Top five positive changes I can make in my household?

Question

I want to be more efficient and earth friendly. What are, in your opinion, the five most important things a family can do to do their part?

One thing my husband and I have decided was to get three receptacles and start recycling. (Yes, we should have started this years ago, I know.. but we're 25 now and more conscious of our surroundings since having a baby, and we want to do our best to preserve our little piece of the Earth for our little boys future.

I have a question about the new light bulbs. I've heard that if you break one, it is very harmful to touch it and very expensive to have it cleaned up, which has to be done by professionals?

Answer 1

In no particular order:

Turn the thermostat up/down a few degrees

Lights off if not needed (CFLs help)

Don't waste food

Start a "Victory" garden

Back off on the pesticides (Especially with baby and pets)

Answer 2

i agree with stop drinking bottled water.

it is so wasteful, not to mention more expensive.

you can get water coolers, like the kind they have in offices.  and just fill up one bottle or glass continuesly.

most people dont know, but regulations on tap water, are much higher than the regulations put on bottled water.

recycle anything you can, even if it means you dont get a redeemable profit from it.

Answer 3

Compost.  I can get several of your five changes right here.  Get an electric mower for your yard.  They're quiet and they don't stink.  We use ours without the bag, and it mulches the grass, returning the nutrients right back to the soil along with the leaves.  In the fall, when the leaves overwhelm the mower, we vacuum them up with a leaf shredder.  All of this goes into the compost, along with sticks from our trees and shrubs. Branches go into a chipper/shredder.  We could put this in the compost, but usually we use it as a groundcover/mulch around our plants, so they retain the moisture in the ground longer and save water.

I think that's five.  And we didn't even get out of the garden.

Answer 4

My personal take follows. Please use your own perception on what is right for you and confirm with other sources (and give it a bit more than one hour for a first response).

1. Reduce, e.g. do not buy things you are not sure you really need and want. Refuse excess packaging.

2. Re-use, what can serve again e.g. plastic bags.

3. Recycle the rest. Very general, you probably knew these basic 3Rs.

4. Calculate your "carbon footprint" at any of various websites. Determine the largest items (e.g. transcontinental flights, home heating/cooling, personal automobile) and decide to reduce those impacts. Much is possible without loss of comfort, although there may be some loss of convenience.

5. Keep learning, e.g. through brilliant lectures at ted.com  

New light bulbs (CFL) contain a few milligrams of mercury. If you break one, bring kids and pets outside and air out the house thoroughly. Clean up the spill with disposable paper towels and sticky tape for the glass shards. Never heard professionals clean  up a broken bulb, but it takes professional services to properly recycle CFLs and regular fluorescent lights.

Answer 5

Here are the top five things I think you can do to help the environment and to make your home a safer place for you and your child.

1.  Switch to using safe, biodegradable cleaning products. You can greatly reduce the variety of cleaning products you use at the same time; a few good products can take the place of them all. Also, water and a cloth rag can do a lot of cleaning that people have been trained to think requires a cleaning product. Dusting products? You don't need them or the aerosols they put into the air. Just use a damp cloth. Spray cleaners? Try a wet cloth and some elbow grease. For tough spots, lay a wet cloth over the spot and let the water soak in enough to clean it.  Bathroom "scrubbing" products? Use a squeegee after each bath or shower--that removes the problem with most hard water stains. Take a look around and see what other products you can eliminate. You'll be helping the environment and saving money, too. As a recommendation, I am really happy with Bio-Kleen's products. For instance, their laundry liquid only requires a tablespoon or two per load, and, unlike regular products (which also pollute), it leaves no residue in your clothing. This means the clothes also dry faster, which saves energy, and they dry very soft, which means you don't have to use fabric softeners, which make your clothes and towels less absorbent, or dryer sheets, which don't really soften anyway. Detergents like Bio-Kleen are great for diapers, too.

2.  Examine what you use that is paper and ask yourself how you can replace it with something that is reusable. For example, stop using paper plates, even for picnics and camping, and use enameled metal instead. Stop using paper napkins, paper towels, paper diapers, facial tissues, and so on, and use cloth instead. Stop subscribing to the newspaper--half a million trees go into the newspaper every Sunday alone. Buy and use cloth shopping bags--many stores give you a nickel per bag every time you use one. For those paper products that you can't replace, such as toilet paper, consider using recycled products, even now and then. According to Seventh Generation, "If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 500 sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissues with 100% recycled ones, we could save 297,000 trees, 1.2 million cubic fee of landfill space (equal to 1,400 full garbage trucks),  and 122 million gallons of water--a year's supply for 3,500 families of four."

3.  If you are using them, stop using pesticides and herbicides completely. You don't need them, and neither does the environment. If you get ants inside, that means you have food out. Clean it up, and they will go away.

4.  Buy organic as much as possible. That includes food and body care products both. That way, you are supporting people who are producing products more sustainably, and you are reducing the toxins you are introducing into your household and body at the same time.

5.  When buying clothing and linens, buy ones made from cotton, silk, wool, bamboo, or other natural materials. The same goes for when buying a bed--get one made of natural materials. Synthetic foam, memory foam, particle board, etc. all outgas constantly--not good for you or the environment.

As for compact flourescents--yes, they are toxic when broken, and they have to be handled as a toxin when you discard them. You can't just throw them in the garbage--you have to turn them in during a household toxic waste collection, or take them to the dump to hand over to the toxic waste management people there. There are now lights made using LEDs which use a lot less energy--consider those, though they are pretty expensive right now. Meanwhile, stick with your regular light bulbs and be more conscious about how much energy you are using. Turn the ligth off when leaving a room, keep your thermostat low in the winter and high in the summer, manage your cooking efforts to make best use of an already-hot oven or cooking surface, etc.

Answer 6

Could you turn the water heater in your home Lower?...

Answer 7

Actually the energy efficient light bulbs are a health concern if they break. They contain mercury and caution should be taken when cleaning up should they break.  For example don't use your vacuum, the particles will disperse and can be inhaled.  I think the benefits of using the energy efficient light bulbs are immense but you should educate yourself on health risks especially if you have children in your house.

I think the most important things you can do are:

conserving water and energy wherever you can (washing dishes, laundry, brushing teeth, investing in energy efficient appliances, etc.)

using public transportation when it is an option

buying products that use less packaging and utilize recycled materials

investing in reusable items (bags, bottles, dining ware, razors, feminine products)

and getting involved in your local government to encourage energy efficiency and recycling at your community level

Answer 8

numerous nifty replies

if it comes time to get a replacement car get a high mpg model; a used car is definitely one of the three Rs

eat less meat; you could even have fun with the lettuce look http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Manila-Eth...

go camping or hiking as a family

writing to your public officials is about as easy as writing here at yahoo answers http://www.house.gov/ tell them you place the environmental spending above defense spending

environment could also go with environmental peers friends n opportunities; as your baby grows you might find lists of all the schools then choose the most wonderful educational environment http://www.californiaschoolrankings.org/...

shop online at environmental sites; "shipping" is much more efficient than driving to a mall; thats SUPER true about online grocery shopping as well albertsons.com https://shop.albertsons.com/eCommerceWeb...

If you do drive to groceries think about organic; I am a sciences person that likes GMO foods plus believes preservatives like BHT make people live longer yet supporting local n foods is beneficial

Answer 9

I consider myself very "green" so I might be of some help.

Buy reusable bags! I got these huge reusable bags from costco for about 5 bucks, and they hold tons and tons of stuff. I keep them in the back of my Prius (which i love).

Like others have said DO NOT USE PLASTIC BOTTLE WATER! go buy a really awesome reusable metal bottle for about 30 bucks or less.

Make sure your weather stripping on all your doors and windows keeps the air out, so your house doesnt get cold when heat trys to escape.

Recycle! Recycle! Recycle! all your glass bottles, and soda cans and plastic bottles. And recycle your newspaper, because tons of stuff can be made from recycled newspaper.

Bamboo! get bamboo cutting boards, floors, bowls, or anything that would require other woods comes in bamboo! and buy bamboo clothes! its an amazing plant because it grows very very fast, and does not need pesticides to grow, and has anti-bacterial properties! and in clothing, its softer then cotton, feels like silk and easier to clean then cotton! and its not very expensive!

Get compact light bulbs because i drop them all the time and they dont break, and they last for years and years, and you get used to them getting brighter when you turn them on, because its  easy on the eyes, instead of bright light coming from darkness.

Unplug any device (cell phone cords, computer cords, etc) when not in use because it eats up energy like mad.

If your looking for an investment, i suggest solar panels for the roof, i have them and my yearly electric bill is around....40 bucks...but they did cost around 10k. Im completely off the grid.

Clean your house with safe green products that do not have harsh chemicals. I got mine from target.

Also, if you get a good amount of rain, i suggest investing in a 50 dollar water resovour, because you can use it to water plants when you dont want to use the hose.

Thats just when i thought of at the top on my head...

Answer 10

If you've just had a baby, you might consider using re-usable nappies.  Far better than all those nappies going into landfill, especially if you air dry rather than tumble dry and buy them second-hand.  

Also, good household insulation will make the biggest difference in proportion to the outlay.

After that, it's really just a question of being mean - turn lights and appliances off when you leave a room, turn the tap off whilst you're brushing your teeth, have short showers rather than baths (turn the water off whilst applying shampoo etc) and put a "pig" in your toilet tank so that you use less water each time you flush.

Answer 11

ITS TRUE JUST GOOGLE IT

I ONLY NO THREE OKAY

1.) USE THE NEW SPRING BOTTLE IS NOW  HAS LESS PLASTIC

2.)USE PAPER BAGS

3.)GET NEW RYCILE BINS

Answer 12

instead of throwing the biodegradable waste , u can put it in the potted plants and mix it well with the mud, they can rot easily and become manure,avoid using lights for everything use yellow lights and not tubelights, if you have space dig large pits and deop all biodegradables/ dried leaves and burn it and cool the ashes , mix it with mud and u can frequently mix it with the mud in the potted plants or trees/plants .

Answer 13

Use your shredded leaves and grass to mulch your vegetable garden.  Buy cloth bags for your groceries.  Combine trips & save gas.  Buy at thrift shops for clothes or on E-Bay.  Join a Freecycle group in your neighborhood to get rid of items that you'd normally just throw away.  Use ceiling fans to help with cooling.  Examine windows and baseboards for leaks and caulk.  Insulate plug and light switch outlets - you can get these at Home Depot.

Answer 14

So far all the suggestions have been great. One thing I'd like to add is to consider composting. I know it sounds gross but it's not and we've reduced our trash to one bag a week! Check with your municipality about getting a household compostor (or look into making your own, ours was only $35 so it was worth it.) We now look for things to compost; crazy, I know. But it also helps offset the cost of produce b/c I don't feel like I'm wasting parts of it (the inside of a pepper, tops of zucchini, etc). And you can compost your coffee grounds and filters which is a huge help to us. Added bonus? It's okay to compost paper (in moderation) so we shred our private docs and put them in the compostor-talk about added security! Come summer when it's fertilizer, I'll use it on my plants and give it to my neighbor for his garden to help him save money and not use chemicals. It's a win-win!

Another suggestion would be look into growing a garden of your own. We don't have alot of space & it's just the two of us so I have a potted garden on the side porch. One pot per veggie: 1 pepper plant, 1 cucumber plant and 1 rectangular potter with lettuce. (Tomatoes come from the neighbor <wink>).  It's really cool to clip your own lettuce each night for dinner salad.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck. Each step is a step toward progress and preservation. ;>

Answer 15

1:Upgrade your clothes washer to an energy star washer

2:Upgrade your toilet to a high efficiency toilet

3:Repair any leaks

4:Check the air pressure in your tires (did you know that?!)

5:Install a low-flow showerhead

Answer 16

Here's what we did...You should try some and see what suits your home.

1. We re-insulated our home with blown cellulose insulation. It's made from recyclable material, it's cheaper, it's warmer and lasts longer, and it's not as bad on your lungs. *Google it*

2. Conserving water:

a)We own a Brita water pitcher that filters tap water, and we love it. The filters last a really long time, and we refill our store bought "green" bottle.

b)We barrel all of our dish and bath water to water all of our plants.

c)We installed a low flow shower head...I have noticed a big difference.

3. Conserving electricity:

a)We keep our electric AC off as much as possible, and use ceiling fans. They use 75% less electricity than electric AC. b)We open windows in the day time and hardly need to turn on a light  during the daylight hours. We also use CFL's. c)During the warmer months, we line dry our clothes. This saves A LOT of energy!

d)We only use a third of a dryer sheet with every load(when we use the dryer). The residue from the dryer sheet clogs the filter and causes the dryer to run higher. We also run hot water through the filter to clean it out, so the dryer runs smoother.

4.We compost what we can. We also have our own deck garden. It's just enough for our family.

5. Conserving fuel:

a)We walk and ride our bikes where we can.

b)We use a/c rather than driving with the windows down.

c)Car pool when possible

d) We use cruise control.

e)We plan all of our trips so we aren't back tracking.

It's hard to choose just 5 specific ones. The #1 would be to re insulate your home with blown cellulose insulation. We did it ourselves. We bought the supplies from Lowe's and rented the blower from there as well. We have a 2200 sq ft home and it cost us $500 to insulate with R-49 value. It's cheap and pays off in just a few months. I highly recommend that one.

Other than that...I recommend ANYTHING you can do to conserve energy, and cut down on pollution.

Good luck! Take care & God bless!

Answer 17

Kayla,

Dont worry about the light bulbs. They are also harder to break.

So...

1. Change your light bulbs

2. Turn off the lights

3. Buy a programable thermostat and be conservative with your temp settings.

4. Insulate your home including your hot water pipes.

5. the next refrigerator you buy should have a very good water filter. Stop buying bottled drinks.