I am inspired by Andrea and Philip's new blog, particularly with their focus on living intentionally. Since I like making lists, I thought I would make a list of the things that Greg and I do in an effort to leave a smaller carbon footprint, use fewer resources, and live sustainably. Making lists is also a good way of seeing what may be left out, so perhaps we'll figure out a few more changes we can make. Please let us know what you do to live simply and sustainably--we are always looking for new ideas!
Here we go (in no particular order)!
1. Eat a minimum of meat. We are not vegetarians, but we limit our meat intake to a minimum. We cook with it perhaps once-ish per week.
2. Walk or bike to work 99% of the time. Every once in awhile I need to drive for a work meeting or errand, but that is very rare. Greg always walks to work or takes the bus between campuses.
3. Dry our laundry on racks in the winter and outside on a line in the summer. (Dryers use an incredible amount of electricity. The difference not using a dryer makes on our electric bill is significant.)
4. Shower only every other day.
5. Take relatively short showers (it helps that our hot water runs out after about 11 minutes!).
6. Recycle everything we possibly can--paper, aluminum, tin, newsprint, cardboard, plastic, glass.
7. Use canvas bags when we go shopping (grocery store, Ace Hardware, Goodwill, etc.).
8. Keep the thermostat at 56 at night and 62 during the day in the winter. (Let's just say we have a good supply of fleeces, pajama pants, slippers, warm robes, and blankets! Though we do turn the heat up to a balmy 65 when we have guests.)
9. No air conditioning, though we do use fans in the summer. We are fortunate to have three mature maple trees in the yard just west of our house, which does wonders to keep our home cool in the summer months. It rarely gets above 70 degrees on the main floor.
10. Compost everything we possibly can--egg shells, vegetable matter, tea bags, even some paper products. We also get compost from Greg's parents (who live in bear country) and several friends (who live in apartments). Composting has multiple advantages--not only do we keep organic nutrients from being stuck uselessly in a landfill, we gain rich soil for our yard and garden AND the trash is much less smelly, so we don't have to take it out until it's completely full.
11. Garden, garden, garden. We have converted about a third of our yard into garden space, so instead of wasting water on grass, we are nourishing plants that will provide us with healthy, organic, and VERY local food. Greg is amazingly motivated, and our garden space keeps expanding every year.
12. Walk to the grocery store, hardware store, post office, etc. We are fortunate enough to live in a neighborhood that's only a few blocks away from a commercial area and also within walking distance of downtown. We have even been able to choose a dentist and optometrist within walking distance.
13. Running multiple errands when we do drive. When we drop off our recycling, we may also go grocery shopping or run other errands that are easier with a car.
14. Purchasing products for our construction/home/yard projects from Home Resource, a local business that sells an amazing variety of used materials, from doors to windows to light fixtures to bricks. (See here for a blog post about how we built our greenhouse almost completely out of recycled materials.)
15. When we do buy meat, we try to make sure it is local, organic, and free-range, if possible. (We purchase chicken from a farmer friend, beef and sausage from a local meat and dairy farm, and bison from Montana, and we occasionally get a gift of venison from hunting friends: yum.)
16. Purchasing used rather than new items of all kinds--from furniture to dishware to clothing. Missoula has a good number of thrift stores, and we've gotten good at making the rounds when we are thinking of making a purchase. $50 couch from Goodwill? Yes, please! Craigslist and the "free" section in the paper have also been useful. The prices are MUCH better, and we're not supporting unsustainable practices (child labor, poor environmental practices, etc.).
17. I finally purchased a good supply of cloth menstrual pads from Glad Rags, which are not only better for the environment (I'm no longer filling landfills with disposable pads), but are better for my health as well (no nasty bleached cotton and other chemicals near sensitive parts of my body). To any wonderful women reading this, just check out the link above (there are other companies, too, of course--Lunapads is another good one.) There are an amazing array of earth-friendly, women-friendly products from cloth pads to Diva cups to sponge tampons, and this is definitely worth looking into.
18. We save hundreds of gallons of water per year by not flushing the toilet each time we use it. "If it's yellow, let it mellow . . . "
19. Reuse everything we possibly can. We save egg cartons and certain plastic containers (from spinach, fruit, etc.) to use as seed-starting containers and mini greenhouses. We reuse ziplock bags--it's been probably about two years since we've bought new ziplocks--and we also keep the ziplock bags that various foods come in (tortillas, nuts, etc.).
20. Collect water off the one section of our roof that has a gutter to put on the garden, trees, etc. We hope someday to install gutters on the rest of the roof and purchase a 500-gallon tank so we can collect ALL the water that comes off our roof.
21. Use soaker hoses instead of a sprinkler on our garden beds.
22. Plant water-wise native plants in our front landscaping.
23. Keep all of our leaves in the fall to use as mulch over the winter and in the spring.
24. One thing I've particularly enjoyed since moving to Missoula is having clothing exchanges (or "naked lady parties") with friends every few months. It's a great way to clean my closet of things I don't wear anymore, and get a few new outfits for free! All the leftover clothing we then take to the thrift store (usually Secret Seconds, as 100% profits go to the YWCA).
All this is a start, anyway. How about you? What do you do to live sustainably and intentionally?
Here we go (in no particular order)!
1. Eat a minimum of meat. We are not vegetarians, but we limit our meat intake to a minimum. We cook with it perhaps once-ish per week.
2. Walk or bike to work 99% of the time. Every once in awhile I need to drive for a work meeting or errand, but that is very rare. Greg always walks to work or takes the bus between campuses.
3. Dry our laundry on racks in the winter and outside on a line in the summer. (Dryers use an incredible amount of electricity. The difference not using a dryer makes on our electric bill is significant.)
4. Shower only every other day.
5. Take relatively short showers (it helps that our hot water runs out after about 11 minutes!).
6. Recycle everything we possibly can--paper, aluminum, tin, newsprint, cardboard, plastic, glass.
7. Use canvas bags when we go shopping (grocery store, Ace Hardware, Goodwill, etc.).
8. Keep the thermostat at 56 at night and 62 during the day in the winter. (Let's just say we have a good supply of fleeces, pajama pants, slippers, warm robes, and blankets! Though we do turn the heat up to a balmy 65 when we have guests.)
9. No air conditioning, though we do use fans in the summer. We are fortunate to have three mature maple trees in the yard just west of our house, which does wonders to keep our home cool in the summer months. It rarely gets above 70 degrees on the main floor.
10. Compost everything we possibly can--egg shells, vegetable matter, tea bags, even some paper products. We also get compost from Greg's parents (who live in bear country) and several friends (who live in apartments). Composting has multiple advantages--not only do we keep organic nutrients from being stuck uselessly in a landfill, we gain rich soil for our yard and garden AND the trash is much less smelly, so we don't have to take it out until it's completely full.
11. Garden, garden, garden. We have converted about a third of our yard into garden space, so instead of wasting water on grass, we are nourishing plants that will provide us with healthy, organic, and VERY local food. Greg is amazingly motivated, and our garden space keeps expanding every year.
12. Walk to the grocery store, hardware store, post office, etc. We are fortunate enough to live in a neighborhood that's only a few blocks away from a commercial area and also within walking distance of downtown. We have even been able to choose a dentist and optometrist within walking distance.
13. Running multiple errands when we do drive. When we drop off our recycling, we may also go grocery shopping or run other errands that are easier with a car.
14. Purchasing products for our construction/home/yard projects from Home Resource, a local business that sells an amazing variety of used materials, from doors to windows to light fixtures to bricks. (See here for a blog post about how we built our greenhouse almost completely out of recycled materials.)
15. When we do buy meat, we try to make sure it is local, organic, and free-range, if possible. (We purchase chicken from a farmer friend, beef and sausage from a local meat and dairy farm, and bison from Montana, and we occasionally get a gift of venison from hunting friends: yum.)
16. Purchasing used rather than new items of all kinds--from furniture to dishware to clothing. Missoula has a good number of thrift stores, and we've gotten good at making the rounds when we are thinking of making a purchase. $50 couch from Goodwill? Yes, please! Craigslist and the "free" section in the paper have also been useful. The prices are MUCH better, and we're not supporting unsustainable practices (child labor, poor environmental practices, etc.).
17. I finally purchased a good supply of cloth menstrual pads from Glad Rags, which are not only better for the environment (I'm no longer filling landfills with disposable pads), but are better for my health as well (no nasty bleached cotton and other chemicals near sensitive parts of my body). To any wonderful women reading this, just check out the link above (there are other companies, too, of course--Lunapads is another good one.) There are an amazing array of earth-friendly, women-friendly products from cloth pads to Diva cups to sponge tampons, and this is definitely worth looking into.
18. We save hundreds of gallons of water per year by not flushing the toilet each time we use it. "If it's yellow, let it mellow . . . "
19. Reuse everything we possibly can. We save egg cartons and certain plastic containers (from spinach, fruit, etc.) to use as seed-starting containers and mini greenhouses. We reuse ziplock bags--it's been probably about two years since we've bought new ziplocks--and we also keep the ziplock bags that various foods come in (tortillas, nuts, etc.).
20. Collect water off the one section of our roof that has a gutter to put on the garden, trees, etc. We hope someday to install gutters on the rest of the roof and purchase a 500-gallon tank so we can collect ALL the water that comes off our roof.
21. Use soaker hoses instead of a sprinkler on our garden beds.
22. Plant water-wise native plants in our front landscaping.
23. Keep all of our leaves in the fall to use as mulch over the winter and in the spring.
24. One thing I've particularly enjoyed since moving to Missoula is having clothing exchanges (or "naked lady parties") with friends every few months. It's a great way to clean my closet of things I don't wear anymore, and get a few new outfits for free! All the leftover clothing we then take to the thrift store (usually Secret Seconds, as 100% profits go to the YWCA).
All this is a start, anyway. How about you? What do you do to live sustainably and intentionally?
No surprises here because I've either witnessed these habits first hand or you have told me, but the list is impressive and gets me to think about changes Dad & I have made in recent years with similar goals. I'll have to try listing them soon and evaluate what more we can do.
ReplyDeleteYou and Dad do so much! It's been nice to create this list (I've been compiling it over the last week or so), and realize that we have incorporated a lot of sustainable, creation-friendly practices into our daily life. There's always more to do, but it's also good to remember what we ARE doing. When you make your list you may be surprised. :)
ReplyDeleteHoly cow. You're my hero. I wish we didn't use so much gas (Philip does really well--I do not). I'm not sure I could move to taking the bus when I already spend an hour on the road...it's something I'll have to think about. We did realize we're eating WAY less meat, and we're trying to buy meat responsibly when we do purchase it. Ditto to what Mom said--we'll have to make our own list. Thanks for the advertisement of our blog, too. :)
ReplyDeleteAmazing list! Our own to add:
ReplyDeleteMaking your own laundry detergent!
1 bar Ivory soap, 1 cup A&H Super Washing Soda, 1/2 cup Borax + water = 10 gallons of liquid laundry detergent for less than $2, and saves from the transportation and packaging materials if you were buying detergent at a store. Works really well, and our children definitely test it's cleaning ability...
I wondered about the safety of borax, but found a good article here
http://www.greenfootsteps.com/borax-information.html
and am happy to know all the ingredients in my detergent since most companies won't list what is in theirs.
Have you read anything on Super Wash Balls/Green Wash Balls/Eco Balls (all sold on Amazon)? Supposedly they ionize the water which naturally releases stains from fabric with no detergent needed. Each ball lasts at least a year. But I see a bunch of rave reviews while some say its just a hoax and does no better than sticking a rock in your washing machine. I've never tried them.
Also, "The ThriftyMama" did a challenge to go shampoo and conditioner free, showing safer alternatives:
http://www.thethriftymama.com/2010/08/ready-nopoo-challenge.html
And limiting junk mail--getting on the list to not receive credit card offers in postal mail and getting bills sent by email. No VOC paint and energy saving bulbs too when we moved into our house.
Hey Allison, this is an amazing list. I wish we could live without the air conditioner. :) We do, however keep our heat at 60 during the night and 66 during the day - we have littles and I didn't think we should turn it lower than that.
ReplyDeleteYou have some great ideas that I would like to start implementing: line drying clothes, shower every other day - I already do that but it's not because I'm thinking about the environment. :) Thanks for the insight and the encouragement to do more. :)
It's so great to see what other people are doing, too! Kristi--making your own laundry detergent is a great idea. We currently buy eco-friendly stuff, but haven't yet tried making our own--thanks for the recipe! Women's Voices for the Earth (a national organization based here in Missoula that works to eliminate toxic chemicals) has some great links to safe chemicals, alternative and make-your-own cleaning products: http://www.womensvoices.org/our-work/safe-cleaning-products/learn-more/.
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of the Super Wash Balls . . . but they definitely sound like they're worth looking into. I'll let you know if I try them out!
I'll check out the Thrifty Mama site, too--another one I hadn't heard of before. I haven't used shampoo for several years because it dries out curly hair, but I do still use conditioner.
Limiting junk mail: yes. We've done some of that, but there is definitely more we can do. Do you know of any good way to stop receiving mail from groups asking for money? I have enough address labels to last a lifetime . . . most of them with my name mis-spelled. :P
Jessica--I have a feeling that if we have kids in the house at some point, we'll be upping the heat, too. :)
Oh, and a couple other useful websites:
Environmental Working Group: http://www.ewg.org/
The EWG's cosmetics database, where you can type in a brand or product and see how it scores on toxicity: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/
Any other useful websites to check out?
I have started using Norwex cloths- work great for cleaning your face- and the house without chemicals! As far as laundry detergent- you don't need to use near what they have on the bottle/box either and your clothes will still be clean. We recycle our Ziploc bags as well, unless we have had raw meat in them-
ReplyDelete