Collectively, small lifestyle changes can make a huge impact on the environment-and your life. Looking for happiness and health? What’s good for the environment is also, it turns out, great for you. Here’s a collection of tips from the No Impact community.
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This tip is so universal and so important both for the child, mother and nature. It is a win-win situation on all frontiers. Mothers’ milk does not pollute, it changes with the baby, always ready and the right temperature, you will be on-the-go with your baby without any fuss over carrying heaters, baby bottles,sterilizers etc. You’ll save money, time and your child will grow into a healthy individual, both physically and emotionally.
This post was submitted by Almedina.
FOR PEOPLE WHO STILL HAVE SOME TRASH: I got some waterproof material (think broken umbrella tarp, shower curtain, or a plastic table cloths) and cut it into fabric I can use to line my trash bags. Since I went plastic=shopping-bagless, I needed something to carry my trash down to the dumpster in my apartment’s trash area. I carry the trash down, then dump it into the dumpster bins they have, saving the plastic material to be thrown into the laundry. It’s so easy!
This post was submitted by CC.
I hate using the air conditioner, but my windows face east, and we get a lot of light. I tried a month without A/C, and I had horrible migraines. Here’s what I did: 1. I got one of those emergency blankets that come in camping kits ($1)-it has a reflective material that bounces heat off. 2. I cut to size and taped the top of one end to the top of my window under my window shade. 3. Then I taped the bottom end to the bottom of my window shade. Now, when I pull my window shade string, the reflector gets carried up so the light comes in. When I want to close it, the reflector rolls right down with the shade and blocks the light, reducing my need to use A/C.
You could also try aluminum foil if you have it around; although I haven’t tried it, it should reflect the sun.
This post was submitted by CC.
This film spoke to us! We are already organic-goers, use cloth diapers, recycle, etc., but the film got us thinking that we could do more! We are making a list of what we want to do… first the laundry. We use organic cloth diapers and our 4 month old daughter uses a potty for her bowel movements and a lot of her peeing (she pees diaper sometimes). It took us only about 2 weeks to get us all trained on her using potty, easy! So, we just have to wash her peed diapers and wipes once (no cold wash required). The other thing we began to do is to use the “soak” cycle on our laundry; let the laundry sit for 20 minutes, then a short wash cycle. Use the dryer only when it is pretty full. Too little things in there, things take forever to dry and too much, the same thing happens. We wash several loads, then fill up the dryer and save energy! This is while we consider options to ease out of using both these machines. We want to be independent of electricity, in case there’s a black-out and also to save, save, save!
This post was submitted by Veronica.
Diapers are a huge problem for the environment, cloth are a great alternative.. But did you know there´s an even better way, using way less diapers?
It´s called Elimination Communication, and it´s all about listening to your baby´s signals. A baby signal´s hunger and the need for love right? Well, they also signal the need to use the potty! Listen closely to your baby or even use routin pottying, and you will find out that your baby is a lot more capable than given credit for. EC-babies use less diapers and are pottytrained years earlier than their friends.
My 16-month old is pretty much dry know, with a backup cloth diaper for longer outings or at night. Since he was 1 year old he has used the potty on his own, no need for diapers until they are 2-3 years old!
This post was submitted by Katarina.