How can I go Green around my house??

Question

How can I go Green around my house??

Answer 1

I've used this response already today but it took some time to pull it together, so here goes:

There are so many ways we can be part of the solution: Here's a bunch to get you started:

Use less energy at home by swapping out light bulbs. In summer, keep the blinds or curtains drawn; in winter, open them up to let the sun shine in and warm your home.

Install a programmable thermostat and heat and cool rooms only when needed.

Plant trees around your home to cut energy use.

Insulate walls and ceilings.

Install a light-colored or reflective roof on your home.

Upgrade to Energy Star appliances.

Unplug toasters & coffeemakers, etc. when not in use; DON'T use plug in air fresheners!

Use power strips, especially for cable and video game boxes, and turn off when not in use.

Install energy-efficient lighting & dispose of bulbs responsibly.

Keep your air conditioner filters clean.

Install low-flow shower heads and toilets.

Choose food thoughtfully; cut back on meat and buy locally when possible.

When travelling, travel light and pack smart. Think about removing roof racks when not in use.

Drive less aggresively.

Know when to use air conditioning; roll down the windows in stop and go traffic.

Don't idle, & stop using drive thru fast food, etc.

Maintain your car regularly.

Drive less

Carpool or telcommute at least once a week.

There's a lot we can do to do our part.

Good luck greening the house.

Answer 2

start with the basics-

turn off the lights

set the thermostat a few degrees warmer/cooler

recycle

compost

don't waste water

dont leave your PC on

unplug things that are on constant standbye

have a garden

don't be an unneccesarry consumer

Answer 3

Remember These 5R's Principles:

Refuse : Do not use polythene bags

Reuse : Use the pen Again. Just buy it's refill instead of buying the whole set of pen.Thereby you save a lot of natural resources

required to built pen.

Recycle: Collect your newspaper and thereby sent them for recycling.Hence you save a lot of paper and lot of trees.

Reduce:switch off lights and hence you save a lot of precious coal resources

Repair:give your old furniture for making new things instead of buying them. Hence you save a lot of trees.

Answer 4

Turn off lights and buy Compact Fluorescent bulbs (be careful if they break by accident, they do contain a little mercury.  Once they burn out you can probably take them to an ecostation in your city/state/province.. to dispose of them correctly

Any hazardous wastes, old chemicals, tins that once contained environmentally unfriendly waste, take to an ecocenter (paint cans, gas cans, computer parts/accessories...etc)

Buy used and repair broken/torn items. Buying things used and repairing things has many advantages including a) reducing the demand for the production of new things (much of which require crude oil, including our clothing!!), b) reduce the emissions used to get the products to you, c) encourages others to recycle their old stuff, therefore decreasing the amount going into our landfills.

Composting - both kitchen and yard waste.  I have just recently started this (about 4 weeks ago), using worm composting in my kitchen and a bin in  my yard.  Already, using these composters has reduced our garbage amount insanely!  We have filled 2 medium sized kitchen catcher in four weeks, and maybe one safeway bag (bathroom garbage and non recyclable office garbage)!  Granted there are only 2 of us but WHAT A DIFFERENCE!  We also use the blue bag program, so we recycle what we can.

Make large quantities of meals and freeze them.  Share with friends!  I had a bunch of my friends over to make perogies.  We made 100s of them and instead of using each of our own kitchens, we just used mine - reducing the number of stoves that needed to be working (plus it was fun haha)

If you have a lawn, don't collect the clippings in a bag because when you transfer them into a plastic bag, they start to decompose (without oxygen) and methane is created - one of the worst greenhouse gases.  Leave the clippings on the ground OR put them in your composter. (that goes for leaves too, put them in your composter)

Plant a garden - it reduces the transportation requirements of food (which consumes fuel, energy..etc).  In addition, learn how to preserve your harvest.  I haven't but I am going to take a course in the later summer on how to preserve veggies.  I have enlisted friends to come too - so we are going to pool our resources and share what we grow (I am in charge of growing all the tomato plants, so I will share those, my other friends are in charge of growing carrots, squash..etc.  I am growing some of those too, for summer use but they are in charge of the preservation harvest of those items...hopefully it'll work!).

Ban the use of plastic bags at grocery stores, for your household.  We no longer use the bags they give us.  I have made re-useable cloth bags - SUPER easy to make (or you can buy them)

Try and walk to places as much as possible.  We have reduced the times we fill up our vehicle to ONCE a month.  We use it only for shopping for large items such as kitty litter and big bags of pet food.  We walk/take transit to work and walk to get our groceries and other needs.

If you use heat or have an air conditioning, get a programmable thermostat.  You can set the times that the house stays warmer/colder.  For example, at night, we set the temperature at 15'C (59'F) but it automatically turns up to 20'C (68'F) when we get up.  During the day, it is set to go back down to 15, when we aren't here.  It has saved us tons in utility bills too!

Use environmentally friendly cleaning products.  I use baking soda and water to scrub stains and caked on messes.  I use vinegar (mixed with water 50:50) to disinfect counters and other surfaces and sometimes I use lemon when things are greasy.  I also use vinegar water on my floors.  It smells a little vinegary for a short time but it's completely tolerable.  I also use torn up Pjs and pairless socks as  my rags, so I can wash and reuse them.

Try finding laundry and dish soaps that have no phosphates.

Try eating organic - as much as possible (I know I have a hard time sometimes - it can be $$).  Reducing the use of pesticides and herbicides helps the environment, particularly maintaining our fresh water resource.

I know there are likely more, but I am tapped out.  Hope that helps!!!

Answer 5

Some ideas here

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