I’m a bit ashamed of using an electric clothes dryer (we have a big family, lots of laundry, and not a lot of sun), but I do use the condenser water for house plants..also have recently begun to go food shopping on foot in our local village stores instead of driving to the hypermarket(my cardiologist applauds), buying organic fruit and vegetables whenever possible, and none imported or out of season, eating meat only twice a week, using cloth tote bags,(free plastic bags no longer available here anyway) and am saving money as well(fewer consumer temptations)..Tho a fan of bottled water, have started drinking from the tap. Our town fortunately requires the recycling of paper, cardboard, plastic and glass which is collected once a week in front of our house. We compost organic waste at our country house in Britanny and will soon be doing it here at our main residence. Europe has begun a ban of incandescent light bulbs which will soon be no longer available, but questions remain about the recycling of the newer bulbs which contain poisonous matter… What I will not give up ? my laptop, cosmetics, books made from trees….
This post was submitted by Barbara.
5 years ago, I started walking and cycling to school with my kids. In the town where I live, people routinely drive their kids to school in vans, SUVs and station wagons on journeys of 2 miles or less, the most polluting. We’ve found this is great time to spend together. The kids arrive at school energized and at home at the end of the day decompressed. We’ve used the time to study spelling words, learn times tables and all the states and capitals. It’s saved me a gym membership - I walk 5 miles a day. It’s also saved us the $650 bus fee. Now my son is 11 and goes to middle school, he walks and rides by himself, giving him a great sense of independence and me a sense of freedom that I don’t have to play taxi.
On October 7th, I organized a walk to school day in celebration of International Walk to School Day for our elementary school. 150 kids walked that day, despite bad weather, about a quarter of the school population.
This post was submitted by Melissa Gough.
I have been making my own laundry detergent for over a year now and could not be happier with it. I’ve also convinced my mom, mother-in-law, and two sisters-in-law to do it, and they’re hooked too. I used to buy liquid detergent from a wholesale club for about $20 per 1.5-gallon bottle. One brand promises 110 loads out of one of these bottles. That’s something like 18 cents per load, which doesn’t seem too bad, right? But then I thought about all the packaging involved, not to mention all the resources consumed in its production, transportation, marketing, etc. Plus, many commercial detergents contain sketchy chemicals or fragrances that can irritate skin. Not such a good deal after all.
Now, by making my own detergent from a few simple, inexpensive ingredients, I spend about 5 cents per load, I don’t have to worry about skin irritants or weird chemicals, and there’s zero packaging waste. Oh, and my clothes are just as clean as ever. Laundry detergent is quite easy to make; a simple Google search for “laundry detergent recipe” will produce instructions for multiple varieties (liquid, powdered, etc.).
This post was submitted by Avery.
->Bicycle to work, weather permitting. Fun and invigorating.
->Usually climb 8 flights of stairs to reach office. More exhausting than bicycling.
->Recycle (city pick-up, no big deal)
->Eat vegetarian. No problem as long because I still have chocolate or sugar.
->Compost veggies. I don’t take it out because my husband refused to place the bin by the front steps like I wanted.
->Bought a CSA farm share. The squash, carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes are great but I could do without some of the greens.
->Use fans instead of air conditioning. Requires several showers a day.
->Use cloth bags instead of plastic at the grocery store, when we remember
->Replaced our windows and insulated our house.
->Set the thermostat at 68, day and 65, night. Wear sweaters.
This post was submitted by Marcia Landa.
Within the city I cycle to work, to shops, everywhere I need (about 50 km/week). I use the car only on weekends, to reach with my family of four the house we have in the countryside. It is a smallish car, 9 years old, fuelled with LPG, and the only one we have.
This post was submitted by Vittorio Marletto.
Remember those old fashioned lawn mowers our grand parents used to use? I was surprised to see that these things are still being manufactured and sold at local hardware stores. So, I did some research and here’s what I found.
Pros:
-No Gas = zero emissions!
-A lot less noise. I can listen to my baby monitor or communicate with my wife while mowing.
-Just as easy to push as a standard push mower. Possible because reel mowers are much lighter.
-Much less maintenance than a standard mower.
Cons:
-Occasionally leaves a grass blades standing.
-Must clean yard of twigs and other debry before mowing. Generally a good idea anyways!
-Won’t mulch leaves as well as a standard mower.
Well, I decided to jump on the go-green band wagon and buy a 20″ Scotts Reel mower. I was initially surprised at how easy it was to push. It made a bit more noise than I wanted, but it is still much less than a motor running. The quality of cut is MUCH better and I’m guessing healthier for the grass. The one thing that I don’t like about the mower is how many blades of grass it leaves standing. I didn’t think it’d leave as many as it did, but it does. So, you can either live with it or mow those areas again. If I hadn’t gone back over those areas, I’d guess I’d have mowed the lawn in about 3/4 less time than I would have with my self-propelled mower. When I got done and looked back over my lawn, I was overcome with a feeling of happiness. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe it was because I had gotten some exercise while not sucking in fumes. Or maybe it was because I was doing something good while not having do any measurable amount of extra work.
This post was submitted by Joe Kissell.
People always think that “going green” means making sacrifices, so here’s one that’s all good. Try sleeping for an extra hour or two each night. I read once that before the electric lightbulb, people slept an average of 9 hours a night. NINE HOURS!!! Most people I know struggle to get seven. Believe me, you’ll LOVE how you feel once you let yourself enjoy getting a few extra hours of sleep.
So forget what you’ve been told about being lazy, sleeping more is good for you and good for the environment. So try turning in a few hours early, that’s a few extra hours each day when you can turn down the furnace, turn off the lights, TV, computer etc, and enjoy feeling more rested and happy! See, going green is easy!
This post was submitted by Rebecca.
1. 18 years of living aboard sailboat on a floating mooring in the middle of San Diego Harbor (ie) not hooked up to electricity or water; no refrigeration except ice chest, no hot running water.
2. Operate electrical items by solar to battery, wind generation to battery.
3. Shopping done on a fresh item basis with almost all foods/meals made from scratch and made in proper portions so no waste if no ice.
4. Shop using own carrier bags.
5. Don’t replace it if it isn’t broken. By the same token, constant review of systems keeps everything in good working order so things don’t break. Use it or lose it.
6. When we are travelling abroad we use the two person kayak as much as possible for shore transportation instead of the outboard motorized dinghy.
7. We SMILE at everyone we see and WAVE until they wave back to PASS IT ALONG!!
Cheers!
This post was submitted by caryn and gary.
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.
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.