I created a facebook page called Consciously Green to give tips on how to reduce your impact. I want to spread awareness to as many people as I can. The tip I posted today is to put a full 20-ounce bottle in the toilet tank to reduce the amount of water it takes to fill and flush your toilet and to try the “if it’s yellow, let it mellow” technique. Try flushing every other time to save water.
This post was submitted by Dahlyla Lang.
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.
We recently decided that instead of recycling most of our glass jars, we would save them for use around the house. When we are grocery shopping, we look for products that come in glass jars and avoid buying products in plastic.
We have been reusing various size glass containers for uses like a toothbrush holder, bathroom q-tip holder, water jars (instead of sigg bottles), keeping food in that we buy in bulk like nuts and grains, etc. It saves us money not having to buy glass containers for those uses.
This post was submitted by Chrystine.
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.
If you have an electric clothes dryer (NOT gas!!!) you can vent it inside your home during the winter. The moist warm air will improve comfort and reduce your heating bill.
There are many suggestions online. They range from routing the dryer vent to a bucket filled with a couple inches of water to catch the lint to tying panty-hose to the end of the dryer vent.
Disclaimer:
No matter what solution you choose, just be prudent and clean your setup often enough to prevent dangerous amounts of lint build-up (just like you already do for your dryer’s lint screen). ALSO, note that this will work best in geographic locations that have cold dry winters. If you live in a humid area, then you could potentially add too much moisture to the air and end up with condensation problems that could lead to rot or mold. Since this tip is extremely cheap to try out, give it a go. If you find condensation building up (water droplets on your windows or pipes), then you know this tip isn’t for your home.
This post was submitted by Joe Kissell.
Earlier this summer, I decided to make a real effort to look at the power I wasted just by not turning things off. I picked up a couple remote controlled power strips and some smart power strips and set things up so only the essentials stayed powered up. I found that this simple act reduced my power consumption by 25-40% per month. I made no sacrifice to my lifestyle and am saving about $20 per month as well.
This post was submitted by Bill Peregoy.
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.
I realize the word “Hippie” has gotten a bad rap here, but I must tell you that my waterbad has become an incredible energy-saving device.
Basically the water in the bed works as a large thermal mass which helps to cool the bed in summmer and keep it warm in the winter. Here’s the trick: NO WATERBED HEATER.
In the summer I keep about a 2 inch pad on the mattress so I don’t get too cold but I NEVER have to cool the house at night.
In the wintertime I up the padding to about 6-8 inches. I use old blankets and quilts from the thrift store (wool army surplus blankets work great - and it doesn’t matter how stained or ugly they are because they go under the bottom sheet). It’s wonderfully warm and allows me to turn the furnace WAY down at night. If your bed is near a south facing window you could cover it with a dark color and it will absorb sunlight during the day to heat the room.
This post was submitted by Rebecca.