Can you help me be more green?

jillianmb

Hi ladies,

 This is my first post on this board.  I'm wondering if you could point me in the direction of some information about living more sustainably and ecologically friendly.  My dh and I already do the basics like recycling and using re-usable shopping bags, but we are looking to take it to the next level.  Is there a good website or a helpful list somewhere that can get us started? 

 Thanks!

barbnsteve

You've come to the right place!  These ladies are amazing, supportive, and have such great ideas.  I have learned a lot from them!  I don't have any specific how-to websites or books but will share what DH and I do.  I'm also going to link some of the things I've purchased from Etsy which have been awesome!

In terms of food, we try to eat local as much as possible.  I get most of my meat from local farmers and in the summer I am always at the farmers market or farm stands!  You should check out Food, Inc - it is a great movie about the food industry and it gives some great tips.  We just bought a house so I'm going to plant a veggie garden this year and do a lot of freezing and canning to get us through the winter.

For daily living, we have made a lot of little changes that really help!  I use 'un-paper' towels for cleaning (you can also cut up old t-shirts and cloths).  DH is slowly becoming convinced to use them instead of paper towels.  

I make my own laundry detergent - so easy and our clothes come out great.  Plus it's a lot cheaper and way better for the environment.  I also use wool dryer balls for drying, which can cut down on drying time and eliminate the need for fabric softeners. 

We bring reusable bags to the grocery store, and I also bring reusable produce bags.  From the same lady, I got some reusable lunch bags as well.  Also, water bottles such as Nalgenes, Siggs, and others are fabulous to have around!

For cleaning, I currently use Shaklee products as that is what my mom used when I was little and as soon as I was on my own I got some.  Love the stuff, but you can certainly make a lot of your own cleaners, which I plan on doing more once the stuff I have runs out.  I look at this blog a lot - she offers great tips and frequents this board!   You can never go wrong with baking soda and vinegar.

I know we do more, but this is all I can think of for now.  I'm hoping to start composting this summer as well and am quite surprised at the amount of stuff you can compost!  

Good luck and welcome aboard!!!

pixieprincss

I, like several people on the board, keep a blog of what we do at home. You are welcome to follow mine (link in sig). Pick through and see if any of the ideas are interesting to you. Try one, then add something else and so on. I think green cleaning is a great step, as is composting, or buying used.

jillianmb

Thanks!  I will check out that blog.

barbnsteve- I use cut up t-shirts for cleaning, but as for the "unpaper towels," how does the water and energy used to wash them compare to the energy used to produce disposable paper towels?  Do you have to use a certain length of time before it "evens out?"   For how long do the cotton ones hold up?

Kaiene

I lurk here and post occasionally.  H and I are also interested in being more green as it's also more cost effective.  We also have a kitty who may have asthma so we try to stay away from chemicals.

I second the baking soda and vinegar.  We use baking soda and vinegar all over the house.  It works great in the bathroom and keeps our drains running nicely! You can also use vinegar as a green ant killer, who knew?

Lisa78

Hi there, 

I have a blog too about simple living and green stuff, if you are interested! Link below in siggy.

Welcome and have fun with all the great information everyone on here has to share!

~Lisa 

toadstool

jillianmb:

Thanks!  I will check out that blog.

barbnsteve- I use cut up t-shirts for cleaning, but as for the "unpaper towels," how does the water and energy used to wash them compare to the energy used to produce disposable paper towels?  Do you have to use a certain length of time before it "evens out?"   For how long do the cotton ones hold up?

My DH and I have started using cut up t-shirts in place of paper towels. I just throw them in the was anytime I am already doing a load. They take up so little room in the washer, the extra water and energy use is minimal. Producing paper towels not only uses energy, but kills trees. I didn't think I could do w/o paper towels but since we switched it has been working very well.

annabelle.27

toadstool:

jillianmb:

Thanks!  I will check out that blog.

barbnsteve- I use cut up t-shirts for cleaning, but as for the "unpaper towels," how does the water and energy used to wash them compare to the energy used to produce disposable paper towels?  Do you have to use a certain length of time before it "evens out?"   For how long do the cotton ones hold up?

My DH and I have started using cut up t-shirts in place of paper towels. I just throw them in the was anytime I am already doing a load. They take up so little room in the washer, the extra water and energy use is minimal. Producing paper towels not only uses energy, but kills trees. I didn't think I could do w/o paper towels but since we switched it has been working very well.

Paper towels also cause a lot of emissions from transport. Think of how far your paper towels have to travel to get to you.

Also, paper products require a TON of water to produce. Certainly more than you would use washing cloth towels. You wouldn't think that paper factories would require tons of water to make paper products but they do.

long story short: buying paper towels cannot compare at all to using cloth, from a green perspective. If you MUST use paper towels, buy 100% recycled towels. They don't kill trees, don't create chlorine pollution, and don't require as much water to produce. It's still much better to use cloth, though. In all honesty I can't remember the last time I bought paper towels- it's been years. Think of all the money you're wasting too.

MessyM

I think it's great you and yours want to get greener! I love Planet Green's website or Treehugger.com. You don't have to be a hippie to enjoy being green. They have a bunch of links on all sorts of topics! Go to your local used bookstore and I bet they will have a bunch of books on green living or natural home remedies for cleaning. (and your reusing a book!)

 

 

treesapplaud

Google everything you can clean with baking soda and vinegar.

Buy less stuff, and buy much less new stuff. The answer isn't always just to consume different things, but to consume less. Find a good second hand clothes shop. Buy something you want used from ebay.

Buy quality things. The cheapest things don't usually last and in the end they aren't always cheaper if you think about needing to buy two or three instead of one quality one. 

Thinking about how and where something was made is also important. 

Cook with produce and less pre-made packaged foods. Foods with less ingredients are often healthier and more environmentally friendly.

Drive less. Combine errands so you need to make less trips. 

HollyQGolightly

My newest thing= keeping tupperware in your car instead of using plastic and styrofoam doggy bags when going out to eat! Styrofoam=Evil! I don't feel right about eating out of something you can make napalm from...

ps Just got one of these- way cute. www.snacktaxi.com  

Jen&Joe06

We also have a blog where we talk about what we are doing to be more green (link in siggy).

The things that have made the biggest impact are just being more aware about what we are consuming and using in our home. So the amount of waste we are generating and what products we are using. We compost, buy items with less packaging, look for an EF option in products, try to buy local produce, we are going to be a local cow (not alive), lots of little things I guess.