Favorite Ways to "Go Green"

Line dry. It will save about 10% of your electric (and save you money. I cut $30 off our monthly electric bill when I started line drying). Also, drastically cut back on your meat intake and join a CSA for your produce. (At first I thought that the CSA was really expensive, but it averages out to about $25/week for almost all of our produce, which is about what we spend at the grocery store anyway, it's just all upfront). Good luck!

You've already gotten a lot of really great suggestions.

One thing you can do to really significantly reduce your environmental impact is to reduce the amount of meat you eat, especially from "ruminants" like cows. They require a lot of land to feed, and their waste releases methane (a greenhouse gas) into the environment.

Join a CSA (community supported agriculture) group. They offer locally grown organic produce on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

Avoid dryer sheets altogether if you can. If static is a problem, vinegar is supposed to work as a fabric softener (I've never tried it, though).

Make your own laundry detergent. There are lots of easy recipes on line: http://www.thefrugalshopper.com/articles/detergent.shtml It's much cheaper than buying detergent at the store, and it saves on packaging.

Wash your clothes in cold water.

Use cloth napkins instead of paper towels and napkins in your home.

Bring your own silverware with you instead of using plastic cutlery when you go out to eat.

Go to catalogchoice.org and get yourself removed from the lists of companies who send you unsolicited catalogs.

I have a friend who has all her major electronics plugged into a few power strips. Every night she unplugs them all. Even when appliances aren't being used, they hold some of their charge. (Same with those cords with the power cubes on them.) She says that turning off these appliances every night has saved her a lot of money, and obviously it is more energy efficient.

Buy less stuff altogether. Make do with less. Every time you buy something, you generate waste that comes with the production, packaging, and transporting of the new item, not to mention the disposal of the item you are replacing.

I'm not perfect, but I do try to be green. I became a Shaklee Independent Distributor because I discovered the Shaklee green cleaning products and love them. I buy all the Shaklee products as Shaklee is a green company. In 2000 Shaklee became the first company in the world to obtain Climate Neutral certified and totally offset its carbon emissions. They continue to be a trend setter and so I stick with them.

When someone doesn't finish their water at the dinner table I pour it into a plant. When we painted our den we used NO VOC paint.
I try to buy "used" furniture that no longer gives off fumes.
I recycle anything and everything I can. That includes making donations instead of just throwing things away.
I stopped buying bottled water and filter water from my tap so that I no longer have plastic bottles to discard (although when traveling I sometimes break this rule).
I avoid plastic. I try not to use plastic bags for food (sometimes I do) and I have bought glass with plastic lids that are safe. This way I can serve in them too, then just store without using water to rinse a bowl before storing. I try to plan my errands as not to run all over town. Saves gas and fumes to the environment.
I use stainless steel cookware mostly for health.
Yikes, there's probably more but can't think of right now!

Go S.!

I just saw the documentary "No impact man". The man (or better say the family) went very green for a year, trying to have no impact on the environment. They went very far (no electricity, no shopping at all except farmer's market, no toilet paper) but it gives ideas on what each of us can do. Some ideas:
- reduce the energy bill (less light after sunset, less electric devices, lower the heat and wear a sweater instead...)
- reduce the trash (plan the meals, cook the leftovers, avoid take-out, take your own cup to dunkin donuts or Starbucks...)
- reuse everything that can be reuse
- read news online and stop your newspapers subscription
- use the back of printed sheet as coloring sheets for the children instead of new ones
- recycle all what can be recycled in your area (paper, cans...)

I confess I don't always do all that, but I try.
Most activities/craft I do with my children are from "recycled". I reuse paper tissue boxes, paper towel rolls, all kind of card boxes (cereal boxes...), either for a craft of for the card (as construction paper). My son "treasure box" where he collects nice stones, feathers, shells... used to be a formula can. We save a lot of money on toys and develop one's imagination.

I also try to stay informed about what can be done. For example, our supermarket collects the clean plastic bags if we bring them back. My husband's office has a battery drive once a year and we bring our old batteries there...

We're luck to leave in a quiet area but next to a shopping center. I can walk there (with our reusable bag) with my children instead of using the car. We walk to the library (1.5 miles away), to the park... We use the car mostly only on week-ends if we need to go further than that.

Addressing the person slandering Melaleuca you don't have the facts...Melaleuca has won the Environmental Wellness Award 5 years in a row. They ARE a green manufacturing company and you can view their green awards at www.melaleucaawards.com.

I got the best ideas for you! I am into the green thing. It is easy to do simple things, you know form plastic bag removal to all natural wipes. I work for an international wellness company that has really inexpensive all natural products! They actually save u money on your groceries. They have it all so it is simple! there products work better than most store brands.
Even their products are in concentrate to reduce plastic. there are many things to do- contact me and I'd love to help.
I got these gift tags that were even biodegradable and could be planted into flowers, really neat!
Shoot me a message we should talk!
M.

We go to 2nd hand stores once a week. We are not poor.I have got some totally awesome things there. I find very nice expenisve name brand clothing for a few dollars. We also find awesome books too. By buing a lot of our clothing 2nd hand we are reusing something and not adding to more garbage. We save so much money also. This week, I purchased 15 clothing items from my fav thrift store. This included Gap shirts, and Banana Reublic pants for my husband. I paid $30.00. I like to add up my savings when I get home. To buy all of the items at the store brand new it would have cost $1000.00 for those brands

Also, We make our own pudding and jello cups. Zip lock has small individual plasic containers with lids. I think it's $3.00 for 8 of them. I buy instant pudding and jello and fill the cups. The kids eat and we wash and we reuse. After they are warn out the cups can be recycyled. This also saves a ton of money. It's less than $1.00 for a box of pudding.

I'm getting ready to start making my own laundry detergent too.

We use resuable micorfiber cleaning cloths that I got from flylady.net. so we don't have to buy disposable swiffer pads.

We recycle everything we can. Once our bags are full my husband takes the bags and gets paid.

We use reusable shopping bags, as much as we can.

We use wool dryer balls instead of dryer sheets

We try to avoid ziplock bags and use reusable sandwich holders.

We also visit the library once a week and get most of our reading materials there. We also rent DVDs there for free.

We rarely eat out. I cook 99% of our meals. We don't buy waterbottles either, we use a filter pitcher and reusable bottles.

My main goal this year was to convert to buying most things we need used and to reuse as much as possible.

We all should be good stewards of the Earth that God has created for us. He created this beautiful planet of us to live on and we've trashed it. It's so sad.

I just started with a green company called Melaleuca. I LOVE it and it saves my family money! They have tons of eco friendly products for you, your fam, and home! Message me if your interested :)

Hi S..
Shaklee got me going green 15 years ago. They are the first, and I believe only company to be declared climate neutral. They were green before biodegradeable was a word.
Their Get Clean line includes safe nontoxic cleaners and laundry products. They are concentrated, making them much less expensive than other products and they keep the landfills from being filled up with plastic bottles.
The have also planted over 1million trees.
Oprah has featured them on her show several time. The products are used by the Costeau Society, the White House and VP's residence among others.
They are also the number one seller of natural supplements.
You can find them at http://www.shaklee.net/healthforlife
A good place to check on the "greenness" of products is http://www.ewg.org
Victoria

When it's time to replace lightbulbs, get the flourescent. They're pricier at first but seem to last forever. We switched over a few years ago and have yet to change any of the new bulbs.

Also, look for the green label cleaning products made by companies like Clorox. They're a lot cheaper than other green brands and are just as "green." I often find the Clorox Green Works brand is even cheaper than regular cleaner options.

One more is to leave buckets near your kitchen sink and shower and fill it up as you wait for the hot water to start (you'll be amazed how much you collect). Then use this water on houseplants and for other uses around the house.

We like to reuse items or sale them on ebay if we can't use them. Artist love to use old baby food jars, and formula cans for paint and storage. Clean them out and sale them on ebay. I usually just charge for shipping and let the bidding go up from there. Sometimes the profit is minimal, but atleast I know they are getting reused instead of thrown away.

When baby clothes get to stained and torn to donate, use them as cleaning clothes.

I love your post, some great ideas here!

#1 Reusable bags in place of plastic or paper bags. $1 for a bag - I have about ten. They hold more and the bags don't fall over in the car. Keep them in the back seat or trunk - the trick is to remember to take them into the store. Many times I have to go back to the car and get them.
#2 Compost - cost is minimal and does take a little time to start it up but it's easy and keeps your trash from stinking AND you get free, nutrient rich dirt out of it!
#3 Recycle - costs nothing and you don't have to sort anymore.
#4 Left over water from water bottles or cups - water your plants with it - don't forget to recycle the bottle.
#5 Only cook what you will eat in one sitting unless you know for sure you will eat the leftovers. Left overs can be over rated - most of them end up in the trash. Split up your meats in smaller portions. Before the kids were old enough to eat hamburgers and such, I divided a pound of meat into two half pounds - a pound was way too much for just the two of us.
#6 Wash plastic ware in the dishwasher if you send them in your kids lunch - a box of 48 will last a long, long time.
#7 Use 'tupperware' for kids lunches instead of baggies - sandwiches, chips, fruit etc.
#8 Don't use the heat drying option on the dishwasher - saves electricity.
#9 Digital thermostat.
#10 Hang your shirts, khaki pants, athletic wear, fleece or quilts to dry on a drying rack, in your laundry room or outside if your lucky enough to have a clothes line. I do put them in the dryer for 5 minutes to soften and de-wrinkle but my clothes last forever and don't fade - saves electricity and less wear and tear on your dryer.
#11 Grow your own food, even if it is small items in pots.
#12 Recycle the plastic bags you do have - you can do this at most grocery stores.
#13 Cut your dryer sheets in half - a box of 100 becomes a box of 200 - less to buy, less sheets to throw away in the landfills - don't forget to recycle the box.
#14 Consolidate when running errands - don't go somewhere everyday.

These are just a few things that I do to help the environment and my pocket book.

I love www.Freecycle.org! I started my own group in my hometown and try to Freecycle anything I don't need that might be of use to someone. It's a great place to get things, and pass on things you no longer need, and it's all FREE! Love it! Just last week we were going through old books we no longer needed. My husband wanted to recycle some old computer books he had and I posted them on Freecycle. I was able to find someone to take all but 2 of them! One man's trash is another man's treasure!

One thing I wish more people did, even though it's not a popular idea- but would have a HUGE impact on the earth- is considering the size of one's family. Larger families mean an exponential use of resources for years to come. If we all kept the earth and its resources in mind when we decided how many children to have it would do more than many of the smaller things we try to do each day! If you want a larger family, there's always adoption!

Also, carrying your own reusable bags instead of using plastic ones at stores is a big one. I've found some great bags like these- http://www.containerstore.com/shop/travel/totesBriefcases... are so easy to carry around. You just have to be diligent about putting them right back into your purse for the next time.

Good luck with going green!
T.