Earth Day

LooneyLife · April 2014

Any special Earth Day events you're partaking in?

Would you like to AW something environmentally friendly you do all year round?

Any Earth saving tips you want to share?

brij2006 · April 2014

Any special Earth Day events you're partaking in? Not necessarily an event, but we're getting the boards to make our raised garden in from the local cement pourers. They use them until they're caked in cement and are slightly bent. Then you can get 16ft sections for $1 each. So we're picking those up today to reuse instead of buying new.
Then we're getting a truckload of peat dirt from where my dad dug out some land last week, and will fill them.

Would you like to AW something environmentally friendly you do all year round?
My parents farm and I handle all of the paperwork/bookeeping part of it. Every year we sit down and discuss how we can change the farming practices to lessen our carbon footprint (big equipment = lots of fuel and exhaust fumes). So this year my brother is applying a couple of chemicals at the same time he chisels the fields. This way it cuts down on how many times the tractor goes over the land.
We also just contracted to build windmill #2 where the grain bin setup is at. That will power the grain dryer and legs instead of using propane. There is already windmill #1 at the home farm powering the second grain dryer and to heat/power the workshop.

Any Earth saving tips you want to share? I'm probably a bit oldschool, but don't underestimate the difference it makes to take a little more time to do things. Hang clothes/bedding out to dry over a fence, balcony, or patio set instead of putting it in the dryer. It also doesn't take much yard space to create a small garden in pots or window boxes.
Utilize rain water with a rain barrel to water plants/yard with or wash your car with (rain water is naturally sterile and does not leave water spots on cars).

I swear I'm far from a hippie.

nfp147 · April 2014

I am a terrible person who just got rid of her rain barrel and replaced it with a self-watering system.

But we recycle!

And I give DH shit for leaving on the lights EVERY TIME HE LEAVES A ROOM

brij2006 · April 2014

nfp147 said:

I am a terrible person who just got rid of her rain barrel and replaced it with a self-watering system.

But we recycle!

And I give DH shit for leaving on the lights EVERY TIME HE LEAVES A ROOM

We'll even you out. We have a rain barrel, but don't recycle.

seahorse01 · April 2014

We recycle a ton of beer and wine bottles.

I try to minimize the amount of watering we do.

That's all I can think of.

islandmonkey8 · April 2014

No rain barrel here. Yet. I want one, but right now we have other things we need.

We recycle always, even plastic bags from stores when I don't have my reusable bags either get recycled or used as garbage bags.

I avoid buying water bottles at all times. The only time we buy them is for parties because it is easier.

We also compost, well, try to. We're new to it and finally are getting it to look more like dirt than just leaves and food, etc.

Any new large appliances we buy (that can be) are Energy-star compliant. And we don't use incandescent light bulbs anywhere in our home.

I know we do other things, but I can't think of them now. We aren't the best at this, but we try.

We aren't doing anything special for Earth Day. But we did put in a new garden on Saturday which I love so much. I just have to get some more topsoil and mulch for it. But we're not getting that until we get rid of our half dead/poison ivy infested hedges and have a fence installed.

nfp147 · April 2014

seahorse01 said:

We recycle a ton of beer and wine bottles.

I try to minimize the amount of watering we do.

That's all I can think of.

I'm always worried the neighbours will judge us when we put the recycling on the curb because of this.

seahorse01 · April 2014

nfp147 said:

seahorse01 said:

We recycle a ton of beer and wine bottles.

I try to minimize the amount of watering we do.

That's all I can think of.

I'm always worried the neighbours will judge us when we put the recycling on the curb because of this.

Ours goes in a large barrel so nobody can see thank goodness. It's embarrassing.

FutureMrsWright2012 · April 2014

Not doing anything special specifically for Earth day, but I am totally one of those obnoxious environmentally friendly hippies

- Vegetarian
- Drive a Prius
- Recycle
- Currently in process of planting a fruit/veggie garden
- Reusable water bottle

I totally want to compost but haven't spent the time to figure out how or where to put it to make sure the pups don't get in.

FutureMrsWright2012 · April 2014

Oh, and I plan to use cloth diapers and make my own baby food one day...

BookishMama1012 · April 2014

We're renting at the moment, so I can't do so many of the environmentally friendly things that I want to. Soon. When we buy, I plan to plant trees in my mom's honor (She passed in 2007.), DD's, and DC#2 when s/he comes. I also want to compost and have a rain barrel and a garden. At the moment, I make as many of my own household cleaning products as possible using natural ingredients (vinegar, lemon juice, salt, etc.) and we recycle. We buy as much of our produce as we can from the local farmer's market and also use reusable water bottles and pack our lunches in reusable containers. When we have #2, we've talked about the pros and cons of CDing and I plan to BF.

DangerMuffin23 · April 2014

We recycle everything (az makes it easy), we compost, have our own garden, and a rain barrel (not that it collects much). Oh, and when I run the bath I close the drain first, I don't let the water heat up and run down the drain npbefore I plug it. Random.

LuckyAngel07 · April 2014

Late, but here's what I always do (didn't do anything special yesterday).

We keep our heat set a little cooler and AC set a little warmer to use less energy for heating/cooling.

I use a reusable water bottle all the time. And a Brita filter pitcher. We only have bottled water on hand in case of emergency.

Whenever I bring food to work, I have a reusable lunch tote and reusable plastic/glass containers for any items not prepackaged. I also keep a couple of metal forks/spoons at my desk to use instead of plastic utensils.

We recycle everything we can (glass, plastics 1 & 2, cans, paper, cardboard, etc); it all gets picked up curbside, so it's easy!

DH plants a veggie garden every spring and doesn't use any pesticides or anything on it.

I try to use greener cleaning products (whether I make them myself [water/vinegar solution, homemade fabric softener, homemade stain remover] or use commercial products).

[br]
I'll be CDing so as not to add to landfills or put chemicals against baby's skin. I'll also make my own baby food as much as possible.

BackseatDriver · April 2014

I'm going to a few Earth Day events this weekend. I'm looking forward to checking them out. We recycle, have reusable water bottles, a rain barrel, and try not to crank the heat/ac at home. I'm also a vegetarian, but I don't know how beneficial that really is. I feel like I should use cloth diapers, but I hate laundry so much so I'm not planning to.

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