Saturday July 26th, 2008
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What Makes Your Home Green?
Posted by dancingqueen on March 16, 2007 - 1:06pm.
What have you done to help make your home a greener and more eco-friendly environment to live in?
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Interests: Practicing DJing, Feng Shui, Spirituality, Candle and Soap making, Yoga, Camping, Bicycling, Movies, Music
Inspiration: Music. Nature.
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1. Reuse all plastic bags, for the most part I use a reusable bag when I go shopping
2. Minimize waste, I try not to use excessive amounts of anything, and recycle everything possible
3. Use Compact Flourescent Lights
4. Clean with natural products
5. All my furniture is made with wood that is harvested from sustainable forests.
How about yourself Harley? I am really interested in what other people out there do to make a difference, maybe we can all help and learn from each other.
The food in my home. I try and buy organic when I can and feed my family products that will make them healthy both inside and out. I read the list LIME posted regarding what are the most important foods to buy organic and have incorporated some of them into our diet, especially milk, apples, yogurt, peppers and eggs.
I am thinking of doing some work on my home and am looking into using organic products for paint, flooring and bedding.
Starting conversation. When people visit my home I try and initiatae conversation about ways in which we all might help to become more green. My friends and family know it is important to me and we exchange information on new things we have learned. Just yesterday, we had new lines put into our home and the old direct tv boxes taken out. I asked the techinician how I could dispose of them while not ruining the environment. We had a whole discussion and I think I brought awareness to him.
Still don't know the answer!!!
Dialogue is so important or just as important as recycling. The more we get the word out, the more people will become aware and start to make real changes.
I also have started to use a shampoo that is paraben free. It is citrus and smells wonderful. SO clean.
I spend alot of time barking at my hubby and kids to think about their consumption and waste, but it's paying off. We switched to Green Mountain Energy, use compact flourescent bulbs, unplug appliances, recycle and reuse grocery bags, buy in bulk when possible to cut down on packaging, pass on used clothing items to friends and neighbourhood kids, try not to flush excessively, water our plants with tub water and hang our laundry to dry. Every effort counts. Kudos to everyone making responsible choices!
~ Greener today than I was yesterday!
LOL. It's deffinately not as easy as it sounds - you're right about that! I keep empty 4 plastic milk jugs with the tops cut off in each bathroom. The rule in our house is this: If you shower you set the jugs on the floor of the shower and you empty them afterward in your designated watering space. If you bath, you scoop out your 4 jugs before you let the water drain. Everyone has their own watering space that they are responsible for and we rotate them every once in a while. There really is no easy way to reuse your water that I've found, it just has to become part of your routine. The kids were shy about having to truck their jugs accross the yard to the maple tree or the flower bed at first, worried about what the neighbour kids would think, but it's caught on and I see other kids on the block now making an effort to reuse their household water too.
~ Greener today than I was yesterday!
1. Use cotton shopping bags. Yes, it took a little bit of nerve asking Wal-mart clerks to pack my groceries in them, but I'm used to it by now and have come to expect it. It's cut down on my plastic bags at home.
2. Buy products in larger sizes to cut down on the ridiculous amounts of packaging that go into the trash or into the recycling bin at home. I try not to buy things in single servings.
3. Never throw anything away that can be given away to some. A big proponet of the Yahoo group "Freecycle." Eveything can have a home. It just takes some time.
4.Try to keep the lights off when I'm not in a room and
5. I am hoping to hang up a clothes line soon (This should provoke some more eye-rolling from the husband who is not thrilled I am trying to compost).
If you want to use "reuseable" grocery bags, consider saving yourself a few bucks and re-using existing materials, by checking out your local thrift store.
You can pick up a half-dozen bags to use for grocery items for about $10 ... and have a variety of bags of different strenghts and sizes for different purposes.
I like Freecycle quite a bit; I've signed up for the one in Northern Nevada, which is where I live. Basically, you have to become a member of the group closest to you. Then you post an "offer" post when you have something to give away. People will respond and you can offer it to whom you want. I usually stick items on my front porch for pick-up on a certain day. Larger items, I agree on a certain time for someone to come to my house.
Likewise, if there is something you want, you e-mail someone back after they make a post. Or you can post a "wanted" if you are looking for something specific.
I find the site is a great way to give away something that you know will be sold at a thrift store and really to hook up with people who are need. Also, it takes less effort because you don't have to cart those big-ticket items away, like chairs or whatever.
I freecycle things all the time. Here is the Web site. Check it out: http://www.freecycle.org/ In particular, there seems to be a lot of mothers on our site and there are always baby clothes and items being given away.