Friday, April 16, 2010

Your Turn

In honor of Earth Day and week, I would love to know your favorite tip on how to conserve or save or even your goal if you have not got around to actually doing anything. Hopefully everyone can learn something new and put it to good use.

33 comments:

Privacy said...

can't call it conserving, and i wouldn't know what to say it's saving - but i'm inclined to pick up trash others leave behind.

bits of moxy said...

I like to recycle the news papers by using them as 2 year bio degradable weed cloth under my mulch, or in my garden (bare spots)

And kudos to mom (above)!!

Natasha Condensada said...

Small bottles fill of sand in the sink so when you flush down the toilet you waste less water everytime.

MnGddess said...

I found out that the kind of start/stop driving I have to do in the city can waste a lot of gas. Now I try to keep the speedometer at a steady level. Seems to work...

Terri said...

A few years ago we were in a drought and forced to conserve water. I made my family use shower towels 3 times before they got washed. We still do this to conserve water.

I replace all burned out light bulbs with the newer ones.

I only leave the house once a day to do errands or do them driving to or from work. This has saved a lot of gas.

Maja With a J said...

To save some water, turn the tap off while brushing your teeth. To save even more, turn the shower off while shampooing your hair. Use energy conserving "green" lightbulbs. Turn the lights off when you leave a room. Turn your computer off when not using it or use the "sleep" option. Walk or ride your bike to work if possible.

Not only will you reduce your carbon footprint, you'll save on your own bills as well. Everybody wins!

MISCH said...

I RECYCLE, WALK EVERYWHERE, WEAR VINTAGE,DONATE ALL MY OLD CLOTHES,READ THE NEWSPAPERS ONLINE..AND WILL TRY TO DO BETTER

jess said...

@Natasha Condensada

We do that too! about 2 years ago I read that somewhere and then we started saving a lot of water. (you can put about 2 L. max, otherwise the toilet loses impulse and you will have to flush again)

We use saving light bulbs and unplug items that are not being used because they will still use electricity. We also recycle.

LoriC said...

We have two water barrels that we use to water our potted plants, we compost all of our vegetable and fruit scraps. We also recycle all paper, glass and cans. Not to mention changing all of our light bulbs to the "green" lightbulbs. Oh, and we use reusable shopping bags at the grocery.

In the summer we plant our own garden, so we have our own fresh produce.

chihuahuense said...

I go shopping as little as possible. I have poor will-power, so the more often I am out the more likely I will buy something.

Oh, and have always used rain barrels, and compost piles, but because I am cheap, not green. Sorry :(

I love shows that talk about how you can be green by buying all this shit they are peddling.

I know I will be hated for this, but I really do hate the green movement. I mean, good idea, but it is like the Tila Tequila of causes IMO.

RocketQueen said...

Become a vegetarian. Seriously :)

Bethan said...

I haven't owned a car for over five years - use public transport, walking and recently got a bicycle - gets me exercising more, which is better for my health as well as saving natural resources. I do other things like always use energy saving light bulbs as well.

jbdean_79 said...
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jbdean_79 said...
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mooshki said...

If you're not into making banana bread, bury your old bananas in your house plants. They put lots of good stuff into the soil.

I still kind of like Jennifer Aniston, but she had a real dumb celeb moment when she said that she saves energy by brushing her teeth in the shower. Yeah, you know how bad it is to leave the sink faucet running while you brush? Well you have your entire SHOWER running the whole time you're brushing!!!

hotchacha said...

I do recycle. I also keep my small appliances in the kitchen unplugged until I need to use them.

Jillian S. said...

Well my job involves training people for green jobs, so to limit my hypocrisy I'm starting a composting bin (with worms!) on my balcony and bringing my own cup when I go to restaurants to see if I can fill it up instead of disposable.


PS> If you're interested, you can check your carbon footprint here: www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator

Sherry R. said...

My husband and I sold our SUV and F-150 a couple of years ago and replaced it with one small car that we share between us.

RJ said...

We do lots of little things. Most have been mentioned here. Turning off water while brushing teeth. Energy efficient light bulbs. Making as few stops as possible when errand running. I also almost never dry clean anything. Maybe one or two pieces a year. Most clothes that are dry clean only can be refreshed by a few minutes in the dryer with a clean, wet towel. Doesn't work for everything of course, but lots of things it does. I'm a bit of a cheapsake, too. I like that most things that are good for the earth also end up being good for the bank account, too.

SkittleKitty said...

CFL bulbs, learned to drive a stick 8 years ago (at 32--ok, I was impressed with myself) and get 27 mpg with my VW wagon in the city, reusable shopping bags most everywhere (even the mall), buy large tubs of yogurt instead of the small containers, programmable thermostats, recycling.

Anyone know any organization that re-uses the plastic tubs (margarine, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.)? I can't recycle them locally and have a large collection going/growing in our garage. :(

Meg said...

I don't do much and that is kind of shameful. We do recycle almost everything food/paper wise but that is about it other than trying a few of the things already mentioned.

Someone once told me that the energy efficient light bulbs are actually harder to dispose of than regular which offsets the energy that they save. Anyone know if that is true? We always try to buy them when possible.

delilah said...

eat local food whenever possible.

Elle Kaye said...

I stay green by having only one child. Not 8 or 19, just one. That leaves a smaller carbon footprint. Oh, and I fly commercial.

Selock said...

I don't own a car or drive. Ever. At all. I live a walkable life, even with work, meetings, services, my 6yo's school & activities, entertainment, all walkable, even in my small city. Anything I need I can't find or carry I can get delivered. I use a lot of public transportation, walk & bike. (It helps that I am a short distance from the fast train to DC, Philly, NYC, etc...I never feel stranded.) I am getting to know my town and neighbors really well now, so it makes me happy/healthy, too. :)

ClaireFrasier said...

I have one thing I do that no one has mentioned (of course, this is easier if you only have one person involved): I don't use my dryer. I hang all my clothes up to dry. Inside.

1/4 c white vinegar in with the soap, and then 1/4 c. again in the rinse cycle (instead of fabric softener) and even jeans & towels are soft. I haven't had any static cling. Sometimes there is lint, tho, but that's easy enough to deal with. And I do not have to iron any cotton shirts. (Obviously, this doesn't include any white dress shirts--but I have to iron those even with a dryer).

lutefisk said...

Besides recycling, I compost all of my produce scraps, egg shells, & coffee grinds to use in my fruit & vegetable garden I also take my own bags to the supermarket. It limits how much I buy also. If I don't have enough bags, I wait until the next trip.

ardleighstreet said...

Recycle. Stupid to say but some people (one of my sisters) still refuse to do this.

Plant a tree. (If you have the space available)

Leave your lawn grow a little.
(I was going to say leave your grass grow... but someone might have taken that the wrong way) ;)

KLM said...

Eat local food as much as possible, don't drink bottled water (EVER - use filtered water and reusable bottles), obviously recycle, don't eat meat (sorry, haven't given up fish, but never farmed and only sustainably harvested), compost, have our own garden (albeit small, we live in Brooklyn), turn off the lights, use Blackle (joke - it's Google's eco-site but I think it is more tongue-in-cheek), always use eco-friendly household products and support green activities in our area.

We actually have the oldest food coop in the country in our neighborhood, and it features all organic, local (mostly), green-friendly products - all at very reasonable prices. You have to work there to be a member, which I love, because it lowers the overhead and contributes to the overwhelming sense of community.

Anyway, I've rattled on enough, but thanks to everyone else - especially for some of the tips I hadn't thought of...

Sue Ellen Mishkey said...

I leave old fruit along the fence of my apt building for my cat's friends (the squirrels and birds) to eat. I know that it's not good for them to be fed like that, but they're city animals and are used to eating like that. One time I put a Hallowe'en pumpkin out there and the next morning it was half eaten and pecked half to death.

That is my creative way of recycling.

Abaddon said...

The only thing we can recycle where we live is plastic bottles. The only cleaning supply that I buy is dish soap (which will be remedied shortly), the rest is home made and eco friendly. Use cloth diapers. I make all of our soaps (even for the laundry) and beauty supplies (baby wipes, toothpaste, face creams, etc). Don't use the dryer except for sheets and that's only in winter. In summer we buy from the farmers market all of our produce (in winter nothing grows here. Romania). All meals are made fresh. Hardly ever use the car. Keep all of the plastic tins and styrofoam for other stuff. Don't use paper towels. And then the usual stuff. Don't always flush the toilet. Only take showers. Turn off lights when not in the room. Grow a lot of our own veggies and fruits. And have lots of plants in the house (cleans the air). Our new house which we're building is passive solar with a solarium and super insulated. So that should conserve on a lot of heating in winter if we ever finish building it.

Katy said...

I reuse everything I can before I have to recycle them. Cereal boxes make for great gift boxes! I am a single person and every once in a while I get the plastic bags at the grocery store because I use them as trash bags.

For the person who asked about recycling yogurt containers, call your local school... kids are always planting things for mothers day or other science projects. They are great to use for a small pot for the seed!

Wil said...

Well one happy accident of my anti-rejection drugs is that my eyes are SUPER sensitive to light. So I hardly ever have more that 40 watt light bulbs in any lamps or fixtures and usually only have one or two lights on in my house at one given time. I am gonna be DESPONDENT when we have to start using those flourescent [sp??] bulbs because they KILL my eyes!! I guess I will revert to candles! ; )

I went back to using old fashioned window shades from blinds because they seem to be way better insulators from heat and cold than blinds and - stop me if you figured this out already with the whole sensitive eye deal - they block light waaay better than blinds do. Sadly, they will go with the house when the bank gets it back. : /

I only shower/bathe totally once a week. I wash myself with baby wipes and doing the old "raccoon shower" [I used to say "whores bath" but Jujubee from RuPaul has TOTALLY converted me to "Raccoon Shower" cause it is just such a damned cute phrase!!!] bit ala "Terrence Howard" for the privates, pits and face.

Lastly .. and this will say a lot .. I have a 2004 Mazda 6 that has 12,300 some odd miles on it. So .. you can tell I try not to drive unless I absolutely have to.

Happy Earth Day and Week all!!
: )

bionic bunny! said...

my bunnies use "care fresh" brand litter, which is already recycled (and the cat uses a mix of CF w/ his sand right now.
the great thing is, bunny poop is a TERRIFIC natural fertilizer, yes, even for edibles, and so is the care fresh. the cycle continues (now if i just had the vegetable garden i always wanted).
when i DO run the dishwasher, i throw in the sponges. the are disinfected and ready to start fresh.
i'm in the middle of painting my house and i re-use every single roller, brush, and ripped up some ruined shirts for rags instead of paper towels.
under the care fresh (we call it "fluff" we use supermarket paper bags, usually previously recycled, and break down quickly in the landfill.
and the guy across the street somehow makes a living recycling cardboard, so we give ours to him instead of trashing it.
not very much, but it's something.
oh, and lots and lots of charitable donations (items). one girl's oversized muu muu is another girl's sunday go to meetin' dress, right?

also, all those tabs on your aluminum cans? save them and take them to your nearest ronald mcdonald house. they have (well ours is) a little acrylic house about the size of an ottoman that you dump them in. a full house pays for one night for a family staying there. they'll even send little cardboard boxes you can scatter around the office. easy to do, and the darn things add up REALLY fast.
WONDERFUL organization!

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