Happy 2010! Here's my family's green goals for this year:
1. Plant an organic garden this spring.
2. Prepare more items from scratch to eat healthier and reduce packaging waste.
3. Switch our plastic reusable food storage containers to glass.
4. Go on an eco-tourism vacation.
5. Learn to make my own soap and beauty products.
6. Support local merchants, crafters, and artists with my purchases.
7. Move to a home that allows use to reduce our driving.
8. Limit purchases to quality, earth-friendly items that will last.
9. Get creative with using recycled items in my crafting.
10. Continue to educate others about the importance of going green and the simple changes they can make to live a little greener.
Showing posts with label green resolutions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green resolutions. Show all posts
Monday, January 4, 2010
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Carbon Rally
I stumbled across a great eco-networking site - www.carbonrally.com which has great earth-friendly challenges for everyone looking to live greener.
The site puts up new a easy to handle challenge every few weeks and keeps track of how much carbon you save. The current challenge is Cold Then Fold - use only cold water to wash and rinse all of your laundry this month. Previous challenges include biking one day a week, line drying laundry, recycling your old cell phone, and reducing the amount of meat you eat.
If you've got a competitive streak, Carbon Rally has challenges that you can do as a team. So compete as a group, family, or workplace and the planet will win.
The site puts up new a easy to handle challenge every few weeks and keeps track of how much carbon you save. The current challenge is Cold Then Fold - use only cold water to wash and rinse all of your laundry this month. Previous challenges include biking one day a week, line drying laundry, recycling your old cell phone, and reducing the amount of meat you eat.
If you've got a competitive streak, Carbon Rally has challenges that you can do as a team. So compete as a group, family, or workplace and the planet will win.
Friday, April 24, 2009
10 Recycling Tips
So of course you are recycling, but there may be areas you can improve on. Check out this list of 10 great recycling tips:
1. Make sure you are recycling everything you can - contact your local recycling company for more information on what your community recycles.
2. Once you know what can be recycled, do your best to avoid items that can't be recycled.
3. Compost food scraps and yard waste.
4. Contact catalog companies to stop any catalogs you receive and choose to shop online instead.
5. Stop junk mail as much as you can by checking out the tips found at http://www.obviously.com/junkmail
6. Use the backs of any junk mail you receive for notes or shopping lists before putting them in the recycling bin.
7. Be sure to recycle your hazardous household waste properly, consult earth911.org for more info on how and where to recycle hazardous waste in your area.
8. Create an attractive and organized recycling center in your home so your family can easy help with your recycling efforts.
9. Create some recycling fun for your kids by making crafts with items that might typically end up in the trash. Need some inspiration, check your local library or bookstore for Laura C. Martin's book Recycled Crafts Box.
10. Try to find ways to recycle everything - donate used clothing to thrift stores, donate magazines, books, and movies to the library, donate cell phones to charitable organizations for recycling, donate old towels to the local animal shelter, donate craft supplies to local schools or nursing homes, offer items you no longer need on freecycle.org - the list goes on and on. Try to make the trash can the last choice for items you no longer need.
1. Make sure you are recycling everything you can - contact your local recycling company for more information on what your community recycles.
2. Once you know what can be recycled, do your best to avoid items that can't be recycled.
3. Compost food scraps and yard waste.
4. Contact catalog companies to stop any catalogs you receive and choose to shop online instead.
5. Stop junk mail as much as you can by checking out the tips found at http://www.obviously.com/junkmail
6. Use the backs of any junk mail you receive for notes or shopping lists before putting them in the recycling bin.
7. Be sure to recycle your hazardous household waste properly, consult earth911.org for more info on how and where to recycle hazardous waste in your area.
8. Create an attractive and organized recycling center in your home so your family can easy help with your recycling efforts.
9. Create some recycling fun for your kids by making crafts with items that might typically end up in the trash. Need some inspiration, check your local library or bookstore for Laura C. Martin's book Recycled Crafts Box.
10. Try to find ways to recycle everything - donate used clothing to thrift stores, donate magazines, books, and movies to the library, donate cell phones to charitable organizations for recycling, donate old towels to the local animal shelter, donate craft supplies to local schools or nursing homes, offer items you no longer need on freecycle.org - the list goes on and on. Try to make the trash can the last choice for items you no longer need.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
The 5 Minute Shower
The change to the 5 minute shower was an intimidating one for me since I loved a long, hot shower and I seemed to get all my brilliant ideas in the shower. However once I started timing my showers I found it was pretty easy to get squeaky clean in just 5 minutes. Now I will confess there are still a few times that my shower runs long - just recently I had a bad head cold and boy did a steamy shower really help that out. As far as my thinking goes I still have plenty of time in the shower to brainstorm and I've taken to carrying a notebook with me and letting my mind wander when I am stuck at traffic lights, doctor's offices, whenever I have a little downtime.
Why is shortening your shower so important? Even if you have a low-flow shower head a 5 minute shower will use 7-8 gallons of water. If you haven't installed a low-flow shower, put this on your must do list as a 5 minute shower without one can use an astronomical 20 gallons of water!
Getting my daughter to take a 5 minute shower is one of my family's green resolutions for 2009. As little as she is I'm not sure what takes so long in there, but I know it requires a lot of singing! To help her with her goal I got a Shower Coach timer. This great timer suctions on the side of the shower and has a 5 minute sand timer. The Shower Coach makes easy for her to see how much singing time she has left.
Why is shortening your shower so important? Even if you have a low-flow shower head a 5 minute shower will use 7-8 gallons of water. If you haven't installed a low-flow shower, put this on your must do list as a 5 minute shower without one can use an astronomical 20 gallons of water!
Getting my daughter to take a 5 minute shower is one of my family's green resolutions for 2009. As little as she is I'm not sure what takes so long in there, but I know it requires a lot of singing! To help her with her goal I got a Shower Coach timer. This great timer suctions on the side of the shower and has a 5 minute sand timer. The Shower Coach makes easy for her to see how much singing time she has left.
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