What are you doing to go green?

[scarletpao]

Post your personal tips or ideas in this tread.

[mousie829]

 I try to recycle as much as I can. I buy fresh and in season, not canned or frozen. I plant things that I can eat, ex: herbs. I live in an apartment complex so I try to conserve energy when ever I can. I wash in cold water and hang them on racks to dry. I cook 3 times a week for several meals at a time. Use energy efficient lightbulbs. I wear only natural fabrics, cotton, wool, silk linen. I buy  almost all my clothes second hand. I give away what I don't need and try to live very simply. I scale back on how many outfits I have to wear per season. I use homemade cleaners. I recycle paper for grocery lists and such. I hope to learn from others and be a greenie even more...Miriam 

[scarletpao]

Those are all great things!  Thanks for sharing. One more that I can think of is i always unplug things that I won't be using for a while, especially if they have those boxes (like my cell charger) because they still sap enegy when not in use!  I didn't know that till i watched Al Gore's fil, An Inconvenient Truth'

[mamazfave3]

Hello, my name is Johnnia and I'm new to this group.  I've tried many things to help our family "go green" such as use cloth diapers with my children, use cloth bags to tote grocerys instead of plastic, recycle paper, plastic, and aluminum cans often, change out all of our lightbulbs to more eco-friendly ones, only was clothes in large loads and try to only use cold water washes.....buy fresh produce and garden..... thanks!

[Mrs.Bolin]

I have been recycling alot. It has helped me save trash bags so much. Our only recycle bin is at our little wal-mart but they only except paper, pop cans and plastic.  There are no other recylcling places in my area.I have also switched all of my cleaning products to the chemical free ones. Love the earth friendly life

[scarletpao]

Way to go!  Every bit helps and the more you do it, the more you do it!!

[BarbWAHM]

This year I invested in a laptop lunchbox system for DS (1st grade) to try and minimize my use of plastic bags - so far he loves his new lunchbox system. 

http://www.laptoplunches.com/

Our city also recently changed their waste management contract.  Our "garbage" is now in a smaller container and is only picked up 1 every 2 weeks.  But now we can put all of our food waste into our yard waste bin, and it is picked up every week.  We can include all food waste, brown paper bags, pizza boxes and the like in with the food waste.  We alreay had recycle bins (3) in which we would separate out the plastics/glass, paper products, newpapers, but now we have one great big bin and we can throw it all into one bin.  I was a little afraid about the 1 every othe week garbage pickup, but so far, we've managed without problem. 

I've quit buying individual containers of Choc Milk, and now fill DS's reusable water bottle from the gallon jug of Choc. Milk.  I've also quit buying Gatorade sports drinks and use a sports drink mix from the company that I market for - it has less sugar and more electrolytes, and I'm not adding to the landfills with the plastic bottles as I mix it up at home and put in our reusable bottles before we go play. 

I've switched to laundry detergents with no phospates or bleach, and to dishwashing detergent with no phosphates or chlorine. 

I know I'm still a baby in the "green living" arena, but I figure each baby step I take helps.  Hanging out on boards like these has helped as I'm always learning more things that I can incorporate into our lives. 

[mistysangels]

 im fairly new to going green.  we use cloth diapers and cloth training pants on our kiddos.  we wash the clothes in cold water only.  we have our digital theromstat set at 68 in the winter and 80 in the summer and the vents closed to the rooms we dont use.  we bring our own cloth bags to the stores.  recycle, recycle, recycle.  we dont use comercial cleaners of any kind, i make my own green ones.  we only hunt what we can eat.  i want to start a garden, but havent done so yet.  :(  i collect rain water to water my yard.  i breastfeed my 7 mo old.  we use cfl light bulbs and keep unused lights off.  i use freecycle as much as possible. we use low flow shower heads and toilets in our home, as other things go out, we replace them with more eco friendly ones.   i know there are other things but i cant think of any now.  i hope to learn much more!

[joanlivegreen47]

 I currently have switched over to all safe,chemical-free products in my home and I wish to share all of them with you all!

My son has allergies and since switching over, he doesnt sneeze or cough.  The air he breathes is cleaner, and as a mom that makes me very happy!!

See our Live Online Presentation
http://gogreenlivegreen.oanb.us/fw_webcast/
This presentation is password protected.
Click on Option 3: to "Schedule An Appointment"
and you will receive the username and password.

 

GO GREEN-LIVE GREEN-BE HEALTHIER!!!

[BaliBlindsMom]

I finally have a system to not forget my reusable bags when I go to the grocery store! 

I went eco-friendly with my latest home improvement project -  just installed Bali natural shades in my kitchen - they are made from bamboo. I love that they are made from natural materials, are 100% recyclable and they do a nice job of insulating out the heat and cold, saving on energy consumption. But, best of all, they look beautiful - the texture adds a lot of warmth to the room. 

Also, I used the laptop lunch boxes for my kids this year - they loved it!  It was easier for me to pack without all the ziplock bags, and I think they were able to get to their food faster at lunch time.

[istaria1124]

As my friends and boyfriend put it I am very green. I activly recycle, donate things that are in good and useable condition and am even guilty of dumpster diving-tho it is in the name of art(found object art to be exact). I try to limit my use of household cleaners that are not eco-friendly or home made along with natural cosmetics. Unfortunelly living in an apartment does not allow for a garden however I help grow one at my parents house with vegatables and herbs that I use fresh or can/freeze for hte off season. While not nesicarly "green" I try to also cook from scratch and make double that can be froze for later dinners-energy saving I suppose.I also dry my laundry on the clothes line and only toss it int he dryer to "fluff" and get rid of the crizpiness that comes from hang drying.  I am always on the search for more ways to be green that are also able to actually be implemented into life and not unrealstic.