With everyone being much more aware about "going green" to save our beautiful planet, I'm wondering what your "one thing" is - what do you do to help save energy, recycle, etc? I began using my own cloth bags whenever I shop long ago, and taking my own commuter mug to the latte' stand instead of using one of their paper cups. Recently, I have started unplugging the coffee maker, microwave and cell phone charger when not in use. I know quilters are infamous for the ultimate in recycling fabric, etc - but, what else are you doing?
Pattie, I live in the triangle area wher SC meets up with NC & Ga. We have extreme draught conditions. My area is under voluntary water restrictions. I cut off the bottom of a clorox bottle and put it in my kitchen sink to catch the water when we wash hands, and we also throw leftover tea & ice in here. When it is full I pour this into empty plastic fruit juice containers, then use this water to water my plants. I also use this water to pour over plates to rinse them before they go into the dish washer. My electric bill is one of the lowest in the neighborhood. I cut off lights when leaving a room, and cut off the TV when not in use. Barbara the tightwad in SC
I've done a lot of these for years, not only for the environment but also because I'm cheap. :)
My most recent addition is bokashi kitchen composting. If I'd known how great that works, I'd have done it years ago. Less garbage to take out, no smell, and it supercharges my compost pile. Win, win, win!
My biggest thing is not to buy chinese imports. (and any other import I can avoid) I am thinking decorative items and other kinds of things that really are short lived and end up in the trash in really short order. (cheapie holiday deco comes to mind as they start filling the stores now) The environmental rules for chemicals and such they have so lax that being buying from them seems like it really is a detriment to being green here. Having stuff shipped so far is ridiculous. Of course since almost everything is imported it is tough but we really just try not to buy a lot of 'stuff'.
The other big thing that might seem sort of counter productive to buying new stuff is to replace big appliances when new technology will save a lot of energy. I just got a new style pool pump that saves a third of the electric. If I could reasonably get rid of that darned guzzler pool I would. That was a huge going green mistake.
If everyone got rid of the extra ancient fridge in the garage the energy savings would make the light bulb change-over pale in comparison.
I don't buy kitchen trash bags either. I just reuse plastics that come into the house already. Yep they are small but walking the trash out once in awhile is hardly going to hurt most folks.
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Sorry Patti, that is more than one.
Patti > With everyone being much more aware about "going green" to save our
We have recycled paper and bottles for over 30 years. We now have council bins that accept paper, bottles, plastic and cans for recycling, so we do that. We pay £30 a year for a Brown Bin, into which goes all the garden waste for composting: it gets used on council gardens and the like. Our town has very pretty roundabouts and borders and things. :) Our council has made recycling as easy as it can for us.
I reuse fabric madly: even the stuff made into toiles for customers gets turned into bag linings and Christmas stocking linings with the kids, and all sorts of other stuff. Clothes get donated to charities.
We recycle card, paper, tins, glass, tetrapack cartons (juice) and some plastics. We keep a big bag next to the bin and what doesn't get recycled goes in the bin or the compost. We give the children's clothes to friends or charity. Old clothes are used for gardening in! When that is no longer possible, chopped and used as cleaning rags, after a good wash. We only moved here 2 years ago and made sure that all the new electric goods were as efficient as poss, some were actually cheaper than the equivalent worst rated! So Oven - B, Fridge - A, Freezer - A+ Every light bulb apart from 2, are low energy. In the bathroom for example, we had 3 x 60 watt bulbs and they have been replaced by 3 x 8 watts! Most washing done on a 30 degree washcycle. Bedlinen goes in on 40 degrees to kill anything........yuck! Have bought some Soapnuts to try out this week, if they work, then no detergents. Cleaning products as natural as possible, ie vinegar, tea tree etc. The local electric company came and monitored our usage (we rent) because they thought that we had a problem with our meter - the previous tenants were paying 220 euros/month, we now pay 100 euros/month!!! We turn off everything where possible. If the oven is on - it is full! I even have a recipe for a "recession cake" which is put in the oven whilst it is warming up. I only buy what I need, so I only do a big shop once a month, when DH is paid. Less time at the shops, less temptation! I use our local market for fruit and veg, about half the price of the supermarket. I have a shopping trolley that I take with me to the market, saves carrying and bags. We are currently creating a veg patch, so that'll help even more - test out the compost we have! We have a wood burner for heating and use the electric heating minimally. We use the water at a lower rate when showering, to cut down on usage. We have curtains and draught excluders to all windows and the foam insulation as well. Wish we had double glazing.
Here in France, you don't get given carrier bags anymore, only in some of the small shops - it is normal to reuse your bags and the recyclable bags seem to last forever and are very cheap.
And of course - QUILTS ON THE BEDS!!!!!!!
Things that I dream of doing, when we own our own place:
wood burner with back boiler for central heating and hot water solar panels for electricity and hot water water recycling tank in the garden - washing machine and shower water double glazing maybe even a wind turbine, domestic size, depends on our location
I'll add, that I no longer use bottled water. I purchased an aluminum bottle and take my own well water wherever I go. I even keep a five gallon jug of water, in case the power goes out. No power, no water from our well. Quit drinking soda some time ago - so water is my favorite drink after my morning coffee. Bonnie NJ
We have done a few things around here... Most of the lights are now CFLs instead of incandescent bulbs. Had to replace the frig, so the new one is more energy efficient (old one was more than 20 years old.) For years I have used cold water in the washing machine. The hot isn't even turned on. (Pine Sol and similar pine oil products do a good job of disinfecting/deodorizing. Something I learned years ago in a textiles class.) Installed ceiling fans in most used areas of the house. This means we can set the AC at a higher temp, using less power. And our electric usage is showing it.
Pati, > With everyone being much more aware about "going green" to save our
My town has a motto - "Re-duce, Re-use, Re-cycle" Our town's landfill was beginning to run out of space, so we adoped a pay-per-bag trash program (for garbage) and a "re-cycle everything possible" FREE curbside pickup on our designated trash day... (bottles, cardboard, junk mail (!), newspaper, plastics - you name it!) Plus we take reusable bags with us to the stores, instead of getting the plastic ones the stores use.
We also have a small garden to grow our own vegetables (I still do the old fashioned canning.) as well as blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries (which we use either make jelly or freeze.) We also have a large compost area where all the kitchen "waste" goes (fruit/veggie peels, egg shells, coffee grounds, --virtually anything that isn't meat-products -- )to which we add grass clippings & garden residue.... makes for richer soil when mixed into the beds the following year. I grew up in a time where the mantra was: "Use it up, wear it out, make it do - or do with-out!)
It still drives me nuts to buy a "huge" box of something in the store, only to find when I open it, that it's only half full! These companies are spending lots of money (and trees) to make their packages look like super-sized-values! ..not to mention the soap companies who are now bragging about their NEW, concentrated, products so that you use "less" (well, duh! they took out all the water they previously added (years ago to make their bottles look "bigger" so the consumers would think they were getting more product for their money!)
That's a great question. We live on a farm and I have to admit to recycling a lot "stuff". When bought the farm in 2001, we found several tons of scrap metal just laying around. That all went to the scrap yard. All our pop bottles are recycled due to the 10 cent fee we pay in Michigan for every carbinated container purchased. All our lights inside and out are florescent. We compost all the bedding from our llamas and sheep. Our chickens are free range and we collect the eggs. We also use the wool from our sheep and llamas to make garments and such.
There's a ton of things here that I've never thought of - which I knew there would be! I love the ideas about catching shower water, etc, and using it to water plants. There's some great stuff here.... maybe we should do a "Quilters Going Green" book! I hope to read some more stuff - I'm writing some of these down!
I never really thought of it as going green but I've been doing my gift wrapping in bags for years; new ones, used ones, cloth ones, appropriate and not. A crisp new sheet of tissue and the front of a 'pre-loved' card and the gift is good to go. We save just a mountain of gift wrap mess and no gift has ever been refused or even disdained. Last Christmas, we wrapped the gifts for the grandchildren with dollar bills. Now that was a really 'green' hit. Polly
I don't have anything "original" to add, and I, too, picked up lots of good suggestions.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area & about 6 years ago, we lived thru an energy crisis. I started hanging the laundry outside to dry then & I still do it whenever possible. We haven't had much rain for the past couple of years, so I can almost always hang the laundry to dry. Which brings me to our mandatory water rationing. We are required to cut back our water usage by 19% - DH & I have cut our water usage by 29%, so we're patting ourselves on the back. One of the things I have just started doing - so I guess this is new to the list - at night, when I get ready for bed, I used to let the water run while I was brushing my teeth, so I would have hot water to wash my face with. I bought Ponds Wet Cleansing Towelettes to take my make-up off with & then I run my washcloth under the cold water & rinse my face. I know, now I'm using more paper products, but I had to make a choice.
I unplug appliances whenever I can. We have a front loading, low water use washing machine. I use reusable bags most of the time - sometimes when I get to the check-out, I remember they are in the car.
Someone posted the link to
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last month. I'm on the holiday party planning committee & one of the table favors we are going to use will be kits to make the bags (fabric & directions). It would be nice to make them, but we expect over 100 people at the party & nobody on the committee wants to make those, along with other things we are making.
I use paper plates, bowls and cups for large gatherings and eschew plastic and styrofoam. I'm also willing to wash silverware rather than use plastics.
I burn paper trash - but of course that pollutes the air.
I'd ride my bike more, but dh has fits everytime I mention wanting a buggy to pull behind for JJ the Boxer. (of course, after the hike in gas after this hurricane, I may have no choice!)
Good question and interesting answers! Several of my 'green' actions are things I've done for *years* but I am willing and eager to improve.
I do not use disposable table ware at all, even for large groups. I never have, mostly because I don't like that stuff. I have lots of dishes, and enough table utensils for a good size buffet party. I mostly use cloth napkins, but use the paper ones if we are having messy foods. I try to avoid serving size containers, especially for juice, treats and such. I did buy a couple cartons water for Hurricane Preparedness. When the 'season' is over, we will gradually consume the water with brown bag lunches. Otherwise, I fill my own containers.
Water shortage is not a major issue here, but it is a concern. I've never been one to rinse the dishes before loading the dishwasher. Some foods require a quick rinse, other wise we scrape the plates and usually just load as is. (Gasp!) Not more than two or three pieces per month will need to be 're-washed' so the water saved is significant. An entirely different water usage is flushing the toilet. (This is not dinner table conversation, but is a consideration in water conservation.) It is necessary to flush often for general hygiene, and a must for certain circumstances, but I don't think it is necessary for every use in your own home. Using common sense, discretion, and courtesy at home, one could still could save some of that water.
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