As we all know our economy is in the dumps. We are in the worst recession in a decade or more! I wanted to make this post about how to be sustainable and green even in the worst of financial times. It seems that the alternative products to be “green” seem to come with a hefty price but there are things you can do that will help save you money and the planet! Whether you have been affected by the recession or not, these tips are a great way to cut back on your eco footprint!
Some of these tips are easy and common sense, others came from a book that I received for my B-day that anyone could get (used: remember, reduce, reuse, recycle). I have been using mine as reference for when situations come up and I want to be more sustainable!
You can get a great USED copy at www.amazon.com for as cheap as $10!
1: LIGHTS – Turning off lights that are not in use will save a significant amount of cash on your electric bill! Another way to save some money and energy for our planet, switch your light bulbs out in exchange for CFLs or LED. They last longer and use less energy. I am not saying run out and buy all new light bulbs (they can be spendy) but when one of your traditional bulbs burn out, replace it with a CFL or LED.
“If every American changed just one light bulb to an energy-efficient CFL, it would prevent pollution equivalent to taking 1 million cars off the road and save us $600 million in energy costs per year.” Easy Green Living
Something else to save money concerning lights: Turn off your lights and use candles. It is romantic and way cheaper than electricity. I have to say; I look way better in candlelight anyway!! If you do want to try this, go for soy candles if you can! They burn cleaner (no petroleum products for ingredients) and they last longer!
2: CLOTHES- I think I might have some sort of issue with clothes. They have come up in 2 consecutive posts now! They are something we cannot live without yet, they are costly on many different levels! Anyway, clothes need to be washed and dried. So, lets save some money and energy by hanging those lovely threads on a rack to dry! Line drying your clothes will save money; energy and your clothes will last longer! Using the dryer brakes down the fibers in your clothes, making them less durable.
Also, when you wash your clothes use cold water instead of hot or warm. I guarantee that your clothes get just as clean in cold water as they do in hot! Again, this save money, energy and your clothes will last longer!
One last suggestion on the dryer situation. If you really cant give up your fluffy soft clothes, throw in a big dry towel with your load. This will help absorb some of the moisture of the wet fabric and will cut down on your drying time!
3: LESS MEAT- Yes all you carnivores, eat less meat! This will cut down on your grocery bill and consuming less meat helps the environment. The production of beef and pretty much all meat is a HUGE pull on our lands, water and just the whole environment. I am not suggesting you stop all together, just try eating less of it! If you eat meat everyday try every other day or once or twice a week. If you only eat it once a week try twice a month! Also, when you do buy meat try and get it locally and/or organic. Often the smaller and organic farms/ranches have better practices than the large producers.
4: HEAT- Turn down your heat by one or two degrees. Most likely you will not even notice but when your monthly bill comes in you will be smiling from ear to ear! This will save you money and the planet!
5: DRIVING- Do less of this! You will save a load of cash, emissions and stay in shape! Walk that cute little ass down to the store or bike your way to the thrift shop for that cool item that you just cant live without!
6: THRIFT SHOPS- Ok, thrifting is my life, as you all know! But, I really cannot stress this enough! REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE!!!! When you need something whether it is clothes, drinking glasses, plates, dish rack, a cool knick-knack…..GO TO A THRIFT SHOP! This saves money and you are using things that are here, on this planet!
So, guess that is it for now! Feel free to comment, make other suggestions or just do these things! They are easy and should not disturb your life all that much!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Day 75
Hello All! Yes, I am still alive and so is the Epiphany!! Although it has been a while, I do have a GREAT excuse for not having posted in a while. I had to move...it was a very stressful and long endeavor but, its done and it has inspired this post!
So at some point we all have to move. Sometimes it is because you buy a house, just want a new space or in my case wanted to save some cash! No matter what the reason there are things that you should keep in mind during and after your moving process.
1st...if you know you are going to move in advance try and go through your "stuff" and think about how you will use it in your new space or not use it. If you do this it will save you time for the move to come and it will give you a chance to recycle some of these items. If you know you don't want that old dresser in the darkest corner of the garage, take it to goodwill or a friend that could use it. While your loading it into your vehicle make sure to take as much as you can at once to make one trip instead of several. This will save you gas, time and emissions! How great is that!
2nd...this can apply to anyone at anytime in their life not just during those annoying moving days. CLOTHES...many of us have way more than we need or use. There are several things you can do with these articles that seem to take up so much storage space. Take some of those clothes to a thrift shop! Let someone else enjoy them! Another option is giving them to an adoring friend or sibling that will appreciate them (I am insanely lucky to have a sister and friends with great taste and too many clothes!). My other suggestion is if you have some clothes that are really worth some money and you don't want to give them away..put them on ebay or get those rock'in threads on consignment in your local boutique.
3...Don't worry this one will have photos! My last topic is to keep an open mind about how your stuff will fit into your new space. For example: we have this great piece of furniture that we received from a family member. It is very old and heavy as all get out, it also needs to be refinished but it is very cool. In the past I have just used it as a place to put my pictures and plants. Our new house has very limited storage in the kitchen and we don't have enough space for all of our food storage so, instead of having pretty much no purpose I have made this our storage for dry food, cook books, plants and yes wine! It looks great and I feel good about using it for this instead of buying something new!
So, the rest of these pictures just have ideas on moving and not buying new things for your space but using used goods! Enjoy!
Our new house is far from new it is probably one of the original mill houses in Bend! It has been a rental for quite a while and it shows! It look pretty cute though. So, most of the windows do not have coverings. This front window actually had a shade but it was hung off center. Luckily I have a wonderful friend that had some used but great curtains that help hide some of these blemishes. Also, there was not a rod to hang them but, Bob found a rod in the garage that works perfect.
These are some more curtains that were given to us to use, used!
So every house you move into usually needs something that you didn't need in your old house! For me, this time it was a dishwasher. I don't use the dishwasher (when I have one) for washing dishes but as a drying rack. So, without a dishwasher I had no drying rack. I got this at Goodwill. No, its not stainless steel or any fancy brand name but you would not believe how well it dries my dishes! WOW!
Well, guess that is it for now! If you have any other moving suggestions that stay on the reuse, reduce, recycle topic please...make comments. This is a great topic that could use some more effective and efficient ideas for all us peeps!
So at some point we all have to move. Sometimes it is because you buy a house, just want a new space or in my case wanted to save some cash! No matter what the reason there are things that you should keep in mind during and after your moving process.
1st...if you know you are going to move in advance try and go through your "stuff" and think about how you will use it in your new space or not use it. If you do this it will save you time for the move to come and it will give you a chance to recycle some of these items. If you know you don't want that old dresser in the darkest corner of the garage, take it to goodwill or a friend that could use it. While your loading it into your vehicle make sure to take as much as you can at once to make one trip instead of several. This will save you gas, time and emissions! How great is that!
2nd...this can apply to anyone at anytime in their life not just during those annoying moving days. CLOTHES...many of us have way more than we need or use. There are several things you can do with these articles that seem to take up so much storage space. Take some of those clothes to a thrift shop! Let someone else enjoy them! Another option is giving them to an adoring friend or sibling that will appreciate them (I am insanely lucky to have a sister and friends with great taste and too many clothes!). My other suggestion is if you have some clothes that are really worth some money and you don't want to give them away..put them on ebay or get those rock'in threads on consignment in your local boutique.
3...Don't worry this one will have photos! My last topic is to keep an open mind about how your stuff will fit into your new space. For example: we have this great piece of furniture that we received from a family member. It is very old and heavy as all get out, it also needs to be refinished but it is very cool. In the past I have just used it as a place to put my pictures and plants. Our new house has very limited storage in the kitchen and we don't have enough space for all of our food storage so, instead of having pretty much no purpose I have made this our storage for dry food, cook books, plants and yes wine! It looks great and I feel good about using it for this instead of buying something new!
So, the rest of these pictures just have ideas on moving and not buying new things for your space but using used goods! Enjoy!
Our new house is far from new it is probably one of the original mill houses in Bend! It has been a rental for quite a while and it shows! It look pretty cute though. So, most of the windows do not have coverings. This front window actually had a shade but it was hung off center. Luckily I have a wonderful friend that had some used but great curtains that help hide some of these blemishes. Also, there was not a rod to hang them but, Bob found a rod in the garage that works perfect.
These are some more curtains that were given to us to use, used!
So every house you move into usually needs something that you didn't need in your old house! For me, this time it was a dishwasher. I don't use the dishwasher (when I have one) for washing dishes but as a drying rack. So, without a dishwasher I had no drying rack. I got this at Goodwill. No, its not stainless steel or any fancy brand name but you would not believe how well it dries my dishes! WOW!
Well, guess that is it for now! If you have any other moving suggestions that stay on the reuse, reduce, recycle topic please...make comments. This is a great topic that could use some more effective and efficient ideas for all us peeps!
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