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DH and Ed Begley Jr. have REALLY Ruined Me!
DH gave me Ed Begley Jr.'s book on Sustainable Living and I read it on my flight home today. Not *quite* the whole thing (i skipped the chapters on things we can't change right now because we technically live in a rental) and I came home with a HUGE list of things I want to do! DH is already having to deal with my crazy greenness but I think I just kicked this into complete overdrive! So... on my list:
-Change all light bulbs to compact florescent.
-Get utility audits.
-Make curtains to cover all south facing windows in the summer.
-Look into installing a urinal in our master bathroom (DH liked this idea and I think my MIL will go for it).
-Get a rain barrel for the backyard. (DH wasn't quite as into this one, we have a very, very, very small back yard and it's sort of "his" zone. But we compromised and I threw out the compost idea... since really we'd have nowhere to put it!)
-Start taking Navy showers. I already do this, now I'm going to make him. *evil laugh*
And this is on top of all of my other 2010 goals. Yes, I am taking this to the extreme. Yes, I have a lot of time on my hands and am usually very, very, very bored. No, I am not ashamed of it!!!
ETA: And this is from Mother Earth News, not the book, but we're going to start saving our coffee grounds and using them as fertilizer for our garden. I guess if you save them then get them wet and put the out just before a rain fall it really helps your plants. I am NOT a green thumb in any way so I didn't know this... which is totally dumb of me because I taught my Grandma how to turn her K Cups into planters two years ago! But my brain didn't connect that with helping out my (poor, poor, pathetic) garden.
Re: DH and Ed Begley Jr. have REALLY Ruined Me!
Good luck! My parents save their coffee grounds for the garden, too. The acidity is good for the plants. I'd revolt against the Navy showers, though. That's my relaxation time after a good workout!
My Clean Eating Blog
Green Living Reading List
Those are all great goals! DH and I are planning on getting a rain barrel this spring and are try to learn more about composting so we can start that too.
A suggestion for the navy showers, we bought this showerhead (http://www.waterpik.com/shower-head-products/fixed-mount/ecoflow/ECO-533/) and it has a cool "water pause" feature that I use when I shave. I hate turning the water off because I can't stand turning the water on again and having it be cold. With the water pause the water is dimished to a trickle and when I am done shaving my legs I just turn it back on and it's the exact same temperature. It works great!
Ooh I love that pause shower head! Next time I'm at Lowe's I'm going to look for that (we don't have those other stores).
I've been surprised at how expensive rain barrels are! Anyone have any cheapo alternative ideas?
Best sound ever: baby's heartbeat! (Heard @ 10w1d)
So... funny story about this goal! I got home and I was telling DH about this goal and he informed me that all of the lights that are built into the house (meaning, not lamps) are already CFLs!! Duh! I should have realized that our bathroom lights take about 5 seconds to turn on after you flip the switch.
And it turns out our entire building was built as a "green" building. Because I started running around checked the water usage of our toilet and the original showerhead (we did get an Evolve Showerhead) and it's all low-flow stuff. And we already have double paned windows and air catchers under the door. You think I would have noticed all of this already. I'm very unobservant.
I've seen some DIY tutorials online...here's one:
http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/03/how-to-make-a-rain-barrel/
Learning to start all over again... Blog