Greener Ways!

Ways to save money, be healthier, and be good to the earth…GREENER WAYS!

There are so many people that want to be healthier, be wiser with money and save the earth, I’ve created a list of some simple things that you can do to accomplish or to make “baby steps” towards accomplishing all these things…These are all easy things that we are doing in our home or will be doing, I hope this helps you!
I’ll explain in detail some of these items but I don’t want to take the time to explain all of them, so if you have any questions, just shoot me a message and I’ll explain the benefits to you. Sound good??

1. Line dry your clothes. This will cut down on your electricity bill, and spare the planet. Dryers produce about 1,450 pounds of CO2 per year. Plus the drying damages fabric which makes you spend more money on clothes. By line drying your clothes you also aren’t using the harmful “Bounce” sheets.

2. Use cloth napkins verses paper ones.

3. Stop buying paper plates, and use your dishes. By not having them around you won’t have the choice to use them and will resort to your dishes.

4. Wash your clothes in cold water instead of hot. Washing machines produce over 500 pounds of CO2 a year when run on hot water. But your clothes will be just as clean and may even last longer when laundered in cold water.

5. Use oil lamps to reduce light usage at night. We keep one in each bathroom, and one in the kitchen. Many times we turn on the lights out of habit instead of necessity, if you are trying to break the habit simply put a piece of Scotch Tape over the light switch, this will help you to remember when you go to reach for the light. The first month we did this we saved $30.00 on our electricity bill and the kids loved it. We bought 3 of these this year for 12.00 @ Wal-Mart plus the oil which was 3.00 for a gallon.

6. Use up your candles. Most women have a large number of candles that go unused every year. We get them as gifts from friends and family and put them on shelve and they collect dust. Use those candles as you would the oil lamps, it will save you money and the earth. Also, one less thing to dust and you’ll feel good about de-cluttering your house.

7. Only run the dishwasher when it’s full. This is NEVER an issue at our house with a family of 7 but for some of you with only 1 or 2 people it’s a good reminder. Also always remember to us the energy saver mode.

8. Make your own cleaning products. The harmful chemicals in household cleaning products is very hard on your body and your immune system. Every time you spray those chemicals they get absorbed into your body from either direct contact, or by breathing it in. If you make your own you are saving energy, your health, gas to the store to buy the products, and our landfill for all those empty bottles. We won’t even get into all the politics of factory production, you get the point. Here is a really simple cleaning solution…save one of your empty bottles from a cleaning product that you purchased and fill it with this solution:

ALL PURPOSE CLEANER
½ cup Borax
1 gal. hot water
Mix in pail or use smaller amounts in a spray bottle (one that you recycled) Dissolve the borax completely, and wipe surfaces clean. For smaller bottle: 1/8 cup borax to 1 qt. hot water

GLASS CLEANER
¼ cup white vinegar or 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2+ cups water

Fill a clean spray bottle with water and either white vinegar or lemon juice; wipe surfaces with an old newspaper. Note: If you want your cleaners to have a nice scent, add some lemon juice or a few drops of an essential oil. Lemon juice cuts grease, tea tree oil is an effective mold killer and lavender oil is a natural disinfectant.

If the thought of making your own is to overwhelming, start with buying products that won’t hurt your body and the earth. We personally love Seventh Generation products.

9. Grow your own produce. You won’t have to worry about pesticides, herbicides or harvesting produce to early. You know exactly where your food came from. No worries about Spinach recalls or E. Coli in your tomatoes. You also are relying on anyone or anything for food. You can freeze extras and have them for later in the year. This is a huge step in achieving sustainable living. It’s healthier, cheaper, and saving the earth. If you are to overwhelmed with starting a garden or if you live in an apartment in the city you can still have a garden. Start small, a single tomato plant in a pot, you’ll see how easy it can be…

10. Unplug electrical items in your house that you aren’t using. Examples: Toaster, TV, DVD, computer, cable box, coffee pot, paper shredder, radios, etc. Even while idling in “standby” mode, your home entertainment center and computer consume energy. We learned this while my husband was taking a class at Cal Poly, they sent everyone home with a little hand held device that would measure the amount of energy being used by each device in the house. It was amazing how much your toaster is sucking energy just by being plugged in…so UNPLUG your stuff!! You’ll save energy and money!! If you are into just throwing your money away send it to me instead! J

11. Seal and weather-strip your home.

12. Insulate…Insulating your home is a bit more demanding and best if a professional does it. There are a number of insulating options better than the most common choice, fiberglass, which presents a breathing hazard from airborne glass particles and formaldehyde released during installation. They are making a ton of eco-friendly alternatives.

13. Consider your commute. Take the bus or ride your bike.

14. De-clutter!! I’ll explain. De-clutter the top of your dryer (if you are still using one) and the top of your frig. Those piled-up plastic containers and cereal boxes can prevent your fridge from venting heat effectively. This applies the same to the top of the dryer…clear off all those clothes and whatever else you have sitting there. If these appliances aren’t venting effectively then they are working harder and using more energy and costing you more money.

15. Compost your food scraps.

16. Manage your thermostat. Turn the thermostat down when you leave the house for longer than an hour. Lower it to 62 degrees at bedtime when you’ll be under the covers. Do the opposite in summer. I personally have a hard time with setting my thermostat in summer, I hate being hot! Baby steps, I do what I can. My house is usually 74 in the summer and I improved from 72 last summer! J

17. Collect rain water. If you have a gutter, stick a trash can under it and collect the rain water, you can use this extra water for the garden, the lawn, washing the car, feeding animals, etc. You are using natural resources and saving money.

18. Collect “run off” water from the shower. Just keep a small bucket in the shower with you. You can also get a shower head that has an on/off valve and save water that way.

19. Eat what you buy. The average American household throws away some 14% of it’s food purchases, either because the food spoils or because we cook to much. Do inventory before going to the store, see what you already have and pull items from the back to the front so you are more likely to use them. By eliminating food waste you’ll save landfill space, energy, water, money and other resources.

20. Eating In

21. Plan out your trips or errands. By doing everything at once and making one trip out you’ll save on gas, money, time etc. Avoid making multiple trips by making a list of the places you need to go during the week and pick one day to do the whole list. If you want to get real crazy, park your car in a central location and then walk to the bank, store, post office etc.

22. Make a purpose for the extra containers that food comes in…here are some examples. Instead of throwing away the marinara sauce jar, use it, peal off the label, wash it in the dishwasher and use it as a pen or pencil holder. You can decorate it if it doesn’t match your décor! (Which I know you all were so worried about!!!)
We saved our baby formula containers and use them to store food in our camping trailer, like marshmallows, and other thing to keep them fresh and to keep critters from finding them. We’ve used containers for the kids Lego’s, bug jars for the kids to capture what they find. We use containers for leftovers. They are great to send home with company that comes for dinner, we load up the containers with leftovers and I don’t worry about getting the containers back! We use containers for grease jars…like cooking bacon or something. When the jars get full them we just toss them and the grease doesn’t go down the drain. We use containers to hold baking soda to keep it fresher than the box it comes in. Art projects are a great way to use containers. As a home schooling family we do lots of art projects. The yoghurt containers make great paint holders. Tissue boxes make great grocery box holders, just stuff the bags into the hold at the top and pull them out as you need them. You get the idea, email me if you want more ideas, I have a TON!

23. Garage Sale for items that you would buy at the store. (same for Goodwill, Salvation Army, Nickel Ads, Craig’s List, & Free Ads) This saves a ton of money and if you are patient you’ll most likely find everything you need. Clothes, yard supplies, kitchen supplies, furniture, etc. This is a great way to recycle and avoid good items ending up in the landfills. It also saves a TON of money.

24. Use hand towels instead of paper towels.

25. Use kitchen supplies more than once. Like foil for example, you can reuse that a few times before tossing it in the trash or the recycle bin. Same applies for sandwich baggies.

26. BYOB (I know what your thinking, and it’s not that…Bring Your Own BAG.) Everyone is selling those nice grocery bags but know that you don’t have to buy those. Any bag will work. The kids backpack, the library book bag, the free one your work gave you last year with the big company logo on it that you’ll never use anywhere. (It’s so not cute.)

27. Shop locally. The Farmers Market (especially the one in Middleton on Thursdays, do you sense the plug here, hint, hint) & the little mom/pop shop. I’m not going to get into all the health benefits of eating locally grown food, Google it if you want, but there are TONS of health benefits to eating locally. Plus supporting local shops and standing up to Big Business. (another one for another time)

28. Buy reusable products. For example, the Swiffer products, not an example of reusable here. They really got the marketing going on, you buy the mop, use the disposable head, toss it and then in order to keep using the mop you have to buy refills. They’ve got you!!! DON’T FALL INTO THE TRAP!
Real Simple makes a mop that you can take the head off and toss it in the washer. The same idea applies for the dusters, mops, counter sanitizer wipes etc. Buy stuff you can use over and over again.

29. Install the energy saver light bulbs. I just did this about 2 months ago and it’s saving us money on our electric bill. Tip* Pay attention to the type of lighting noted on the box at the store. I wasn’t paying much attention, maybe one of the 5 kids had me distracted, but I now have what looks like a strobe light in my bedroom. And lucky me, it’s going to last like 7 years or something crazy like that!!! J Every time I turn on my bedroom light I look up expecting to see a black light picture on the wall. I guess I should have saved the receipt!

30. Use junk mail as your note paper by the phone. It works great to use the back of all those envelopes as scratch paper.

31. Raise your own poultry. For eggs or for meat.

32. Take your fridge’s temperature. Stick an appliance thermometer in a glass of water in the center of your fridge. Or between frozen goods in the freezer, overnight. Your fridge temp should be between 37 and 40 degrees F (no more, to keep bacteria at bay); your freezer should be between zero and 5 degrees. If either compartment is too cold, adjust the settings, since keeping them just 10 degrees colder than necessary can boost your energy consumption by up to 25%.

33. Plant some native trees in your yard. By spending some money on trees, you not only shade your house so you can use less AC, but you also help to absorb CO2 in the air. Check with your local nursery so some “reject” plants. They might be a little crocked or dry but you can bring them back and can probably get a great price.

34. Use Rechargeable batteries.

35. Rotate your car tires on a regular basis. Keeping your tires inflated to the right PSI and rotated regularly saves money on fuel. If you buy your tires from a major tire chain ask them about free tire rotation for the life of the tires. Most places will do this for free now. (Costco, Big O are 2 examples.)

36. Stop buying water bottles! A couple different reasons; 1) Plastic leaches estrogens into the water making it unsafe for you to drink, 2) It cost money each time you buy one 3) They cause unnecessary environmental waste.
I’ve found a GREAT alternative, Kleen Kanteen or SIGG water bottles. They are reusable, eco-friendly, bpa-free, sustainable, clean tasting and 100% recyclable. They can be used for hot or cold.
You buy them once, they are made of stainless steel that doesn’t leach any harmful waste into your water and it’s cool!!! I have even found a replacement for those plastic sippy cups…Kleen Kanteen makes a sippy cup and Foogo makes a sippy cup. They also make sizes and styles for older kids.

37. Re-usable Coffee Filters - Just imagine never having to buy or run out of these little babies again!

38. Safety Razors - Giving up disposable razors for the old fashioned safety razor is a great way to save money and the environment. The multi-packs of flat razor blades are not only inexpensive, they come without all of the extra plastic housing that ultimately ends up in land fills. We've been doing this in our house for a few years now, and have noticed a tremendous savings. An added bonus? We don't have to carve out extra storage in the cabinets when we stock up. Flat packs of blades store very efficiently in a minimal amount of space.

39. Don’t throw your usable stuff in the trash! Simply post a free ad on FREECYCLE. Yahoo groups have a Freecycle thread online that allows you to post the things you want to get rid of for free. It’s all local people. It’s been my experience that you will have someone that same day at your house to pick up the very items you were going to throw away. You are saving the landfills and you are blessing someone else with your “trash”.