Photo: IslandPicnic on Etsy offers these great reusable organic cotton sandwich bags, get rid of those plastic bags forever!
Let’s say you want to get into the “green thing” but have no idea where to start? Here are some simple ways you can go greener in the home.
1. Start a can for recycling. Not only will you see your regular trash cut down, but recycling will help the environment so these items don’t end up in landfills. In case you are new at this, you should rinse out your cans before tossing them in.
2. Collect your children’s broken toys into a box, then advertise them on Craiglist free to an assemblage artist, who may recycle the parts into sculpture rather than end up in the landfill.
3. Instead of plastic bags in the kid’s lunch use washable eco material bags that you can reuse. You can find a bunch on Etsy and you can start here at Island Picnic.
4. Turn out the lights in other rooms when you are not using, and conserve energy when you can.
5. Making small changes in your home such as upping the heat to kick on a few degrees, and lowering the temperature of the hot water heater will also help.
6. Air dry your clothes on a line outside when you can. You will be happy they smell fresh too, and just doing this half of the time will reduce your electricity bill.
7. If you have a garden, invest in a compost bin and start composting your food scraps. You won’t have to buy soil next year and you will have a way to supercharge your veggies.
8. Along those same lines you may wish to start a rain barrel, to self feed the garden so you won’t have to water it.
9. Get your children into recycling by having a recycled crafts night, where they make cards for someone’s birthday out of old magazines, glue and recycled junk mail. Here is a great link on DIY greeting cards.
10. Get a free quote on alternative energy for your home. As crazy as it may sound, you can get low cost solar panels which will save you up to 70% on your utility bills, easily paying for themselves in a year or two. Many people are scared to look into these type of things, but what they don’t realize is with the growing popularity of new green energy, supply vs demand are making them more affordable.
There are just a few tips on living green and going greener in your every day life. Just about everything you do if you make small changes these will build up over time. What are you doing to make a better world years from now?
Photo Credit: AJMadison , Energy Star
Energy Star this. Energy Star that. There’s no doubt that modern appliances are made “more eco friendly” than older ones. Supposedly you save on your electric bill. New refrigerant is used–not the harmful stuff that hurts the ozone when released. They sure cost a lot. They sure are pretty. Everyone has heard of going greener, but when should you decide the best for your old appliance ?
One company in Los Angeles, Active Appliance may have some input. “We fix broken appliances so there is less disposed appliances in the landfills.. We implement energy saving methods at houses we service.”
Something to think about…scrap metal, or can you use it for a few more years?
Living Green 101 