I realized that just cutting down on paper towel use wasn’t enough…if they were there my husband and kids grabbed them for everything. Every spill, messy face, cleaning job required at least 2 paper towels in their minds. I just stopped buying them - and funny enough, sponges, and old cloth diapers, ripped up tee shirts, etc. are completely sufficient for getting out cleaning done. Better, in fact.
And then the paper towels always get used for napkins. Yet, I had dozens of nice napkins sitting in a drawer waiting for a special occasion to use. Now we use our real napkins for every meal…and it makes every meal feel more special.
I haven’t bought a roll of paper towels in over two years…where I used to buy one each week!
This post was submitted by Sally .
Spend time with your friends or family by sharing stories that you’ve either made up or heard. You can also have story reading time with your family by taking turns reading the book aloud. Aside from being fun this saves money, allows you to spend quality time with your family, and can be very educational. If you run out of stories you can always get a library card.
This post was submitted by Clayton Green.
Replace your heater that makes heat from fossil fuels with a heat pump that moves the heat available in the outside environment into the inside of your house.
This post was submitted by Patrick.
Install a shower waste heat recovery system to lower your hot water bill and save the environment. It preheats the incoming water with the heat still present in the water that leaves your shower through the drain.
This post was submitted by Patrick.
Since I do a lot of my own improvement projects and all my own maintenance, I have found that a typical weekend project can take several trips to the hardware or supply store because you forget stuff or run out of materials. Most people I have spoke to agree with this. What my neighbors and I started doing was buying extras of the small things that tend to tie up a project with wasted trips to hardware store (nails, screws, pipe fitting, etc). We save $$ by buying in bulk ‘contractor packs’ and we share the excess. We keep a rough idea of what we’ve got between us and we always discuss our needs before making the trip. And when we do make the inevitable trip, we ask the others what they need to save each other time and gas. I think taking community or neighborhood approaches can be a source for a lot of ideas, as the site touches on with cooking, book clubs, etc. The final results are:
Less trips to store=
more time
less gas
less stress
Buying in bulk=
having leftover materials to share
less cost per item
This post was submitted by Jeremy.
I have all my bills emailed to me and pay them on line electronically. Not only do I save over $5 a month in postage, but its so nice to go to the mailbox and just get letters and cards and no bills! The junk mail and paper I do receive is recycled so its really great that all that paper that used to go in the trash is not filling up the landfill!
This post was submitted by Tonja Steel.
Hello,
1) Use water instead of toilet paper in the bathroom at home, it saves money, cleaner and healthier and saves trees.
2) Use window fan instead of air conditioner.
3) Use groceory bag for your kitchen garbage.
4) Use your basement to hang your cloth’s to dry after washing instead of using dryer
This post was submitted by Sudhir Pattalil.
Get a manual carpet sweeper and use it most of the time instead of your vaccum cleaner. They cost about $20, use no electricity, and make no noise.
This post was submitted by Maria.
Clothes dryers use a lot of energy! What could be simpler than drying on a clothesline?!? At least when the weather is good, and at least for larger and thicker items like sheets & jeans.
For permanent press items, it helps to tumble them on air dry (no heat) for several minutes before hanging out.
For those who object to the stiffer texture of line dried items, you can briefly tumble them on air (no heat) after they’re dry.
This post was submitted by Alan.
We gave up TV (owning a set and all!) over 6 years ago! Our entertainment has changed from all TV to reading, watching DVDs on our computer and hanging out as a family and with friends!
Has been a wonderful time ever since. We play more and do more outdoor activities with out 4 yr old like playgrounds, hiking, picnicing and to top it all he is not exposed to all the commercial selling aimed at kids, the violence in the shows etc etc!!
We also, gave up all other media coming into the house in the form of newspapers, magazines and other paper related products that we controlled. Stopped buying “new” books and now request all and any we need from the library! Also, switched to audiobooks for lifestyle reasons!
This has made our lives healthier emotionally too since we are not bombarded by constant “bad” news and when the news is big enough for us to be concerned …. we hear about it, since it is important enough for people we know and interact with to be discussing!
This season, I did not put on the AC at all. Opened the windows, draped the over sunny windows and used the ceiling fans when it got HOT… I got my husband to install one in all rooms that we use regularly. Life is much cooler now than with the AC and it means a lot more money in my pocket than last year!!!!!!
Overall, “going simple” has made our lives as a family more fulfilling and meaningful.
This post was submitted by Ashita.