Houston Nesties
Glacier Hiking in Alaska, Summer 2011
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
How have you "greened" your life?
I'm looking for good ideas of ways to green our lifestyle. Not changing everything at once, but trying to make changes over the next few months. How have you "greened" your life?
We recently started recycling (even though we don't have curbside pickup).
We already live within 10 miles of work and drive efficient vehicles. DH will bike to work soon, but it's impractical for me.
I'm thinking about replacing cleaners/detergents etc. with environmentally-friendly alternatives over time (as in, replace once what we have runs out) so if you have a favorite baking soda or vinegar or whatever cleaner, let me know! (RiverPestie, I bet you can help me with this!!!)
Glacier Hiking in Alaska, Summer 2011
Re: How have you "greened" your life?
We do a lot that is pretty "green" but I am embarrassed to admit that most of it wasn't with that conscious intent. I do use re-usable shopping bags bc I felt wasteful throwing out so many bags.
We began recycling when we moved into our house bc the township provides bins and pick-up.
We use "green" cleaning products bc of our animals. Just because we are cheap we don't use any disposable dishes/flatware...hardly paper towels even.
The face of Kitty-Hate
I've done some small things here and there that have resulted in fewer chemicals/better effectiveness/a bit less waste in our house:
- I replaced fabric softener with white vinegar (softens/deodorizes and leaves towels more absorbent)
- I use Mrs Meyers brand cleaning products (the all purpose cleaner diluted to different strengths does pretty much everything - including glass and the bathtub)
- I've decreased our usage of paper towels dramatically - cloth napkins, using cleaning rags for wiping up spills, etc.
- I replaced my shampoo/conditioner with the baking soda washing method
- For a while I was doing the OCM (oil cleansing method) instead of my normal face cleanser - it worked great it was just more time/effort than I felt like sticking with
- I use essential oils instead of commercial air fresheners
- And - people comment on how "green" this is but it's just sortof come to be that we almost never use our microwave
recycling is our biggest thing. we're limited on what plastics can go in (1 & 2 only). we also put all aluminum, glass, paper and packaging materials in the bin (i.e. cardboard food boxes).
we bought an he washer and dryer set in the spring and that makes a huge difference in the amount of water we're using and how long it takes to dry clothes. most of my clothes are hung on a drying rack as well (have been for years as its bad for dance/athletic wear anyway)
we bought evolve shower heads when we redid our bathroom this summer. when the water gets warm they cut down to a trickle until you pull a cord to resume the spray. bought them on amazon and they are totally worth it.
we have changed out most of our lightbulbs, but that's about it.
hth!
Can I squeeze more info out of you when you get a chance?? This is exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for! Thanks!
i've always used an indoor drying rack because of this and the "outdoors" smell. the new dryer has better settings than our old one, including an air dry setting that actually works and an "extra low" setting to give it a little boost if i need it. we have a rod in the laundry room, so i hang anything that will get hung and it will go straight to the closet when dry. the rest goes in the dryer on the air cycle and then gets folded.
Sure!
Vinegar as fabric softener - I just fill up the fabric softener reservoir thing in the washer with vinegar - it's about a 1/2 cup.
Mrs. Meyers cleaning products - ( http://www.mrsmeyers.com )
---I do buy them at my grocery store - I shop at one of the HEB "Neighborhood Markets", the ones that are similar to a Central Market. They have a decent natural living section but the Mrs Meyers products are actually in the regular cleaning product aisle and have gotten more popular and picked up by several stores it seems.
I like Mrs Meyers for the scents (basil / lemon verbena - yum!) .. But I've also used Dr Bronner's castile soap products ( http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/LS.htm ) which can also be diluted for all sorts of uses, even brushing your teeth (although I haven't tried that, personally) and are also fair trade.
Hair Washing - the best resource I've found on the baking soda/vinegar washing method is on the Crunchy Betty blog, which has a lot of other great natural beauty/household stuff as well, http://www.crunchybetty.com/no-poo-to-you-too
--I've found the ratio she lists in that post to work best for me - 1Tbs baking soda to 1 Cup water...
--I have shoulder length, thick hair and mix 2Tbs soda to 2 Cups water in a plastic squirt bottle each time i shower, shake it up, squirt/pour it on -focusing on the scalp/roots, rinse and done! I rarely do the cider vinegar rinse because my hair seems to do fine without it. I've been using that method for about 6 months now and love my hair! (Not to mention one of those big boxes of baking soda is like $1.99 and lasts forever!) I've colored my hair, still use hair products and styling tools as usual - no issues.
Oh - another product replacement....Coconut oil is useful in pretty much every area of the house...I use it as an all-over moisturizer (not on your face though, as it can clog pores), shaving cream substitute (works amazing), hair mask/de-frizzing serum (a little goes a long way), and also take it as a supplement, spread it on english muffins (yum), use it as a cooking oil.
If you aren't already using it, google and there are lists of all sorts of uses/benefits - you just want to make sure it's virgin,organic,cold pressed...best brand I've encountered so far is Nutiva.
This is all so awsome - I had no idea how far behind the curve I am. Ya'll are inspiring!
I started out on Local Harvest, and there is a farmers' market in my area too. I was surprised at how many vendors at my FM were not listed on Local Harvest. I buy my eggs from a lady in Spring w/ chickens in her backyard!
I make my own laundry detergent (i'd be happy to share the recipe if you would like it)
I also make my own cleaning products (mostly vinegar, water and some dish soap).
I support my local agriculture - we shop at the farmers market every thursday and then get what we need to fill in gaps on the weekend.
I bought these instead of dryer sheets; and I also made some reusable swiffer pads out of felt.
We also recycle almost everything. Our neighborhood recycling was expensive and was very restrictive. Now we go every Saturday to the Kingwood recycling drop off at the Metro station and they take much much more plastic and glass products.
I think the biggest things anyone can do to green up is to weatherize your home. Really reducing the energy to cool and heat your home will pay off both for the environment and your wallet.... adding insulation, blocking gaps behind wall sockets and around pipes under your sinks, weatherstripping doorways, caulking around windows and stuff like that will help. We keep the thermostat at 78 when we're home and 80 or higher when we're out. The heat is at 65 pretty much all the time.
We try to not buy things in individual packages - lunch size chips, juice boxes, crackers, etc. We buy a bigger pack and repackage into cups. We have rubbermaid reusable juice boxes for the kids.
We don't do much. I try to recycle as much as we can, curbside, but surprisingly, they take a lot curbside (plastics 1-7, cardboard, junk mail/paper, etc. etc.). I find DH throwing stuff away and I try to salvage it to recycling as much as possible.
This makes 5 gallons - plenty for almost 4 months i'd say and it cost me < $10 to make each batch.
1 bar Felsnaptha soap (spelling may be off) or Ivory soap (whatever your favorite bar soap is)
1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (found on laundry aisle)
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup fabric softer (optional - i leave this out)
-Grate the bar of soap and place it into a pot and cover with water.
-Heat the water to simmer and stir until melted (do not boil - simmer only)
-Add this to a 5 gallon bucket (i bought mine super cheap at Home Depot). Add the other listed ingredients above and top up with 5 gallons of hot water.
-Stir the mixture well w/ a paint stirrer or paddle
-Cover and let sit 24 hours. After 24 hours the stuff should be gelled. (it will look like warm jello, not quite solid but thick). Stir well again to mix and then pour into containers.
We recycle everything we can. I actually need another huge recycle can but they only allow for 1 so it is overflowing when they come get it.
I try to buy cleaners that are environmentally friendly.
But definitely not with our cars.
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They see us rollin'...they be hatin'.
I use Dr. Bronner's soap. I don't use Fels naptha.... If you decide to go with Felsnapth, our Kroger has it in the detergent section. Dr. Bronner's soap makes the clothes come out smelling great and very soft.
They see us rollin'...they be hatin'.
I shower with Dr. Bronner's...except I bought the tea tree oil one b/c I was having some breakout issues, and it smells like the tack room in my parents' barn. I can't decide if I love it, or if it's kinda gross. LOL
Shoulda bought the peppermint or lavender I guess!
DH and I carpool, even though he works in the Galleria and I work downtown, it is only 5 minutes out of the way. Before that we lived ITL and I took the city bus for four years.
I have a small garden so I know where some of my food is coming from. Currently I have tomatoes, green peppers, and zuchinni, just planted my kale, swiss chard, broccoli and lettuce. I want to get a strawberry and blueberry bush too since we love fruit in our house.
I use green products now, love Seventh Generation and Mrs. Meyers products. I also use vinegar too on a few things.
I LOVE farmer's markets. There is nothing like fresh food.
I also try to go to local stores versus the big box stores. For example, I would rather drive into the city to go to Buchanans for plants than buy them from Lowe's.
My parents are the ultimate green people, in my eyes. They have a farm and could live off the land 100% if they chose too. They pretty much do right now. My mom has a garden and what she doesn't use they sell. She cans tomatoes, freezes a lot of veggies for the winter. They either buy their meat from a neighbor or 4H at the county fair, or take their own to the butcher. They use the horse manure and compost pile for the garden, they have no garbage disposal. They have chickens for laying eggs....there is nothing like fresh eggs. They have a wood burning fireplace which heats their home in the winter. Right now they just finished chopping all the wood. They have their own hay field which they sell some and keep the rest for their animals. There is more, I'm amazed at what they do, it's very hard work though.
i'm a huge grape recycler. i try and drink as much wine as possible.
; )
we recycle most everything we can, don't have a bigger house than we need (although sometimes my mind wanders to a place where i would actually have a room all to myself), compost most of the plant-based stuff we use.
i generally prefer to buy antiques/older furniture and repurpose it (but there are some things you can't do that with). our home doesn't have much in the way of storage closets, so i have purchased a couple of antique armoires for storage.
we pretty much just kind of try and keep "reduce reuse recycle" in mind when making purchases. we use some plastic individual sized water bottles, but we have a water cooler in our kitchen for drinking water, and the kids can fill their own waterbottles when they have practices and such.
i work hard to remind the kids to recycle and generate less waste. if they throw a shampoo bottle away in the bathroom, i will go get them, and ask them if they thought about recycling it (and have them move it to the recycle bin). yes, i am THAT mom.
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