I want to cut down on my use of plastic, particularly in regard to bottled water and plastic bag use. I am hooked on carbonated water - I want to research the pros/cons of making my own so that I can kick my "bottle habit."
A rain barrel is also in my future.
What's going on with you? Do you have an goals that you're working toward with regard to protecting the environment? Any special tips to share?
Happy Earth Day
Wow, is there really No interest?
Yikes.
Okay. We do all our heating with wood and pellet stoves. Have for years.
I have switched every lightbulb in the house, including the ones in the dining table chandelier, to compact flourescent bulbs.
I have gradually replaced all the big appliances - stove, refrigerator, washer and dryer, to the most energy efficient ones I could find in my price range. Done the same with the air conditioners except for one, which will be replaced this year.
I've also installed ceiling fans in the living room and bedroom and use the air conditioners as little as possible, never set below about 75 or so.
I double up with a friend to do my grocery shopping and we both do all our shopping and other errands in one weekly trip. You'd be surprised how much gas you save by sharing with a friend and cutting out all the run to the store trips. We also have lunch out in between errands and it's now our big weekly fun day.
I compost anything I can, including my friend's grass clippings and shredded paper from her shredder. There's virtually no garbage in my trash. All the coffee grounds, vegetable and fruit peelings and cores, eggshells, you name it, go in the bin as we as anything from the garden that doesn't have weed seeds.
I do buy gallons of bottled water because our well water tastes awful, but the bottles are all recycled.
I have a rain barrel, have had it for years.
I think that's about it.
Already composting as much as I can, leaves and kitchen. Artificial fertilizer as little as I can.
I have casual rain buckets, but have to watch those for skeeter larva. Considered a rain barrel but haven't settled on it.
Have tried reusable grocery bags but that almost unknown where I shop so it's sort of a pain. One of our stores(Giant) has just started selling new ones, more squat shaped which may be better than their old ones. Maybe will try taking a tote bag to the mall instead of getting store bags, I have a good sized freebie one from Wladen books, I could fold up and carry in purse till needed. I feel like they think I'll be shoplifting.
Sometimes I think about parking closer to where I drive in and out rather than closest to the building.
Last drought got us in the habit of catching the first cold water to come out when you start the shower. maybe two -few gal a week, used elsewhere.
I think most everybody was out all weekend enjoying the fabulous weather!!!
Here's some of my earth~~
Great topic!
We do a lot in some areas, not enough in most. My husband and I share a car -- I use zipcars when we need a second. We use the fluorescent bulbs everywhere; use a whole house fan instead of AC a lot of the time. We compost. We freecycle.
BUT we use lots and lots -- cases -- of small plastic bottles of water. I'm trying to figure out how to break that habit. I feel pretty guilty about it. At least they recycle.
Happy, have you considered buying the larger bottles and just saving a few of the small bottles to refill? They even have 2.5 gallon bottles with a spout that you can keep in the refrigerator.
And of course the gallon bottles can be reused too as cloches in the garden or for wintersowing.
Every single one of my seeds are growing in clamshells for bakery and produce items I saved. I've found the very best ones are the large and deep ones that things like cherry tomatoes and grapes come in at Costco.
For years we just saved our gallon water bottles and I refilled them for free at a nearby mountain spring. The water was probably better than what I'm buying. But last summer the spring went down to a slow trickle and it was too much on my bad back to lean there filling bottles. Looks like the spring is pretty much back to a nice gush and I will probably start getting water there again.
BTW, if you have cats, the really big plastic containers that kitty litter comes in - the ones with a lid that flips up - are perfect compost pails for the kitchen.
Hart: I know there are a million things we could do that would be better than what we are doing now -- we're just a little spoiled and lazy when it comes to plastic bottles. Clearly, we need to reform.
I have a friend who refills her small water bottles, leaves space at the top and freezes them. She then refills those through the day as the ice slowly thaws to have ice cold water all day.
I'm sure there's plenty we could all do. I won't use reusable grocery bags because I do all my shopping in one big trip and I'd have to have 50 bags. But I do save the plastic bags and reuse them any time I need a bag. I really should save the ones that won't fit in the bag holder and put them in the store's bag recyling bin.
Remember the old Saturday Night Live skit with the woman who was compulsively folding and saving paper grocery bags? Guess that's me. LOL
consciousness tweaked- I put a few more compact fluorescents in last night.
I buy soda in cans b/c its helps reminf the kids to stop at 12 ounces.
speaking of waste , I now have four stupid three way bulbs that don't do all three anymore, how annoying to try and use up.
I have a couple of larger plastic bottles, partly filled, filling extra space in the extra refrig, so that when we go to a park, I just fill it the rest of the way and stays cold. Carry along those souvenir cups kids always get, in a saved produce bag. I guess the kids think its dumb, like I did, when Mom put my lunch in some leftover bag.
However, I have read that the extra frig isn't really that great a money saver. I only have it b/c we needed a bigger one, with dispenser, in the kitchen.
VERY good topic!
I just read all the posts and my brain was racing to see just what I do to recycle. The problem is---I recycle EVERYTHING! In my mind, everything has at least one extra life--maybe two? It is like my mind goes "Flash" when i am about to throw something out or if I see something useful in trash somewhere. OH no! Gotta save that! Maybe it is a "weird gift", but I DO always think of what else something can be used for.
Since I will now be "watching this thread" (I posted, right?), I will try to think of things I do to really make an impact---besides the obvious.
We have recycling curb pick-ups here every week. One week it is paper, the other week it is bottles and cans + yard waste (in season). I DO compost and I DO recycle everything. Earth Day or not--it is just the way i live.
Gita
Here's some ways to save money on all this. www.smartsource.com and www.coupons.com right now have $1 off printable coupons for the GE CFL bulbs. Walmart has packs of three in 60, 75 or 100 watt equivalents for around $7. I've found the GE CFLs are much, much better quality than the Phillips brand.
You can also get coupons at the GE website from time to time. Smartsource and coupons.com will usually let you print two or three of each coupon. Don't forget to save your guarantee info from the bulb package - they're guaranteed for five years.
www.gardeners.com sells a couple of different kinds of rain barrels. Here's some coupon codes for that store
Coupon code: CNB83002 Coupon code: XNET8026b - both are for 15% off $25 or more
Coupon code: XNET8031 free shipping with $50 or more
Some places will let you stack these online coupons and use more than one, some won't. So you might be able to get 15% off and free shipping. It's worth a try just in case they do allow it.
Here's their rain barrels, ranging from a $69 popup one to $249 for a set of two of their deluxe rain barrels.
http://www.gardeners.com/Rain-Barrels/default/StandardCatalog.Watering_RainBarrels.cat
I definitely want to see your rain barrell setup!
Nothing too fancy. I have the one on that page that's $135. (It was cheaper when I bought it several years ago and I had a 25% off coupon.) I have round rain gutters so their thing to tie into the downspouts wouldn't work for me. I set it up at the corner of the garage where the roof is low, took off the downspout and got one of those accordian pleated piping type things and attached one end to the gutter dothingy where the downspout had been attached, the other end to the rain barrel.
Hart--and anyone else-------------
Home Depot sells a 6-pack of 60 watt compact bulbs for $9.95. There is also a 4-pack for $ 7.99 (I think). DO NOT buy these as individual bulbs. They will cost you a fortune! Like--$4.97 each! On Earth day, HD was giving away one of these bulbs to every customer---while supplies lasted.
I have replaced many lights in my home with the Compacts. Not all. Maybe this is the incentive I needed. I have enough of them bought! Gotta get my butt in gear here!
One funny thing I still do (and don't laugh!) is not flush the toilet every time I pee. Years ago, when we had this awful drought, they actually encouraged people to do this. I live alone, so it works for me. I guess if there were other people, it may seem a bit gross. I still have the "old" tanks that flush with 5 gallons of water. It is wasteful to flush all the time. To me, by now, it is a habit.
You know about HABITS, don't you??????
A HABIT is a hard thing to get rid of:
You take away the "H"--you still have "a bit".
You take away the "A"--and you still have a "bit".
You take away the "B"--and you still have "IT".
We are EXTREMELY fortunate in Baltimore County. Water is very cheap. In the busiest gardening months of the Summer, my 3-months bill may be $20 or less. In the winter, I pay about $ 8-$9 for the 3 months. They are about to raise the rates by 30% or something. It will still be reasonable.
In Baltimore City, it is quadruple this and more. Really odd! My sister, who lives in Bloomfield, NJ pays about $100 a month. Such discrepencies!!!! I guess it all has to do with where the water has to be delivered from. I wonder how much they pay in Arizona?????? or Texas??????
Re the rain barrels--I have NEVER collected rain water for my garden or used any other kind of "saved" water. We are fortunate here See above....
I do have a question about rain barrels. Isn't the water somewhat "tainted" having run down all that asphalt roofing??? I mean--it is not like pure rain water collected in the barrel.
Thanks for those links, Hart. I added a couple of them to my "Favorites". Will forward the coupon ones to my daughter. I raised her right!!! She is as shop-smart and as frugal as I am. We have to be! Other than a necessity, frugality and bargain shopping almost becomes a "sport". A "contest" of WHERE one can get the cheapest prices on what.
Gita
Hart: How do you use the water in the barrel? Does a hose attach to it? What about mosquitos?
It comes with a short section of hose that you can attach to a regular garden hose. It also comes with a screen top that keeps out the mosquitos. I use it for watering plants, although it's close enough to the water garden that I could use it for that too.
You certainly wouldn't want to drink the water but it's perfectly fine for watering. My house and garage have tin roofs, not asphalt.
I have to agree....this is a great topic. I also do a lot of the things that Gitagal says she does. I too have always been that way. I wasn't much of a student in high school. One of my main memories of HS was being a member of the Ecology Club, so my interest goes way back.
I sometimes feel guilty about flushing the toiley too. A couple of years back we suffered from a drought too. At a friends house above the toilet was a sign that said:
If it is brown, flush it down
If it is yellow, let it mellow
I get a kick out of that every time that I hear it. ha-ha
I keep referring to Gita's post, but she really seems to be coming from the same place as I do regarding the re-use of things. I get a thrill whenever I am able to buy things at a reduced price. It is sort of a game.
My hubby is the ultimate recycler. He scraps old vehicles. He purchased a flat/bed wrecker a few years ago. He has done okay this past year by offering to haul away any old vehicles. He has to spend a bit of time preparing them to go to scrap yard who eventually crushes them. The crusher doesn't allow certain things such as radiators and gas tanks. These are sold later to an outfit that recylces them also. Since becoming involved with this he has also added disposing of large applicances too. The appliances give extra weight in the cars.
At our place we also have a compost bin and a large trashcan for aluminum cans. I cannot throw out an unusual or pretty glass bottle or jar to save myself. I am sure that I can think of more things and will post later if not already mentioned on here.
I hope that everyone will have a good weekend. Take care.
A plastic milk or juice bottle may fit in your toilet tank and save a little with each flush, like putting a brick in.
Water is expensive in Anne Arundel Co, closer to the Bay, because all public water gets pumped from deep wells and stored, unlike B-more Co which has reservoirs built some time ago. May explain NJ too.
We do not flush during the night in master bath- when I was little I hated being the first one in to pee, cuz mom also didn't flush.
Regarding mosquitoes in the rain barrel, you'll want to put a Bt "donut" in there. Should last much of the season. This is safe and non-chemical; just a bacillus thur. var. israelensis that kills mosquito larvae.
Hart alerted me to this forum. Regarding sustainability, we do what we can: conserve water by using drip tape and (very important) timers. Keep organic laying chickens with lots of forage & fresh greens, and use their poo, well-composted, to fertilize. Live in a town where we can walk to the post office, community center, hardware store, grocery and doctor. We grow much of our own food and put up everything we can, and buy local veggies and meat from growers we know and trust. All leftovers go either to the compost or to the omnivorous chickens. No pesticides, no commercial fertilizers: we weed by hand and by flame weeder, and deal with pests organically and in such a way as to not harm beneficial bugs. We companion plant and also plant everything we can to attract rare and beneficial insects and birds. There are lots of ways I'd like to improve, but we're trying!
Zeppy: You are certainly doing everything we should all be striving for: I applaud your approach!
DH just told me about this and I posted it on another related thread, so thought I'd share it with you as well:
"Carbon Footprint is a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide. "
You can calculate your own Carbon Footprint here http://www.carbonfootprint.com/
how about- the tiniest dumb thing you can't stop doing even if it's practically insignificant-
my husband reuses those 1-cent foldover sandwich bags......
Don't even ask! I want to live through this year without having half of DG people trying to send me to the loony bin! Insane? I sure am when it comes to re-using anything.
Ahem.......question............How many times do you fold over toilet tissue when using it to................well, you know what? ....:o)
Gita
OK, one square...Sheryl Crow, who are you kidding?
I think a modest three layers is a conservative minimum.................................when ............dabbing one's........................... nose.
This might go right up there with that thread about 'over or under' rolls