Eating vegan/organic and local foods and dumpsterdiving for Foods. Not buying clothes, shoes, accesories, etc . Using my bike, walking and taking public transportation 95% of the time instead of driving a car. The extra 5% I carpool with friends and family. No drinking bottled water. Using recicled and used stuff instead of buying new. Not using AC at home, watching 0 TV. I have been shopping for food and medicines mainly and want to reduce every day the number of things I buy that aren’t food or medicines; right now the number of things I buy dayly is almost cero so I am almost there!
This post was submitted by Gerardo Tristan.
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.
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.
There is a whole category of Green I-Phone Apps, most of them free; they help you with information to be sustainable. There are Apps for locating recycling locales and Apps to find farmer’s markets and Apps to find things within walking distance. So if you can’t find a place to recycle those compact florescents; there’s an App for that.
This post was submitted by Lorraine Nelson.
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.
A ReStore is run by a Habitat for Humanity affiliate that accepts donations of appliances, furniture and building materials, then sells them to the general public at discounted prices. The money raised helps to build houses for those who are in need of affordable shelter in the local community. Companies can contribute their overstock materials, showcase displays, encourage their shoppers to donate their kitchen cabinets or furniture that still has great life in it instead of tossing it. Donating isn’t hard - just a phone call, email or drop-off away! Imagine if every builder and company donated their excess materials or products that are no longer on their selling line?! The landfills would be so much smaller, the community would get good usable products at a great price and more houses could get built for families in need! Everyone wins! Donate your usable goods or shop at the ReStore before shopping new. Find one in your community at www.habitat.org Good Products, Great Cause!
This post was submitted by Habitat ReStore.
We have started a co-operative, pooled our resources, and bought more prime farmland than any of us could have afforded alone. (In fact, it’s more than even the founders can afford, and we’re seeking additional member-investors.)
Our goal is to produce most of our own food and energy, and to distribute the excess within the greater community.
We heat with wood from our own land, drive (a limited amount) on biodiesel that we make from restaurant waste, and grow almost all our vegetables and produce all our own eggs and milk.
Many of the ten current residents have home-based businesses to avoid commuting.
This post was submitted by Jan Steinman.
i gave up Shampoo a long time ago, probably at least a year and a half, and i have never been happier with my hair. its not always super dried out anymore, and I’m sure I’ve saved tons of money by not buying shampoo. i tried the balking soda thing for a while and the “transition period” lasted to long, so i just use my glycerin bar soap if i feel like i need to wash my hair, other wise i just get it wet when i shower and it seems fine. it never stinks or looks or feels dirty. i recently got it cut so i want to try the baking soda again. every time i get my hair cut now, the hair dresser tells me how nice and healthy my hair is.
This post was submitted by Tabatha.
We purchased a hillside property of several acres, some years ago. It was almost void of trees, except some at the property lines. There were several erosion gullies, poor soil for supporting native plants, etc. The slopes were between 20-35%. We started planting trees, leveled vegetable garden areas, repaired erosion gullies, etc. We terraced the steep slopes, built raised beds for vegetables, planted redwoods, pines, and fruit trees. We built a holding pond for containing some erosion causing sheet flows during the California rainy season, etc.
From our initial efforts, it’s almost 20 years. We have no significant erosion. Even the native plants seem much happier. We are happier.
This post was submitted by Reijo Koski.
Reduce your full time working week to 4 days of 9.5hrs each.
I am trying this for the first time and expect to save money mostly on transport. Another small bonus is reducing my professional wardrobe needs.
Obviously the best bit is to have a whole day to myself to work on hobbies. This might increase my homesteading and self sufficiency.
I’ve already found that I like starting work earlier, its very quiet and peaceful in the office. This is good for reducing stress.
*This tip was originally from the Your Money or Your Life book.
This post was submitted by BohoBelle.