Ways to be "Green"?

Question

Ever since Earth Day, I have been inspired to help the environment. I just need a few more things that will be kind to the earth. We already use CFL's all over the house, and use power strips for our TV and computer, and our washer and dryer are both water efficient and energy efficient, and our laundry detergent is biodegradable, and that is about all I can think of for now. If you can think of anything else that you think I could do, that would be great.

Answer 1

Here's a great list of blogs that explain how you can go green in different aspects of your life:

http://www.greenstudentu.com/eco_lifesty...

http://www.greenstudentu.com/eco_lifesty...

http://www.greenstudentu.com/eco_lifesty...

http://www.greenstudentu.com/eco_lifesty...

http://www.greenstudentu.com/eco_lifesty...

http://www.greenstudentu.com/eco_lifesty...

http://www.greenstudentu.com/Our_World_T...

http://www.greenstudentu.com/eco_lifesty...

http://www.greenstudentu.com/eco_lifesty...

http://www.greenstudentu.com/eco_lifesty...

Answer 2

http://www.gomestic.com/Personal-Finance...

save the planet.. save your money.. read the link

Answer 3

Ride your bicycle rather than drive (or try not driving with less than 3 people),  try being a vegetarian for a day or two a week and then expand it, REDUCE consumption!  Reuse as much as possible before throwing in the garbage.  Support renewable energy.  If solar gain is good, invest in renewable energy (photovoltaic and solar thermal).

Answer 4

Live smaller - houses, cars, etc.  

Eat less beef. The cattle 'industry' has a greater negative impact on the environment than fish or chicken.  Becoming a vegetarian is even better.  (No - really - folks have studied this - and I am not just saying for political reasons - I am a die-hard carnivore - though I did try the vegetarian thing for 2 years.)

Answer 5

Keep in mind the old green saying:  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

You seem to have a good start.  One thing that seems to get lost in the suffle in discussions of "greening" our lives is the greenest practice of all.  That is to simply reduce what we consume.  If we are not purchasing unnecessary items or services, we are keeping resources, natural and otherwise, from being consumed by us or others in service to us.  That is the easiest.  For example, if you can take a walk outside rather than driving to a gym for exercise you will be reducing the amount of gas you are using plus saving travel time.

Another thing to do is to multi-task with the things we have or repurpose them at the end of their usable lives.  For example, rather than buying a dedicated desk for a home office, I work at my kitchen table when I can work from home (like today...I'm on a lunch break).  Another example is that my wife and I use old t-shirts that cannot be worn anymore ask cleaning rags rather than paper towels.  We simply put them in the washer when we wash towels.

Finally, we recycle anything possible when we cannot repurpose things outselves.  This starts with the purchase of certain goods.  For example, we buy milk in plastic containers whenever possible since our municipality does not recycle paperboard containers.  Some refer to this practice as "precycling" as you are choosing the products before you worry about its disposal.

I know this is a high-level answer but I hope it helps to get you thinking.  Not only will you be saving natural resources.  You may find yourself saving monetary resources as well.  Now that's green!

I also encourage anyone to provide ideas of what they have done around their homes.  I am always looking for ideas as well.

Answer 6

Buy fruit and vegetables that are grown locally this cuts down on the diesel that is wasted driving the produce to your part of the country.  You can also eat organic food this supports the organic farmer and prevents pesticides from going into the water supply.

Answer 7

Collect rainwater and boil it.

Get out of the shower a couple of minutes early.

Get fluorescent light bulbs

Invest in a hybrid car (such as a prius)

Plant a tree

Turn off lights

Ride a bike instead of driving

Turn off your computer

recycle

Buy Publix Green bags

Answer 8

Compost, collect filter and use rainwater in your house, plant trees, carpool or bike or walk, turn off every electrical thing when you leave a room. There are many more ways to go green.

Answer 9

You can help save usable items from ending up in the landfills. Every day thousands of usable items are tossed into the trash. Go to Freecycle.org and you can find a group in your state, in your town or city.The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,378 groups with 5,154,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.

Answer 10

You can make your own cleaning supplies I'm not sure how though. You can also buy shower heads that save water

Answer 11

Grow a tree.

Answer 12

You may want to consider a solar panel or wind power system to reduce your demand on the power grid. Link below is to a contractor matching site for renewables.

Answer 13

RECYCLE!

Answer 14

There are new energy saving light bulbs that last longer and take up less energy. You can try to take shorter showers. Walk, bike, take a bus, or carpool to work, school, ect. Try to cook less with an open fire(oxegyn eater!=0) they make recyclable clothing, jewelry, and bags(gifts.com). Don't use barely any light during the day! Hope I've helped!! =)

Answer 15

Plant a garden to grow your own food and eat less meat.

Shop at thrift stores, used is more sustainable than new.

Answer 16

If you're really concerned about mother earth, you can join organizations that help clean up the environment. A little help from people like you can contribute a lot in preventing the total devastation of this poor planet. I have joined such team and we encourage people to using only biodegradable materials, plant trees, lessen smoke emissions from burning anything harmful to our ozone layer, and you know what even waste materials from people are harmful if not properly disposed.

Answer 17

As simple as it may seem, a clothesline is a much more "green" option than even the most energy efficient clothes dryer.  I have cut our energy consumption (electric bill) in half by changing to CFLs and using a clothes line.  I hung out clothes all winter, at least on the days that it was above freezing, and we managed just fine.

I also make our own soap and laundry detergents, preserve locally grown produce for my family, and open a window instead of running the AC.  All of these things not only save us money, but also help reduce waste and protect the environment.

Always use canvas bags when you shop so that you do not have all of those awful plastic bags hanging around.  Some grocery store chains are even giving a discount for every shopping bag you use.  I know Kroger gives you 3 cents off for every bag you use every time you shop.

Try having a hairstyle that doesn't require the use of a blow dryer or curling iron.  I saw a news show that metered the use of a blow dryer and it cost something like 56 cents of electricity every time you dry your hair(1200 watt dryer for 15 minutes).  Get a Kill-a-Watt device to see the actual energy usage for each appliance and cut back on the use of the ones that use the most energy.

Try to think of about how things were done back during the depression.  That is what I use as a guide line.  

Just a couple of thoughts.