So much can be composted - egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags, bread, grass clippings, leaves, all fruit and veggie scraps, etc. Mix these items together in a bin, either outside, or inside with worms, and a wonderful soil will be produced. This you can use outside in the garden or inside for potted herbs. There is a little science to composting so some research may be required.
This is activity incorporates health and eliminates a large percentage of waste going to the already-crowded landfills. Moreover, growing and eating your own produce will save you cash.
This post was submitted by Angie.
Eat locally, eat organic, eat vegan.
Hang dry clothes.
Wash clothes in cold water.
Take own bags when shopping.
Buy less stuff.
Eat organic.
Converted backyard to a big vegetable garden.
Reduce size of lawn.
Ride bike or walk more often.
Use a reusable water bottle (absolutely no plastic water bottles!)
Recycle everything that is recyclable.
Reuse stuff that is not recyclable as much as possible.
Buy whole unprocessed foods as opposed to packaged processed foods.
Use CFLs.
Use thermostat.
Quick 2-4 minute showers.
Don’t pre-rinse dishes before loading dishwasher.
Use a reel lawn mower.
Buy eco friendly laundry detergent, cleaning products and personal care products.
This post was submitted by Anu Kamath.
It took 12 years but I am finally car-free and loving it! I started by commuting one, then two days a week by bicycle from Hayward to Redwood City across the Dumbarton Bridge on San Francisco Bay. You’ll need wicking clothes (ski underwear is good and cheap, and looks pretty cool actually if you layer them aesthetically); rack & panniers for long commutes like mine; drink lots of water 24 hours before the ride; 75 - 100lb armadillo tires inflating them every 5-7 days; and “crystal stick” mineral deodorant if there are no showers at your worksite. When I moved to Oakland and recalled a fellow bike commuter who rode 5 days a week from Alameda to Palo Alto (BART to Union City), I said “I can do that”. So I slowly increased to 3 and 4 days/week and by 2005 I was my doing my 4days/10hr. work schedule all by bike and train in a loop around the Bay. About 30 miles of bike riding and 45 miles of train. I was able to read everyday for an 1-2 hours and get much better information than via TV, was physically fit and relaxed at work, and eating and sleeping like-lovin-life.
Then last year my car was stolen. I had tried to share it with folks in my area, but seems folks are addicted to 24hr access and haven’t learned to decouple from car tyranny, so I just let it go. No more $600/yr auto insurance for a car I never used. No waiting in traffic, no gas stations or repair nightmares. I figure now that I have taken an early retirement and live locally my car-free live-local lifestyle is saving me about $3000/year in car costs and about $200/month in groceries and meals. I shop at the market, go to movies and meals and travel anyway in the Bay Area on bike and train. I even commute to see a girl friend in Portland, bringing my bike with me on Amtrak. It’s so much fun and stress free, I wish I had been doing this my entire life.
Here’s a link to Carbusters Magazine so you can keep up with the latest in Car-Free developments across the globe…
http://www.carbusters.org/index.php
Happy Trails!
Sandy Sanders
This post was submitted by sandy sanders.
I wanted to have a measurable effect on the impact of more than just my family’s lifestyle. As soon as I had the down payment and income, I bought a 4-plex and we moved out of the similar apartment we had been renting to our very own eco-plex! Over the last year, My partner, my 6-year old and I have been greening the 1960’s era building located in a very walkable, low income neighborhood in midtown Anchorage, Alaska. Now we provide an increasingly energy efficient place to live to others with compost, recycling, permaculture gardens, potlucks, and other amenities. This has saved us a lot of money over buying a typical single family house, provided increased social interaction, and the central location, near my work, my child’s school, and some of my tenants’ work saves us all time. I blog on this project at the webpage above, with the hope of offering it as one model of a way to live more sustainably while giving those who must or choose to rent the option to reduce their impact.
This post was submitted by Michelle Wilber.
I work on a university campus. In the last few years it has become a practice to provide meeting participants with a bottle of water. I decided last year-no more water bottles would be offered at meetings. We have a drinking fountain in the hall and we ordered stainless steel reuseable bottles with our logo greeningthearts@illinois.
This post was submitted by mary ellen oshaughnessey.
Eating vegan/organic and local foods and dumpsterdiving for Foods. Not buying clothes, shoes, accesories, etc . Using my bike, walking and taking public transportation 95% of the time instead of driving a car. The extra 5% I carpool with friends and family. No drinking bottled water. Using recicled and used stuff instead of buying new. Not using AC at home, watching 0 TV. I have been shopping for food and medicines mainly and want to reduce every day the number of things I buy that aren’t food or medicines; right now the number of things I buy dayly is almost cero so I am almost there!
This post was submitted by Gerardo Tristan.
One of my wackier energey saving ideas is my solar oven. A friend told me you could buy a solar oven and I became obsessed, but I really didn’t want to waste the money/carbon on purchasing one. Then I discovered that you can build one yourself! There are plans for all different sorts of solar cookers here: http://solarcooking.org/plans/
My oven is made from a few cardboard boxes and some aluminum foil with a piece of glass for a cover. It’s really wonderful during the summer months because not only can you cook without using power, you also don’t heat up the house in the process of cooking! I’m told you can also use them in the winter, but I haven’t tried yet.
My cooker gets up to about 275 degrees Farenheit so it cooks at about the speed of a crock pot. There are several design changes I could make to improve its efficiency, but I’m pretty content at the moment. I’ve made rice, veggies, soups, casseroles and all sorts of things it it! Believe it or not, my only disasters have been overcooking a few things!
This post was submitted by Rebecca Miklich.
i often carry my salad for lunch in mason jars.
its glass, resuable and versitle.
i also bought BPA free container for lunches that are a bit more messy.
but mason jars are a great alternative.
sure i’m a bit more careful with my bag now, but at least im not polluting more by using plastic wraps or buyign lunch in extra packaging.
This post was submitted by mabel.
I used to work at MTV Networks, living a great life in NYC and consuming like crazy. When i finally got the courage to follow my heart and make my dream of becoming a social entrepreneur, i did it. Now I try to consume less, trying to recycle as much as I can, my business partner and i try to use all the greenwise products and do everything energy efficient as much as we can.
We’re not not the most green and environmentally conscious people, but we’re learning and we’re getting there.
BY the way, my business partner/best friend (Gloria Camacho) is a vegetarian, super animal lover and activist for animal rights.
We try to live healthier lives, we consume less and we are the happiest we’ve even been.
Our company Aceneth is a social entrepreneurship venture aimed at educating, enabling and empowering social entrepreneurs around the world thru film, documentaries, programming and events. We are in the beginning stages of our social venture but we love it!!!
Please check out our blog (www.latingipgy.com) a blog site focused at empowering and educating young social entrepreneurs around the world.
We’re at the beginning of our journey and we love what you guys are doing and what you stand for… thank you for getting your story out and empowering others to also follow their passions to make our world a better place.
Changemakers here we go!!!!
This post was submitted by Johanna Salazar.
Stop buying magazines, newspapers, books, dvd’s and cd’s - use your local library instead. Your library already purchases many of these items with your tax - make good use of it. Recycling a purchased book these can be checked out make one book get a thousand uses. Libraries also house free programs, reference services and many other services. Make good use of this resource and be part of your community through your library.
This post was submitted by Betsy.