Ways to be Green

Enough about cloth diapers (for now anyway). Let's discuss some ways to be green. Most are pretty simple, but some take a little extra work.

• Get reuseable grocery bags for the store. Plastic bags use a ton of energy, crude oil, and produce a ton of waste. Bad on every level.
• Don't get receipts at the ATM, gas station, etc. If everyone stopped doing this, we would save a ton of trees.
• Turn off lights and appliances when not in use. Lots of appliances, like VCRs, DVD players, etc., go on standby instead of turning all the way off, so watch for that. Our DVD player and stereo have off buttons that turn them off standby too.
• Try to buy items that are free of a lot of excess packaging. For example, buy sliced cheese that is not individually wrapped. Try to avoid any "single serving" or individually wrapped things.
• Clean with vinegar, tea tree oil, lemon juice and other all natural items.
• Buy as much organic as you can afford.
• Shop at your local farmers market to help reduce packaging and transportation. Or grow your own veggies in the summer.
• Shop locally.
• Limit the amount of things you buy on the internet (transportation and packaging).
• Compost.
• Grasscycle (leaving grass on your lawn as you mow).
• Consume less meat and dairy.
• Use natural means of keeping pests out of your garden/lawn.
• Consider reducing the amount of lawn you have or planting native grasses.
• Use a Diva Cup or the like and cloth pads.
• Use cloth rags for cleaning the kitchen counters/wiping off your hands after eating instead of paper towels.
• Try using old baby wash cloths as toilet paper for pee only. You'd be amazed at how nice it feels "down there" and how much you save on toilet paper.
• Buy energy efficient appliances.
• Replace old light bulbs with florescent.

If you have more tips you'd like to add, feel free to reply and I will add them!