I need your input! I have been researching ways to be more environmentally conscious in our day to day life. We don’t have tons of money to rush out and buy green appliances or solar panels for our electricity. I would love ideas from y’all on easy, simple ways to “go green” in your day to day life beyond the obvious things such as recycling, re-usable grocery bags, CFL bulbs, etc.
So lay it on me. Hit me with your best tips. Direct me to the best websites to get me going in the right direction. Tell me what has worked for you in your life! Basically, just tell me what Works For You!
Head over to Rocks In My Dryer for more great Works For Me Wednesday tips!
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March 5, 2008 at 12:46 am
phyllis
i think that those “obvious things” are the ones that will really get you started, get you thinking about what you’re doing, and then inspire you to do more…so don’t discount those!
March 5, 2008 at 1:44 am
CC
Here’s my suggestion. Don’t use any more napkins, paper towels, etc. I wrote a post about using and re-using baby wipes to do that! Check it out here.
BTW, as an adoptive mom, my SW and I were like “this”!
March 5, 2008 at 2:23 am
Jenni
Well, some easy ways are to use environmentally-friendly cleaning products (or make your own out of 1 part water and 1 part vinegar or lemon juice – it really does work wonderfully!), use rags instead of paper towels as often as possible, use cloth napkins, donate or freecycle stuff that you’re getting rid of, buy used items (or get them from freecyclej) whenever possible, eat less meat, and, if you don’t compost, use your garbage disposal instead of throwing food scraps in the trash.
Check out what my cousin and I are doing to go green at budgethippies.wordpress.com !
March 5, 2008 at 7:32 am
Donielle
I am so into going green right now. Mostly for the health of my family and being cheap though. The environment thing…that’s just a small bonus. I try and buy organic fruits and veggies when I can. I also only use natural cleaners for scrubbing up all our messes. I also make a lot of my food from scratch.
My blog is actually partly about going green, so check me out at http://www.raisingpeanuts.com and I have a couple of green blogrolls in the sidebar you can check out too!
March 5, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Crazy Daisy
I think going green means something different to everyone. I find for me it is being aware of what I do in my daily life that impacts the existence of others.
The “obvious things” you have listed are a great start! A few other thoughts would be to purchase locally grown food, evaluate meat product consumption (the impact ‘animals for food’ have on the environment is crazy!), buying and throwing away less ’stuff’, teach someone else about being green, use green cleaning products, compost, donate items instead of throwing them out, and get off junk mail lists.
March 5, 2008 at 2:21 pm
azurirockstar
Check out Danny Seo’s blog Simply Green, he’s got loads of tips for really easy changes that can make a difference for both the environment and your pocketbook. He also has written several books and I have his 365-day calendar that gives you a tip and day, but apparently he’s making it into an email newsletter for free now (to reduce the amount of paper waste!). Little things like cleaning the soap build-up from your dishwasher and washing machine to make them more efficient all the way up to big things like using sustainable woods like bamboo when choosing new flooring.
March 5, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Troye
Check out Sara Snow’s website: http://www.sarasnow.com.
She has a show on Discovery and has some fabulous ideas for living green. We are just starting our quest as well. Sara has a top ten list of things to get you started, a couple of which are to eat locally as much as possible and to unplug items that are not in use. Did you know that your cell phone charger may use up to 40% when it is plugged into the outlet even if your phone is not plugged into the other end of it?
Good luck. Let me know if you come up with any other great ideas…
June 5, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Jennifer
So I will fess up I got this idea from another website, but I thought it was brilliant. I really really wanted to take a bath today to relax, but was concerned about water usage bath vs shower thing. So since I rarely take baths I figured a couple things I could do and still get my relaxation. One I didnt fill the tub all the way (I have a very large tub), secondly I used my bath water to then wash clothes, just added some detergent and baking soda and then I was reusing and saving water. Plus if I do it everytime I will be less likly to take baths. and added bonus good workout for the arms.