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.
One of the hardest things for me to give up in my eco-concious lifestyle is long hot baths. So I’ve found a way to justify my luxury.
In the winter time, when I indulge in a bath I leave the hot water in the tub when I’m finished. The heat from the water dissipates into the house and it also helps to humidify that super dry winter air. I also use some of the “grey water” for cleaning and for watering house plants once it cools.
The way I figure it, for the same amount of hot water, I can indulge in an hour long bath instead of a 10 minute shower. And I’m not just letting all of that heat go down the drain. It’s even better if you turn off all of the lights and bathe by candle light. That’s an hour spent in complete self-indulgence with no TV, computer, stereo or lights burning electricity!
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.
Living in a country with a constant water shortage (due to the lack of rain and local shortsightedness), Patti and I have developed a few habits to lower our impact on this issue.
We wash our veggies (that we receive from a local permaculture farmer) in a bowl, and then use that water for our plants on the terrace (Basil, Verbena, Thyme, Mint and some flowers - which are easy and fun to grow, as well as pleasant to the eye in an urban living environment).
Also, most of us waste tons of perfectly good water in the shower, waiting for it to heat up. By keeping a bucket near the tub, you can save that water for (and I realize this might not seem pretty) flushing your toilet (another glorious waste of drinking water). Even if not every flush during the day is saved, it still makes a difference.
Seeing that the water situation also results in price hikes, this is a considerable save.
This post was submitted by Ariel Bailey.
I sold my car a few years ago and rely on my bike, public transportation AND City Carshare, a car sharing service where you pay a membership fee and rent cars by 15 minute increments. Save on parking, on insurance and ONLY use a car when you really need it. Good weening strategy for those extremely attached to vehicles plush they have a variety of cars in their fleet, including Prius’s. http://www.citycarshare.org.
This post was submitted by Deborah Crooks.
Granted, I live in a warm clime, so this tip isn’t perhaps for everyone.
We keep our thermostat on 60 during the cool months. The rule is: If you’re cold, start a fire, put on a sweater, grab a cat to cuddle. If you’re still cold after taking all those steps, go to bed. (Then you get 4 cats to cuddle)
It keeps our power bill under $60/mo from say…November-March, and helps with the carbon footprint.
In addition, we dry clothes on a clothesline, wash in cold water only, recycle/compost more than we throw in the garbage.
This post was submitted by Margret Raines.
Our idea was to use rainwater for the toilet, it works like this:
You collect rainwater in a big rainbarrel and put in the toilet flush. On this way you save watercosts and recycle natural ressources.
Good luck and kind regards from Germany
This post was submitted by Grade 13.
Sign up for Online Banking and Bill Pay, or use vendors’ websites to receive and pay bills electronically. Use a debit card instead of checks. Sign up for eStatements, or electronic statements, that you can save on a computer.
I work as a graphic designer. One of my clients is a community banking group that serves outstate Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota.
There are two levels of ecological benefit to using electronic banking services.
Banks promote electronic banking services because it saves paper costs, heated/cooled building space for storing checks and statements; it eliminates check scanning time (and scanner costs and space), mail transportation costs, and reduces staff time.
Customers see that it reduces paper use, saves time used for balancing accounts and processing bills, and helps people monitor spending better. It also allows users to create easily portable computer files of banking records, and preserves a backup accessible online.
This post was submitted by Val Escher.
Lots of people now bring their own shopping bags to the grocery store, but a lot of folks are still using *many* plastic produce bags while shopping. About a year ago my husband and I started to reuse our plastic produce bags. Most of them just carry bulk stuff (grains, granola, trail mix) or organic produce and can be reused without washing. When they get sticky or wet, we wash them in the sink with mild soap and hang them to dry. We also reuse the bags our bread comes in (sandwich bread, burger buns) — they tend to be really sturdy.
It’s good to bring your own shopping bags to the market, but even better to bring shopping bags and a healthy supply of produce bags, too! An easy way to reduce your impact. You can also inspire other folks who will see you shopping with reused bags and follow your lead.
An added plus: some stores will credit you $.05 or so for each bag brought from home.
This post was submitted by Karen.
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.