What are you doing to Go Green?

Question

What are you doing to reduce your impact on the planet?

Answer 1

Not a single thing.  We do not care about the latest fad to "be green."

What my husband and I care about is living as independantly as possible.  Being independant means living and earth friendly lifestyle.

So to that end, we grow most of our own food, even producing the meat animals we eat.  We grow our own crop to produce our own fuel for our vehicles right here on our farm.

I shop at thrift stores, and feed stores, because I could care less about designer lables....I care about how warm it keeps us, and if it's going to fall to shreads at the very sight of a barb wire fence.

I do most of our cooking from scratch, as well as putting up our harvest via canning, dehydrating, and freezing...because that means indepandance from the grocery store.

Our eventual goal it to get down to only two bills a month....the cell phones, and the internet.  Both of those items are luxury items.  We can live without them, but we enjoy them. The only other two bills we cannot excape are insurance, and taxes.  Eventually we would even be able to escape insurance if we had enough money in the bank.  If you have any other bills at all, like mortgage, power, water, garbage, sewer, fuel for your car, gas/oil for your home, ect, you are not indepandent.  "Someone" will always control you.  Gaining independance means eleminating all of those bills.  It also means living an earth friendly, or "green" lifestyle, since your producing your own food, water, power, heat, and fuel for your vehicles.

Very few people actually want to be responsible for themselves, so they will never live truely earth friendly lifestyles.

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Answer 2

Made various improvements to my house to make it more energy efficient.  Now it uses less than one-third the US national average energy consumption.

Bought a Prius to more than double my car's fuel efficiency.

Bought an electric scooter for commuting to work in winter, use the scooter or bike in the spring and summer.

Recycle whenever possible.

Turn the thermostat way down in winter and way up in summer.

Support politicians who make the environment a top priority.

Answer 3

I put a Greenpeace sticker on my SUV.

Answer 4

We refuse to buy paper towells or napkins. We wash dishes by hand using environmentally friendly soap, I make my own cleaning sprays with pure essential oils and water, Im buying a VW Bus with my tax return and converting the engine to running on veggie oil, We use cloth sacks at the grocery store, we buy in bulk and divide in freezable containers, we only do laundry in cold water and use my cleaning solution instead of bleach on our whites, we sweep our floors 2-3 times daily and wipe up spills  and mop only once a week. We keep all lights off during the day, hang dry sheets and bedding instead of in the dryer, I use all natural soaps, shampoos and other household and toiletry products. We use recycled tp and Seventh generation diapers,  we weatherproofed our doors and our garage from the inside, we use recycled wrapping paper, we reuse cardboard and bottles etc where we can then recycle them in the public recycling every week, we travel in our vehicle as little as possible and make all trips into town at once so that we arent running back and forth all week. We bring our own cups into the coffee drivethru and bottle our own water...I am now learning to sew and am starting to make bedding out of our used clothing, we buy used clothing by choice not because we have to, we live a very frugal life, but its fun, not due to need but due to wants and desires. We switched to eco-efficient lightbulbs, etc. etc. etc.

Answer 5

I do taxes and other official things online.

Answer 6

I have bought the "green" light bulbs for my dorm room; I barely drive but I have an 07 Toyota Corolla; I turn off the lights when I don't need them on; I turn off my heating/cooling/fans during the day; I take short showers; I turn down the brightness or turn off on my computer when I leave my room; I recycle almost everything that I can; and I've joined the Environmental group at my college.

Answer 7

recycle

recycle

recycle

   We recycle everything from glass bottles to toilet paper rolls.  We also have changed our light bulbs to those funny looking ones. We cut the grass after dusk or really early in the morning.  Plant trees and a garden every summer. keep the house temp set at 70 all year and if it is nice out shut off the air or heat and open the windows.  We also make sure the appliances we buy are energy friendly.

Answer 8

Oh, a lot.

We recycle everything possible. Reuse all boxes, clothes, etc. Donate or pass on what we grow out of, if we don't reuse it. Compost our food scraps. No plastic shopping bags. Limit products. Only use biodegradable cleaners and toiletries. Never use paper towels (try a cloth!). Buy food locally from farmers, organic. We're also vegan, so no animal products. We also make our own food, from basics, so we miss out on a lot of pre-packaged items and processed foods. I only use rechargeable batteries. Keep clothing, sheets, and towels limited to natural fibers best I can (bamboo, hemp, cotton, etc.). Laundry in cold water. Avoid using the dryer. No dishwasher. Walk instead of drive, when reasonable. Support green businesses.

Way beyond the turning off lights, unplugging things not in use, using LED's and such (though we do all that too).

I'm not a big consumer, I don't deprive my family either, we have TV, Wii, cell phones, but we rarely go out to eat, when we do things it's more exploring nature and the arts. We try and teach our kids how to respect things, use them properly, care about where they come from and where they're going. The usual green stuff :)

I'd love to turn our home to solar power but the house is so outdated, plus we're not well off financially and we're planning on selling soon, so it's my hope for our future home. Well, that and a organic garden to supply our own food. Where we live most homes are heated by oil or coal, for how revolting that is.

I know I forgot some things but you get the general idea. We do what we can, the best we can. I'd love to do more, but right now this is where we are and I'm pleased with it and can't wait to do more.