Tips and tricks to save the environment(and your wallet )

[suzyvermoesen]

Following Ambers' post on the Good Book Thread about changing some things about your lifestyle to help improve the environment (such as taking your own shopping bag to the store) i just wanted to ask : what do you do to help save our planet ?

I'll start :
- i too take my own shopping bag to the store
- at the supermarket (or market) whenever possible i do not wrap my vegetables or fruits, just weigh them and throw them in my bag.
- i only buy milk in glass bottles that i can return and which will be re-used
- i do not use fabric softener in the washing machine, only a shot of household vinegar. Does the trick, it's cheap, environmentally friendly, and good against calcium deposition (not sure i said that correctly ?)
- in the summer i hardly ever use my dryer, but dry the clothes on a line in the garden
- unplug any appliance that is not in use

If i can think of more i'll post.

Now it's up to you..

[danax6]

- Ditto on the shopping bag.
- I use energy-saving light bulbs.
- Leave no appliances on standby.
- I often walk to work.

I wish I could stop using the dryer in the summer, but there is no room to hang my laundry to dry anywhere in my apartment. Also, vinegar instead of fabric softener? Is that an old housewife trick I don't know anything about? I only use vinegar to clean out my washing machine every few months. Doesn't that smell bad? I don't use fabric softener on the side, I use 2 in 1 laundry detergent.

[suzyvermoesen]

Originally Posted by danax6

- Ditto on the shopping bag.
- I use energy-saving light bulbs.
- Leave no appliances on standby.
- I often walk to work.

I wish I could stop using the dryer in the summer, but there is no room to hang my laundry to dry anywhere in my apartment. Also, vinegar instead of fabric softener? Is that an old housewife trick I don't know anything about? I only use vinegar to clean out my washing machine every few months. Doesn't that smell bad? I don't use fabric softener on the side, I use 2 in 1 laundry detergent.

I got the vinegar tip from the "vrekkenkrant"
And no, it does not leave any trace of a smell. (or i would not get bitten by moskitoes so often ) Everyone that i told about this and who have tried it are now using it all the time.

Another tip: a colleague once told me to use "Panama soap" for all dark colored and black laundry, as it would prevent the colors from fading.
It is bio-degradable, contains no soap, no phosphates,no scents,no coloring and is made from Panama wood. I have tried it and now use it all the time, and not just for (dark) laundry either. I also clean my floors with it.You only use a little bit as it is very concentrated so a jug of this stuff goes a long way
For those who can understand dutch or french :
http://www.panama.be/

[David]

I think it's time for a lot more businesses to get past their old-school phobias of letting employees out of their sight & let some of them work at home part-time or full-time. If you have employees who you think will fall behind in their work, fine, keep them at the office. But let your trustworthy, hardworking people work at home: keep them off the freeway.

Workplaces are creeping toward remote setups, but it's way too slow in coming.

[HejiraNYC]

I don't eat meat.
I don't wear leather.
I live in the city.
I mostly bike, walk or take public transportation.
I recycle almost everything.
I repair vs. throwing away.
I buy secondhand stuff whenever possible, e.g., furniture, books, bicycles, cars, etc.
I use items until they are completely destroyed.
I try to buy the highest quality that I can afford, so that I don't have to keep replacing an item.
I reuse my Trader Joes insulated shopping bag when grocery shopping.
I use CFL bulbs.
I live in a tiny, tiny space (during the week).
I don't have A/C in my apartment by choice.
I take brief lukewarm showers using as little water pressure as possible.
I request to receive/pay all of my bills electronically.
I try to buy American-made products whenever I can.
I try to buy locally grown produce whenever I can.
I boycott Wal Mart.

My weekend house has solar photovoltaic panels.
It also has geothermal heating/cooling.
It also has tankless water heaters.
It also has a drywell system for absorbing stormwater runoff.
It has low-E double-paned windows.
It has only Energy Star rated appliances.

My goals for the future are to:

-Start composting vegetable/fruit scraps.
-Build a clothesline on the roofdeck or the backyard.
-Buy a plug-in electric/hybrid vehicle.
-Start my own organic vegetable/fruit garden.
-Xeriscaping the yard.

[David]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

I don't eat meat.
I don't wear leather.
I live in the city.
I mostly bike, walk or take public transportation.
I recycle almost everything.
I repair vs. throwing away.
I buy secondhand stuff whenever possible, e.g., furniture, books, bicycles, cars, etc.
I use items until they are completely destroyed.
I try to buy the highest quality that I can afford, so that I don't have to keep replacing an item.
I reuse my Trader Joes insulated shopping bag when grocery shopping.
I use CFL bulbs.
I live in a tiny, tiny space (during the week).
I don't have A/C in my apartment by choice.
I take brief lukewarm showers using as little water pressure as possible.
I request to receive/pay all of my bills electronically.
I try to buy American-made products whenever I can.
I try to buy locally grown produce whenever I can.
I boycott Wal Mart.

My weekend house has solar photovoltaic panels.
It also has geothermal heating/cooling.
It also has tankless water heaters.
It also has a drywell system for absorbing stormwater runoff.
It has low-E double-paned windows.
It has only Energy Star rated appliances.

My goals for the future are to:

-Start composting vegetable/fruit scraps.
-Build a clothesline on the roofdeck or the backyard.
-Buy a plug-in electric/hybrid vehicle.
-Start my own organic vegetable/fruit garden.
-Xeriscaping the yard.

You win!
.
.
.

[LiamMcConville]

[QUOTE=HejiraNYC;728409]
I buy secondhand stuff whenever possible, e.g., furniture, books, bicycles,
I try to buy the highest quality that I can afford, so that I don't have to keep replacing an item.
[QUOTE]

Don't these cancel eachother out? (Don't know why the **** the quote box isn't working?)

And what I do to save the enviornment:

Take only two, extremely hot showers a day, as opposed to four, lukewarm showers.

I kill cows whenever I get the chance, their farts are building up in our atmosphere. Michelle's are too. But she can live. (For now.)

I eat meat, to give the vegitables they eat in their wild habitat a chance to grow and produce oxygen to balance out the cow and Michelle farts.

I only run the air conditioner during the afternoon.

I only run the heater when its below 76.

I do all my dishes and laundry between 3 and 6 PM.

[suzyvermoesen]

We have also been composting our fruit and vegetable for the past 7 years, ever since we moved to a place with a garden.

My husband quit smoking 5 years ago so now we kan keep the windows closed during wintertime, which saves on heating.

when preparing dishes like stewed meat casseroles, i prepare large quantities and freeze them in individual portions. Saves on energy and in the long run saves me time too.

[sasja]

Vegetarian, and raising my sons that way, we recycle practically everything, we avoid the car as much as possible and walk and bike.

And you know what else? In general I think I am very tolerant and non-judgmental, and live-and-let-live, and kind, and I am trying to spread that around and certainly impart it on the boys. That way I figure in the future we do our share to save on war-industry waste.

[Chrislit18]

In our house we:
-use energy efficiant light bulbs
-dont use the AC in the summer unless it is over like 80* in the house
-in the winter, cover up rather than putting the heat on
-buy in large quanties, and as someone has said, my mom cooks in a large quanity, and we re heat things
-keep electronics off unless they are being used [except the computer is always on]

-I recycle at school, but not at home, and urge everyone else at school to do the same
-use hand sanitizer instead of water if i only want to get the dirty feeling off of my hands
-take shorter showers
-buy clothes at the SA at times [ok, I love second hand clothes, you get the same brands for cheaper, and you can get more of it, you just have to look]
-refuse to waste paper at school, i write notes on homework papers, and etc.
-i flip out when people only print stuff on ONE side of the paper

Save The Trees