What do YOU do? Leave your frugal tips here!

[michiganmom116]

[heavensdaughter]

 

 I have always been frugal from my upbringing and that kind of ties in with being green.  When I reallystarted thinking about my impact on our environment I realized we already did a lot of the things that help...  I would love to hear your green way of living.  Seems like to put it all in one place someone has to have thought of some things I would never have thought of.  maybe we can add something to each others green lists.  Here are some of the things that we do to try to be frugal/green, what I could think of anyway.

As appliances needed to be replaced we got energy star appliances. 

  We try to rewear pajamas for about a week before washing and not doing outfit changes constantly, also shirts can sometimes be worn more than once before washing...  We each have our own towels that we reuse a few times before washing.

I cloth diaper including cloth wipes and use natural baby products, and make my own babyfood, using reusable containers. I also use mama cloth and washable nursing pads.  I breastfeed.

We use no paper towels or plastic bags.  Always use washcloths or tupperware.  Handwash all dishes except large meals.

We use reusable water bottles and recycle anything that our recycling center accepts.  We stopped all jusnk mail possible and don't use paper catalogs.  We try to do online bill paying and use any backs of paper and envelops for things like grocery lists, etc.

We use energy efficient bulbs and do not turn onlights during the day,  we also use only rechargeable batteries.  I line almost everything if weather permits, sometimes with a short fluff cycle in the dryer.  We unplug what we aren't using instead of just turning it off.  I make my own laundry detergent (except the wahm made diaper detergent I get online) and generally use vinegar, baking soda, water and essential oils for cleaning supplies and use wool dryer balls instead of dryer sheets.   I also have plenty of plants inside the house and lots of plants in the yard.  We use rain saver buckets to water everything.

I shop for most of the things we will need throughout the year at yard sales in the summer and also save things that we will no longer use to be sold at a yearly yard sale.  We buy very little new.  I also do a lot of seweing from upcycled materials.  I make fitted diapers that I trade for other things that we use. 

I have a small garden for produce and freeze veggies for year round use, my husband hunts deer and pheasant in the fall and we buy chickens and a half cow per year and butcher them for our meat.  We try not to eat out and I use the crock pot or electric skillet instead of the stove whenever I can.

The one thing that I want but have not come up with the money for is an indoor odor free composter....  That is my next goal