can do.

Electric:
Replaced all light bulbs in the house with flourescent bulbs to help save on our electric bills and use less energy... and of course turning off the lights when you leave the room. In the morning, I often take showers in the morning light as opposed to turning on the lights.

Reusable:
The latest change that we have made and I love is using the canvas bags for our shopping needs. I believe foodstorm had mentioned using them and they are great!!! I keep mine in the car and I don't have to fuss with the plastic bags anymore. Plus my canvas bags hold much more than those plastic bags and they dont break! If you forget the bags, opt for paper, they are far easier to recycle than plastic.

OK FOLKS, please share your tips, I would love to hear what you do to live a greener life!!!

 

[Katie H]

Never thought of the "green" thing, but Buck and I have been using washable grocery bags for almost 20 years. Whenever we get plastic bags, we save them and take them to the stores that recycle them. Also have a compost bin (started it June 2006) where we dispose of our vegetable matter. Take all our aluminum cans to the recycling depot for disposal.

I've never let the water run when I brush my teeth. That was something my father taught me many, many moons ago.

Can't say we conserve water by not watering our yard. In the nearly 40 years I've owned homes, I've never watered the grass, so didn't get in the habit of doing so.

Almost always wash in cold water and seldom use our electric dryer, even in the wintertime. I wash once a week and will only do a load if there is enough to make it worthwhile. I've made sure that we have enough underwear, socks, etc. to last at least 2 to 3 weeks so I'm not doing laundry to "do" laundry, if you get what I mean.

Our house isn't air-conditioned, so guess we are doing our part there. It's also not centrally heated in the winter and we use wood to heat the areas we occupy.

It's only the two of us, so not many lights are turned on because we usually only have the lights on in the rooms we occupy at the moment we're in them. Lights produce heat, which we are cognizant of during the summer months (see no air-conditioning above). In the wintertime we're a little more lenient with the light thing.

There are probably more things we do that are "green" that I'm not remembering, but we do them because it's prudent and the cost effective way to run a household rather than to be green. Our practices are borne of raising 5 children and trying to make our dollars stretch.

I think part of the problem with folks is that they got out of the habit of doing things the (current) green way and slipped into doing things that are convenient.

 

[VeraBlue]

I recycle all bottles, cans, and plastic containers. Don't bother wasting water rinsing them out. The recycle centers don't care if they are clean or dirty. They all get power washed during the recycle process.

I recycle all newspapers, cardboard, junk mail and magazines.

I don't buy bottled water for daily, in home/work consumption. I have a reusable bottle that I simply keep filling and rinsing.

I also replace bulbs as they expire with flourescent ones. I don't heat rooms or cool rooms that are not in use. I pull the blinds down on windows that face west in the afternoon (in the summer)

If I water the lawn, I'll take all the potted plants from around the yard and place them on the sidewalk, in the direct line of the sprinkler. I'll put a few buckets out, too....

I'll put a few bucket type containers out if it's going to rain (or under the sprinkler) so I have water to wash the patio chairs with, or clean the birdbath.

Wash only with full loads (clothes and dishwasher). No heat dry in the dishwasher.

Keep a pitcher of water in the fridge.

Melting ice from the ice bucket waters plants.

Burn the christmas tree during the first outdoor fire.

I know I have more.........

 

[Katie H]

Thanks, Vera. You reminded me of more.

We have a paper shredder we use and empty it into our compost bin. Gotta say, by now, we have some lovely black compost.

Also drain all canned veggies and such into the outdoor kitties' "swill" pot to be poured over their evening food. All meat scraps are put into the swill pot and cooked to give it to them.

Yeah, we also don't run the dishwasher until it's almost ready to puke.

And, as you say, I'm sure there's more here...

 

[Robo410]

great thread!
house is super insulated, low E windows etc...dress for winter and summer and adjust thermostat appropriately.

Have high end applainces that conserve energy and water. Never do half loads.

Recycle, reuse, avoid throw aways. Even for parties I have glass plates and glasses..food tastes better on real dishes!

Give to thrift shops or recycling centers.

Cooking wise, I make big amounts, portion them out after the first meal. Makes reheating etc simple and easy and uses less energy. ex pasta sauce, chili, stew, soup, lasagna. But also roasts, mashers, roasted root veggies, ... keeps oven use efficient...once it is heated, use it. but don't reheat it for every meal.

I know there is probably so much more I can do so I'm reading everybody's posts.

 

[Katie H]

Robo, you just reminded me of another way we take care of "stuff." I shop at area thrift stores for all kinds of things and donate things to the same stores, as well as offering things to Freecycle.org, which is a network that exchanges things for free between members. It's in the U.S. and several foreign countries. I've given away some amazing things, including a huge stack of used bricks. There's also Craig's List, which is a similar group, but "for sale" items.

I've always had a problem with waste and have tried to find ways to either use discards, etc. or find someone who can use them.

 

[sattie]

You guys have reminded me of other stuff too!!! Katie E... I soooo want to start a compost pile, I think of all that raw food waste and keep thinking how good it would be to have one!!! I must get with you on that!

Robo.. I agree about the throw aways... I use to be hooked on paper plates and soon realize how unnecessary it was.

This may sound crazy, but if I use a paper towel to wipe up something minor, I will stash it off to the side and reuse it for something spilled on the floor, then toss it. I try to avoid the use of papertowels.

VB.. I do the same thing if and when I water.. I put all the potted plants around and get them at the same time.

Great ideas guys, love to hear more!!!

 

[Katie H]

Hmmm. Paper products. Never thought about them. Although, we don't use many. Mostly toilet paper. We may buy a box of tissues every 6 months. Never buy paper towels. Never use paper napkins. Have always used cloth napkins. The napkin thing is because Buck's family owned a weaving mill and we received all the napkins and tablecloths we could need.

I'd be hard put to find a paper plate in our house. We were invited to a family picnic a few years ago and I had to beg off on providing paper plates, cups and napkins. Were able to provide other goodies, though.

This is an interesting thread and one all of us can offer suggestions to and learn from. Keep the comments coming.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

This is a great thread - so many wonderful ideas. At my house, we:

never water the yard - xeriscaping only

have been using only fluorescent bulbs for well over 10 years now except for chandeliers, which are fluorescent now too since they started making those bulbs a couple of years ago

have had a front loader washing machine for 8 years now

use micro-fiber and tea towels almost exclusively instead of paper towels - I keep a basket full of them in the kitchen for use on everything except the most disgusting stuff

recycle everything through our city recycling program

look first for architectural salvage or used items when doing home repairs, renovations or updates

re-purpose or donate unneeded items such as clothing, housewares, furniture (I made a great liquor cart for a friend from my youngest son's changing table when he no longer needed it).

And now ya'll have given me so many more ideas - thanks!

 

[sattie]

Ahhhh, here in a month or so, our front yard will be xeriscaped!!! I'm so excited!!!

I would like to get away from using paper towels... try to find those towels you speak of!

 

[Fisher's Mom]

Ahhhh, here in a month or so, our front yard will be xeriscaped!!! I'm so excited!!!

I would like to get away from using paper towels... try to find those towels you speak of!

The micro-fiber towels may be a little off-putting at first. They are made of polyester or nylon but they absorb like you wouldn't believe and are completely lint free! They have them in grocery stores for about 3.00/ea in reasonable colors but fairly small sizes. I got some of mine at Sam's in the area where they have tools and stuff. They are about twice the size and are bundled in a package - I think about $12 for 6 of them in an obnoxious yellow color. Most I got at Target in the area where they have the little gadgets and air fresheners for your car. They were on clearance - 6 HUGE ones for $6. But these are an even more obnoxious fluorescent orange! Still, I have 25 or more of them that I keep folded in a basket under the counter. They are great to use wet or dry. With 4 kids still at home and being really messy myself, we use 5 or 6 a day in the kitchen so I know I'm saving a lot in paper towels. Also, they're great if you have a lot of stainless steel in the kitchen. So absorbent that it's easy to wipe dry all the stainless stuff everytime it gets wet so NO water spots or mineral deposits. (I swear I don't own stock and I'm not affiliated in any way.) lol

The xeriscaping I don't find especially pretty but you know how often we have droughts in Texas and I just couldn't see using water for a lawn if there was an alternative.

Terry

 

[bethzaring]

One of the biggest things we do, is to garden. I do buy all my seeds, but other than that, there are few outside inputs. We garden organically, use our own animal manure and bedding for fertilizer. Walk to the garden for vegetables. I guess we use a tiny bit of gasoline for the rototiller, but use no gas for the transport of the vegetables across the planet to the store or from the store to home. Have virtually no packaging, other than tossing used canning jar lids.

Oh, watering the lawn is not even considered. That would be a tremendous waste of precious water.

 

[sattie]

FM... I don't even care about how the xierscaping looks, cuz at this moment, it will look tons better than it does now!!! My yard is terrible! But the main goal was to have a yard that suited Texas weather and was not a drain on water resources. But it has been an extremely wet summer so far and the humidity is nuts!

Ok, so I would be better off finding those towels in the auto section then?

BethZ... I started doing my own gardening this year and it is wonderful... I don't have much, but I did do tomatoes, jalapenos, cayanne, and rosemary, I plan to do more as I learn. But I think it is a great idea to grow your own food. I think I am going to try and use the 5g pots that I saw jeekinz using next time around.

When I do buy produce, I walk to our local farmers market with canvass bags in tow...

 

[Green Lady]

I do much of what has already been mentioned in this thread. However, I was dismayed to recently learn that the compact flourescent lightbulbs contain mercury. I read that in my local paper and have checked out the ones I have. Sure enough, they contain mercury. In fact, there are now some places that outlaw the use of them for that reason. Just thought I would mention this to you and get your feedback about this. Is there a certain way to dispose of the cfi's? I know they last for ions so maybe the small amount of mercury isn't really an issue. What do you think?

 

[sattie]

Green Lady... thanks for the info, I suspect that I would treat those bulbs the same way I treat the flourescent bulbs from my strip lighting in the kitchen.

Our area provides drop points for these types of bulbs so that they can be properly disposed of. Also the other option that I have is to take my burnt out bulbs to work, they are required to dispose of the bulbs properly and I just have them add mine to theirs.

I do not and would not advise anyone else to just toss them into the regular trash, they do need special care in proper disposal.

Here are a couple of helpful links:

Fluorescent Bulb Disposal

Here is the link I use for my area:

Time to Recycle

 

[Loprraine]

I do a lot of what others have mentioned. The furnace is on a timer, so it only comes on when we're home. When the A/C is on, we close the vents to the rooms we don't use. Even then, it's set quite low. As well, we are getting rid of our old deep freezer and second fridge . They use up so much more energy than new ones. Our city (and many around us) have programs on now where they will pick them up for free. We try to buy locally produced products. The solar blanket goes on the pool, we haven't turned the heat on in it yet this summer. Our city does not allow clotheslines, but we did buy one of those twirlygigs for outside. Works like a charm.

 

[bethzaring]

This is great, support your local farmer/market gardener, yeah!!

and regarding compact flourescent light bulbs, they do need to be disposed of properly. But they consume soooo much less energy than incandescent light bulbs. We have about replaced all our light bulbs in the house with compact flourescents.

 

[Claire]

I have to laugh at one thing .... I was once told by a professional environmentalist that I already did something that everyone put together couldn't make up for .... chose childless. No, that wasn't the reason, but it cracked me up. I recycle most of the time, but not religiously. Showering has become a joke. I have a skin condition that precludes daily showers so ... well, no I don't stink (I do wash up). I AM terrible when it comes to laundry, I probably wash clothes more often than I need to. In this area most don't water lawns, and I do not. I do water my vegetable garden, sometimes my herbs, and always my container flowers (there aren't that many). Because my husband and I willfully chose to simplify our lives a few years ago, we rarely drive the truck more than once a week (needless to say, part of simplifying was chosing early retirement and finding a community where we could walk to most of our daily activities). One very environmentally correct friend asked me why I drove a pickup truck. I laughed and said we once needed it, and we don't just buy a new car for no good reason when the one we own is running beautifully. I only drive it once or twice a week, so the fact that it is a gas-guzzler is more than offset by the fact that I only fill the tank every month or two, and it is not going into landfill any time soon. So I guess not driving is probably the second biggest contribution to the environment.

 

[VeraBlue]

I do much of what has already been mentioned in this thread. However, I was dismayed to recently learn that the compact flourescent lightbulbs contain mercury. I read that in my local paper and have checked out the ones I have. Sure enough, they contain mercury. In fact, there are now some places that outlaw the use of them for that reason. Just thought I would mention this to you and get your feedback about this. Is there a certain way to dispose of the cfi's? I know they last for ions so maybe the small amount of mercury isn't really an issue. What do you think?

I had heard the same thing....but the report continued to say that the levels are only harmful if a dozen of them break at once...and you start playing with it. It's becoming more popular to conserve and the mini flourescent bulbs are selling well. The original edison lightbulb people are more than likely behind the initial report that they are dangerous.