Ever since I finished college 8 years ago and started cooking my own meals, I’ve been trying to have as close to no-impact diet as possible. I’d been vegetarian since I was in middle school, but gradually started giving up dairy and eggs and went vegan for my New Year’s resolution in 2003. I usually stay away from takeout, but in the past I did sometimes buy micro-wave meals, and though the ones I bought were organic and vegan, I still felt bad about all the packaging and processing, and the expense, so I decided to stop buying those and do all my own cooking, mostly with local fruits, vegetables, breads and other non-animal based foods obtained from farmers markets and our local organic grocery store. This has been a lot of fun for me, since I really enjoy cooking and it has helped reign in my grocery bill. Also. when my partner is around to help out, it’s a great way to catch up and spend time together. The trick is to keep on trying new recipes, so you don’t get too bored. I’ve been in graduate school the past few years, so it will be a challenge to keep up this home-made cooking pledge once I stark working full time again, but I think I’ve become so enamored of the taste of home-cooked food I can’t imagine ever enjoying mediocre processed food again.
I’ve also paid more attention to the impact of my wardrobe. Having a soft spot for animals, I’ve never been interested in fur, and stopped buying leather and wool the same time I stopped eating animals products. After buying some dress clothes at the mall for my new job, I decided to stop buying new cloths and stick to hand me downs from friends and family. If I really need a clothing item, I’ll go to my local thrift store, which actually has some really terrific clothing. Though I’ve stuck to this resolution, I still feel like I have too many clothes and have to borrow closet space from my partner!
This post was submitted by Andrea.
Read “The Tightwad Gazette” by Amy Dacyczyn. It’s out of print but available online. Printed in the nineties, it’s a bit dated, but the extremely practical how-to advice will help you lower your impact and save significant money. The best part is the validation, over and over, that this effort is worth making from every point of view: environment, health, money, time, fun, AND balance. I can’t recommend this book highly enough!
This post was submitted by Maria.
composting whatever I can from my trash instead of recycling it in a city friendly trash can drilled with holes as a compost bin
Buying literally everything I can secondhand.
Growing my own organic produce outdoors in the summer, indoors and in a cold frame and a mini greenhouse in the winter
Eating and preserving my own vegetarian food in season. Canning, pickling, freezing and dehydrating food myself.
No debt at all including house and car.
Once a month I buy a little something towards my goal of alternative energy. So along the way, I’ve collected solar lamps, crank lamps, crank radio, solar charger for ipod and phone, etc.
Replace stuff as it wears out with more eco sound choices. Ex- when blender died, I bought a hand food grinder and a hand grain mill. The heater just died, so I am replacing it with a pellet stove. When the toilet dies, I’ll get an incinolet for some humanure.
Decor items can be functional- ex- my country themed kitchen includes a washboard, a small butter churn, kerosene lanterns, etc.
Learned other useful skills- soap making, cheese making, yogurt making, bread making, detergent making, quilt making, rag rug making…the list is long.
Make repurposing a priority over recycling.
Cook with a solar cooker in the summer much like a crock pot. Using crock pot and rice cooker and not the stove or oven in summer is good, too- keeps kitchen cool.
Use oven once a day during winter to cook and heat. Consume warm beverages like tea or cocoa all winter to help you keep warmer.
Heat or cool only areas in your house that you are in instead of central air or central heat. Sleep downstairs in summer, upstairs in winter.
Picked one night a week to use alternative lighting.
Big fan of urban foraging.I’ve been known to make pancakes from dandelion buds, dandelion wine, stir fry greens from yards and vacant lots, many cities have nut trees that no one collects the nuts for food, some cities have olive trees where the olives go to waste; mulberry trees aren’t just decorative, use juniper berries in pickling, lots of rosemary used as a decorative shrub still perfect to eat…
extensive use of dumpster diving and urban “gathering”
Use a dryer in the winter vented indoors to keep pipes from freezing.
Added insulation and weatherized house with caulk, etc. Made draft dodgers for every window and door.
This post was submitted by jennifer juniper.
I bought the magic micro cleaning cloth for me and four of my friends. http://magicmicrocloth.com/ This amazing cloth will clean windows and mirrors with just water! Not only do I save in not having to buy window cleaner with possible harmful chemicals, but I really love the fact there will be no plastic bottles in the landfill!
This post was submitted by Tonja Steel.
i’ve been sickened by the amount of garbage we generate and wanted to see if it was possible, given the choices that are readily available, to not generate any garbage for a month… i’m working on it. and other people are taking the challenge with me
www.zerowastechallenge.tumblr.com
i also keep vegan on wednesdays:
www.veganwednesdays.tumblr.com
::lower your emissions, RAISE YOUR VOICE::
This post was submitted by Michael LaFemina.
Our family of 5 unplugs any corded device/appliance (including computer, washer/dryer) when not in use. Also installed Energy Saver light bulbs & unscrew all but one or two of the bathroom vanity lights. We have seen drastic results on our electricity bill since beginning this almost a year ago!
This post was submitted by Amani.
One summer evening of 2009 we experienced a severe thunderstorm and lightning hit very close to our home. The next morning we discovered it affected our T.V. and Garage Door Opener. The Garage Door Opener was recoverable but the T.V. was not. Strange thing was, our DVD player and Radio were plugged into the same outlet but, they were not affected by the lightning hit.
We have NOT missed the T.V. at all!
Since then, we have cut back on our electric use, cut back on our cable bill just to the internet and played more games together as a family. If we wanted to watch a movie we would get out our portable DVD player. Seeing we had over 400 movies at home there was not reason to go to the movies. Saving more money!
Not having a T.V. to watch has not hurt us at all.
In fact the has encouraged us to shut off the AC for most of the day and it shows on our electric bill. Saving more money!
We already have meals that are made of fresh produce from the store and from fresh greens from our garden pots at home. Keeping the critters out is a job in it’s self. But having 3 small dogs, helps keep the Rabbits and Armadillos out as much as they can. We were taught a trick of putting deodorant soap shavings around the perimeter of our yard and it also helps keep critters out of the yard.
This post was submitted by Mary Nelson.
What I have view on your site I have been doing for years. I grew up this way on a rural farm in North Dakota. We never wasted anything. Everything was recycled. All paper was shredded or rolled into tight logs to be burned in the fireplace. All foods Scraps were recycled in the garden or given to our pets. We raised our own vegetables, eggs and meats. We purchased milk from a local farmer. We canned or froze everything for food during the winter. We had a rootceller that we kept potatoes, carrots and such. We rendered our own lard. The only thing my mom had to purchase were fruits and we would buy them in bulk and can them for the winter. Oh we also had to buy the basics such as flour, spices and dish or laundry soap. For cleaning we only used dish soap and bleach on most everything. We only used the dryer in the winter months when we could get to the wash line because the snow was too deep or the clothes would freeze on the line. We very seldom used any paper products. My mom even reused bread bags if she decided to make bread rather than purchase it. All cereal bags were reused to seperate meats in the freezer or used to wrap sandwiches for my dad when he went to work. Only once a year did we purchase new clothes and that was for school…the rest of the time we got hand-me-downs or Mom made our clothes. The only thing we never really was able to save much on was transportation as we lived 2 miles from the closest town (50 people) and 15 miles from the closet stores. And yet then we saved also…we only went to town maybe once per week to get things we needed. We did go visiting and those times were usually scheduled when we went into town…unless there was a special event of some sort.
We were going through some stuff of my parents as they are starting to think about being prepared for their deaths. We had such a good time laughing and remembering things because they still have much of the stuff we used as kinds for traveling distances…the old coolers, water thermoses and all that fun stuff…us kids were shocked they still had it…my parents just looked funny at us and said “it is too good to throw out yet.”
I guess I have been a “green” person my whole life and never realized it. It is nice to see the younger generation doing the things us “older” folks have been doing for years…thanks for joining us.
This post was submitted by Lesha.
One summer evening of 2009 we experienced a severe thunderstorm and lightning hit very close to our home. The next morning we discovered it affected our T.V. and Garage Door Opener. The Garage Door Opener was recoverable but the T.V. was not. Strange thing was, our DVD player and Radio were plugged into the same outlet but, they were not affected by the lightning hit.
We have not missed the T.V. at all!
Since then, we have cut back on our electric use, cut back on our cable bill just to the internet and played more games together as a family. If we wanted to watch a movie we get out our portable DVD player. Seeing we had over 400 movies at home there was not reason to go to the movies. Saving more money!
Not having a T.V. to watch has not hurt us at all.
In fact we have even shut off the AC for most of the day and it shows on our electric bill. Saving more money!
We already have meals that are from fresh produce from the store and from our garden pots at home. Keeping the critters out is a job in it’s self. But having 3 small dogs, helps keep the Rabbits and Armadillos out as much as they can. I was taught a trick of putting deodorant soap shavings around the perimeter of our yard and it also helps keep critters out of the yard.
This post was submitted by Mary Nelson.
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.