Living in MN it is difficult to minimize impact over the winter months. But keeping the thermostat at 55 degrees is doable if you have enough blankets and get in the habit of wearing more clothes around the house.
Insulate windows in the winter. I use wool from my sheep and paper from my schoolwork. I also use plastic from window insulation kits. There is definitely a trade off here as I am using plastic. However, it really helps to seal off infiltration (saving on heating expense and emissions) and can be re-used every year (with occasional patching).
I cut up several old t-shirts into small washcloth-sized pieces. These are stacked on the back of my toilet, where the facial tissue box used to sit. I use them instead of facial tissues and instead of toilet paper (urine only!) Used ones go into the towel hamper that’s inbetween the sink and toilet, to get washed in hot water and re-stacked.
The material is MUCH softer and easier on my skin than paper products. I don’t get sores around my nose when I get a cold! And I’ve saved enough money to more than cover the cost of switching to 100% recycled newsprint toilet paper. Reusing and reducing and saving money AND being more comfortable. 🙂
I went to our local landfill in Texas…(Texas Maryland) and what I found out was upsetting. At the dump they have sections for metal(large pieces), a section for computer equipment, section for refrigerators, dehumidifiers, A/C units and anything that uses freon or other type heat exchange compound via evaporator coils) a trailer for tires, section for TV’s, one for grass and other yard waste (no bags, hoses, rocks, earth or doggies poop{there is a signs that says no dog poop}) then theres a section for recycling plastic(hard plastic they will not take plastic bags, Al cans, paper/cardboard, light bulbs, Motor oil, antifreeze, power cells(lead acid batteries, lithium ion, silver, mercury, dry/wet/mix cells {AAA-D and 6b) and final trash. I ask the Super how much do they make selling some of the things people dump,(I saw as I drove by large pieces of Aluminium, brass, and insulated copper and Al wire) the super said they have to pay to have everything except the metal removed, and they make only a few pennies a pound at best on the steel. My mouth almost hit the floor, Al is worth 55-60 cent per pound, brass about the same, insulated copper $1.25-1.70 a pound, stripped copper(Cu w/o the plastic jackets) yield $2.75-3.55 per pound. That aside b/c I understand it would take more manpower and time to separate the metals and that is the last thing a government work wants to do(that would be WORK). Again that aside the lead acid batters yield around 30 cents a pound, and they are already separated. Also and this is one of the big ones, the computer processor and other equipment/parts, I was told that it is one of the most expensive stuff to get ride, second only to rubber tires. E-cycle is the recycling and scraping (for profit) of electronic equipment, call e-scrap. This is a very large and valuable market b/c all computer mother board, finger board, memory chips, processors and such are made using gold, silver, copper, aluminium and other valuable metals. This can be a time intensive operation b/c the computer desk tops(or laptops, I pads, think pads, cell phones, etc.) must be disassemble and the circuit boards, memory chip, CPUs, add on cards, and such must be removed (Motherboards 3.75-4.50/lbs, memory chip $5/lbs, add on card/finger board $6/lbs CPUs anywhere from $10-$110.00 per pound b/c the internal wiring is made w/ a lot of gold {pre 1998 have much more gold content then current, largest amount is 4.4-5.2 grams of gold per processor [at 28grams per oz. that 1/7-1/8 of an ounce of 24ct gold w/ gold around 1600-1800 dollar an ounce…well you do the math]) Again there were only 2 chip types made w/ that much gold and was in the late 80 early 90, most pre 98 cpus have about .8-1.7 grams per processor core (yet even if it is 1 gr or 1/28 oz that about 58 buck for 1 chip (using 1600/oz gold price.) of course you cant just pry it open and pull out a gold nugget so you must sent them to reclamation plants to extract the metals. In addition to the above mention part they also e-scrap the hard drives(made w/ small amount of platinum) are worth 55-65 cent per pound, DVD drive only 25-35 cents. There are other places that w/ take e-scrap and many w/ take the entire computer(you dont get as much as you would if you stripped it down yourself yet again government workers will work hard so as not to work.(at the land fill they really do just sit on the chairs and do nothing, unless you ask them to do something that is and then they will just point you in the “right direction”, there is one man out of the 6 or 7 at the dump that does do something and that guy is the one who check your drives lic. to make sure your Baltimore county resident before you can dump you trash he has to lean forward to peer into your vehicle to as to see what your throwing away(none of the other areas check ID just trash){side not:kind of funny you need ID to dump trash yet you do not need any form of ID to vote a person into the white house, the most powerful nation in the world leader is elected by those w/ no need to prove they are who they claim name, no address verification, no ID, nothing, just walk in to a voting center tell them what name you go by this time around, vote, then go to the next center and use another name and vote again . {my great grandfather voted 3 times in the ’62 election, he was a brilliant man, may he rest in peace Wm. C. Brian 1860-1959[died before ’62 yet voted 3 times, truly an amazing man I ask if any who read this can do that,..lol(he was actually at Lincolns funeral, I never met the man and I am sad I didn’t (he also put the first electric motor in the U S’s first sub in 1899. Sorry im off on a tangent. Oh yeah, the MRP recycle center is within walking distance of Texas landfill and they pay around 3.50 per lbs for all circuit board, and around 10-15/pound for all processors, since they dont actually retrieve the metals them self they pay less yet you can send them almost any e-scrap (oh cell phones are worth about 3-8 dollars per phone). That is why I dont understand why texas doesnt set up a deal w/ MRP and get paid good money to have them recycle the e-scrap instead of paying someone else to removed it and then they get paid even more money for the e-scrap, it makes no sense…So, to make a short story realllly long, I decided to take this upon myself to less texas’s large amount of computer scrap so that they dont have to pay someone as often to remove it. How do I do this well first I actually went to the super and told them about the MRP and other company’s to which I got no interest, he didnt even look me in the eye b/c he had just spit on the ground and his spit was of more interest to him then saving the state more(actually making the state money)(I’m serious about the captivating spit). I then ask if I and a few other could come up her at the beginning or end of the shift or even after the shift and sort through, this got his attention, “NO NO NO cant have no people allowed up here, we cant have you people salvaging our trash.” Why not, you all are wounder, if a person place his trash out for pick up it then becomes public property(i.e. anyone who wants it can have it, we use to pick up newspaper bundle together when I was a kid in boy scout b/c we sold it to an insulation firm who treated it so as to be fire resistant and anti fungal and then shredded it really well and then blew it into peoples attics, and house walls for its insulating factor as well as it inexpensiveness.) So, anyway how is texas’s trash any different then my neighbours trash he place by the curb. Nothing that I can tell…and heaven forbid if someone else were to be able to use another mans garbage to help or better himself or his living conditions that would be just, just..well I don’t know I would natural say that it is good for old stuff to be used again by those who can’t afford the new stuff. The other reason I wanted to get access to the e-scrap was that I wanted not only to e-scrap the old junkers for money I wanted to refurbish(if needed) the laptops and other parts and then give them out to my students who do not have any computers at all (I am a teacher in the Baltimore City area, very poor, all black, and very needy of certain luxuries and a computer is a valuable item to have, in that it is a portal to almost limitless knowledge. Not being able to use this vast wealth of materials was unacceptable, so I decided to become E-Robin hood I would steal from the…..the…the trash bin and give to my students (In class I made a reward system, those who did well on test, constantly did homework, did extra credit, help others, as well as other things, would earn e-reward point, that would go toward the purchase of an electronic apparatus(I did give them some flexibility to request a certain type of e-item, however I cant predict what I will find when I go, so I never promise a specific item. However many times I would find things of value that I would put aside for a special reward like a birthday or Christmas(I have over a dozen laptop in my house right now, oh don’t worry all data on the hard drives I either destroy and replace w/ one I buy or get from places like salvation army, good will and others who sympathize w/ what I do and give thing that do not sell or they have to many etc. or I use shredder programs then reformat and reinstall the OS and the drivers on to the hard drive) on these special days there has been more then a few times I was the only person who had given some of my student any gifts at all on these special days, and it is soooo nice to see the radiant smiles of true JOY that I am honoured and bless to be witness too. I also have been told that the parent use the computers more then the kids in some of the situations, these same parent thanked me over and over for the amazing gift, b/c it open a huge new world to them, where there were able to compete in the job market much better b/c they now had the ability to go online and send resumes to places that only dealt w/ email. Many got jobs and eventually bought their daughter or son a new laptop so they could get the latest and fastest. I also had one student come back after a number of years and told me that she was going to college with a scholarship b/c of that old beat up laptop gift that allowed her to become familiar w/ computer, the internet, and the vast information that was now hers to use as she needed to aid her in reaching her goals. Another went into the IT field b/c of that same type of gift. I tell you teaching is hard especially being a white male in an all black school, where disruptive poor performing student who fail a test will call me a raciest, or a Nigg*r hater (which I hate the word regardless of who ever uses, why do the black youth call each of Nigg*r that or N*gger this or whats up my N*gger I dont understand, and when I tell them not to use such a word w/ such a bad stigma and history to it, they say “shut up white boy, I say what I want U cant stop me.” Yet I tell them that only the uneducated use such words, a disrespect, and shameful word that should no longer have a place in out society, and yet those same people who were belittles, insulted and dishounored, use it on an ever day occurrance not reliesing that it hurt some who have experience the verbal abusive way it once was used, and in some situation has left a permanent mental inner scar that has never and will never fully heal. To those who use such word as greetings, insults, confrentationally, aggressively, mean spirited and abusive I ask them what would your grandmother do to you if you called her a N*gger or even used that word in her presence. Almost all of them either shut up or say grandma would beat my bottom till I was red and could sit no more or at least not for awhile.(one said he had his mouth rinsed out w/ soap, he had to keep a bar of soap in his mouth for 10 minutes each time he used that word or a curse word, when I heard that I thought now thats really OLD SCHOOL, and I loved the thought of this 90 year old black grandmother standing next to this 13 year boy who was leaning over the bathroom sink w/ a bar of soap in his mouth mumbling I’m sorry grandmother I aint going to do again, over and over, it really made me chuckle to myself. I love the black older generation the grandmothers and grandfathers of the black culture have my high respect, and when I met such a women or man I will always give them the respect they are due and address them as a young person should talking to one who is more senior and experienced, that is I treat them w/ respect and call them Mister X or Misses X. They are the strongest group w/in the black community and unfortunately I am seeing less and less of that stoic, responsible, disciplined, strong and loving character trait in the generations that are following the grand old group. They are the ones who hold many of the black families together, they are the core and the keystone to that family unit, and many times once they pass that family unit dissolves and breaks down into multiple fractured family units instead of one cohesive family, with no ties to the past or each other and no long supports, helps, nurture and loves one another as a family should. Yet I can not tell you how much joy those few good student who truly enjoy to learn and are eager to listen give me. I receive great joy and happiness when I am at a school function surrounded w/ my students that it make those hard days disappear in the positive energies radiating from all the young student coming up to talk to me or to ask me to walk around w/ them, it is so lovely yet I can say that I feel this way even more so when I am not a school function, yet rather I am alone at the store shopping for food, or hardware and all the sudden BLLAAAMMMM I am plowed into from behind or the side by this small recking machine of love, who then is wrapping their arms around me as tight as they can w/ their head buried deep into me and when they look up w/ a beautiful smile and Hello Mr.Brian. I love that….I really really do… I don’t know much about drugs b/c they are not my thing, yet that feeling of love, respect, happiness, and genuine trust and a desire to be near me, makes my head spin and heart dance, if thats not a drug then I don’t know what a drug could do to make me feel better. Damn I’m off on another tangent, anyway I e-cycle discarded machine so that those who do not have anything of the sort, can. I know I am not suppose to say this b/c it wrong, yet…… God Bless all of you, and may you continue in your valiant quest to reduce or eliminate the damaging impact that we humans have been inflicting upon this luscious beautiful blue/green garden that we call Earth. God say to man I have give you this planet w/ all the creature great and small to do w/ as you will, yet we are no long the infantile human race we once were, we have grown up and matured on the whole as one race of human that are coming together to share our knowledge our strengths, our skill, our compassion and our love. We must strive forward looking beyond the simplest thing that once separated us a species. Now we are to see not the size, weight, color, or gender of the one before me but rather the heart, soul, mind, resolve and dedication that is what truly makes up a man and defines him, and in doing so will see the greatness in each one of us and will be able to combine our strength and will power to make this world a better place, and no long will we treat out mother Earth as a baby does a diaper nor will we treat it like an immature uncaring youth, believing that whatever we want we get, no matter what we must do to get it, no matter how wasteful or damaging we are, b/c as long as we get what we want we are happy and nothing else matters. As a whole we humans have gone through both these evolutionary/developmental stages to reach where we are today, still very young and definitely not a full grown responsible man or women, we are not yet truly adult in the world, yet we can and are striving to become these almost mythical humans called adults, for some see it beyond anyone grasp while others it is at their very finger tips, as we stretch out our hand even more we shall pull those who have limited vision and resolve. For as we stretch out our bodies we will grow and mature, painful as it is we will push on through and reach the other side of manhood. Then we will have the understanding compassion, love, dedication, resolver, will power, and the drive the strength needed to complete a symbiotic relationship with mother earth consuming only what is needed, and restoring what we consume in excess so that more maybe here once we have passed on. For a man will not just minimize or eliminate his impact or rather the foot print that he will leave behind as he walks through the snow covered fields, he was live as one with the earth so that as he walks through the snow fields more snow shall fall b/c he walking and b/c he is who he is.
I love to live small and recently moved into a loft with my boyfriend in downtown Portland. We’ve been really trying to reduce our impact and lead healthier lives. Some things we do:
-Live in a LEED certified building-all of our appliances are high efficiency
-Live within walking distance to work and only use our car about once a week
-Got rid of our cable (we have more time and money!)
-Make our own cleaning products using vinegar, borax and Dr. Bronners. (we put our soap in foaming bottles-it makes it go a long way!)
-Buy local produce when we can as we are in walking distance to farmers market
-Try not to buy packaged food and when we do-reuse the containers to store food or grow plants
-Reuse bags for bulk products
-Use cloth napkins and towels instead of paper towels
-Don’t use garbage bags-use small bins instead
-Growing herbs, tomatoes, lettuce, strawberries on our patio
-lots of natural light so we don’t need to turn on lights during the day
-rarely eat out at restaurants
-Buy a lot of our furniture and some clothes secondhand
-Carefully consider new purchases
-Do not have microwave
Some Things we want to do:
-make our own laundry detergent
-Grow more foods and see what we can grow indoors during the colder months
-Eat less meat
-Drink less or no coffee (that’s a tough one for me!)
-Cut down even more on buying packaged foods
-Find natural or make my own good hair products (haven’t had much luck yet :/ )
-Use fewer and ALL natural beauty products
-Use less water
-Buy more local foods like meat and eggs (it gets pricey though!)
-Not take the elevator
We got rid of so much of our stuff and are trying hard not to replace with new stuff. I love being able to clean in a short time so we have more time to do fun things! I love not worrying about a ton of belongings and realized I only use a fraction of what I own anyways. We feel healthier by not eating packaged foods. Eating what’s in season has allowed us to try new recipes and has been really fun. I love our simple and small way of life 🙂
I’ve started making my own deodorant. In thinking about how to cut back on consumption and waste, this seemed like an easy way to buy less plastic and keep that same plastic out of the landfill…I use a recipe from the book Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World, by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen. All you need is olive oil, beeswax, and a few essential oils to make it smell nice - better for your body (no harmful aluminum), better for the environment, better for your bank account. That, my friends, is a triple threat.
Cloth napkins in the kitchen, cloth diapers on the baby, cloth hankies for our noses, cloth rags for cleaning. Cloth is better. It is washable and reusable, better on my wallet and healthier for my family. Wool Dryer Balls reduce dryer time and replace fabric softener. Line drying is better, but I don’t always have time to do that. I switched to natural laundry detergent for all our clothes: borax and super washing soda. It is super cheap and cleans our clothes well. You only need two tablespoons per load. Next, how to get rid of trash bags… the answer: cutting down on trash. I have started with a bin for paper and a plastic ice cream bucket for food scraps in the kitchen… We have a dog, so she can eat a lot of the food scraps, which cuts down on buying dog food. We are starting a compost bin this year, and much of our paper trash can be composted. We can recycle cans, but there are no other recycling facilities in our area or within 50 miles, so we will have to find other ways… Any reusable containers can be saved, even bread bags can be reused as sandwich bags for lunches.
Most of us wash our vegetables, even though we buy organic. It’s just more reassuring, right? Well, instead of wasting all that pure precious water, you can put a basin (or a large pot) under the faucet when you wash the veggies. Even water with “veggie-wash” in it will be okay for plants in small doses. So I use it to water the house plants. Or to simply let dishes soak: which helps use less water to clean them later. The Basin also catches water that you let run to get hot or cold, so we have one for the bathroom sink too. This water can also be used for hand washing clothes, mopping or even flushing toilets. I kind of felt like a fanatic at first, but now when I read about how little fresh water there actually is on our planet, I certainly do sleep better for it!
My daughter and husband never use up all of their cosmetics and I am using their left-overs for many other purposes. I bathed for a year with all of their left over shampoos and…hair conditioners-which often comes packaged “free” with shampoo. I also shave my legs with it. I am now cleaning my toilets with it. It is wonderful to use as a hand wash in the winter.
Most of us aren’t really dirty and only need to disinfect ourselves or our homes very infrequently!
I started growing my own organic herbs on the patio. It’s better for the environment because it’s as local and as organic as you can get plus it encourages me to cook at home instead of eating out! The herbs are staring at me through the window practically begging to be cut off and used in some delicious eco-friendly dish!
I did a TV reality show 10 years ago where I took my family back to live in 1900 for 3 months. 24/7 living like my great grandparents. It was an amazing experience and now in 2010 I am still living like my Nana’s. I make all my own household cleaning products, my beauty and body care products and organic garden sprays. I have an organic garden with compost bins and a worm farm. Next on the list is chickens.
I op shop for clothes and furniture and have the most wonderful collection and each has a story. I make all my jewelery from buttons and the pieces are stunning. I support a local charity by being the op-shop face in their marketing - in the newspapers and life size on the side of a truck.
This lifestyle is creative and satisfying and I manage to fit it around working a 9-5 job. Now I am teaching others to live the same way, taking classes through my local city council and a recycling center.
I think I have the best of both era’s now and I love my life.Every day I try to pass it forward by teaching others how to make their lives richer by having less impact.