Earth Day

Remember this post, about my Green List? Well, in celebration of today being Earth Day I wanted to re visit this list and see if there was anything else we could cross off our green list and see where we've improved. I'm happy to say that we've made improvements since then. 

I love all the "green" changes we've made in our lifestyle in the last two years. It all started with me trying to have a better diet and eat more organically and turned into something much more for our household that I ever imagined. 

For us, it's all been about making small changes here and there that have made the difference. So, check out the list, print it off and see where you can make greener, better changes to your lives. 

Happy Earth Day!! 

1. Plant an herb garden. It’s good to have a reminder around of where our food originates.

2. Switch all your light bulbs to CFLs (or at least switch a few). [one of the first things we did in our home]

3. Create a homemade compost bin.

4. Switch one appliance to an energy efficient model (look for the "energy start" label).

5. Stop using disposable bags - order some reusable bags, or make your own. [I got a ton of these for free at a local fair]

6. Buy a reusable water bottle, and stop buying plastic disposable bottles.

7. Wash laundry in cold water instead of hot.

8. Turn off lights when you leave the room.

9. Don’t turn on lights at all for as long as you can - open your curtains and enjoy natural light.

10. Drive the speed limit, and combine all your errands for the week in one trip.

11. Better yet, walk or ride a bike to your errands that are two miles or closer.

12. Support your local economy and shop at your farmer's market.

13. Turn off your computer completely at night. [saves energy & your computer life]

14. Research whether you can sign up for green power from your utility company.

15. Pay as many bills as possible online. [saves stamps and money]

16. Put a stop to unsolicited mail - sign up to opt out of pre-screened credit card offers.

17. Reuse scrap paper. Print on two sides, or let your kids color on the back side of used paper.

18. Conduct a quick energy audit of your home.

19. Subscribe to good eco blogs.

20. Before buying anything new, first check your local Craigslist or Freecycle.

21. Support local restaurants that use food derived less than 100 miles away, and learn more about the benefits of eating locally.

22. Fix leaky faucets.

23. Make your own household cleaners. [a lot of fun & cheap too]

24. Line dry your laundry.

25. Watch The Story of Stuff with your kids, and talk about the impact your household trash has on our landfills.

26. Learn with your kids about another country or culture, expanding your knowledge to other sides of the world.

28. Lower the temperature on your hot water heater.

29. Unplug unused chargers and appliances.

30. Repurpose something.

31. Collect rainwater, and use it to water your houseplants and garden.

32. Switch to cloth diapers - or at least do a combination with disposables.

33. Switch to shade-grown coffee with the “Fair Trade" label.

34. Use a Diva Cup your monthly cycles.

35. Make rags out of old towels and t-shirts, and forego buying paper towels.

36. Use cloth napkins daily instead of paper.

37. Read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and open your eyes to the way conventional food is processed.

38. Repurpose glass jars as leftover containers and bulk storage.

39. Five-minute showers - make it a goal for yourself.

40. Donate to - and shop at - thrift stores such as Goodwill. You’ll be recycling perfectly usable items, and you’ll be supporting your local economy.

41. Bring your own reusable coffee travel cups to the coffee shop.

42. Reuse paper products (like toilet paper rolls) for arts and crafts.

43. Use Bio Bags for your pet’s you know what. [our HOA provides these so it's easy]

44. Use covers or upside down plates when storing food in the fridge instead of plastic wrap.

45. Reuse the plastic containers food comes in (like yogurt) to store your own leftovers.

46. Keep your heat as low as possible [hello, you have blankets right?]

47. Open a window before turning on the AC. 

48. Don’t throw away anything before offering on FreeCycle.

49. Use half a dryer sheet.

50. Use reusable containers instead of baggies in lunch boxes. [hubby does this well]

51. Buy bulk.

52. Garden

53. See trash? Pick it up!

54. Volunteer

55. Make cloth sandwich bags.

56. Eat more vegetarian meals.

57. Can your own fruits and veggies.

58. Carpool.

59. Bring your own silverware to work.

60. Use a reusable lunch box. 

61. Ditch plastic freezer bags and go with reusable containers.

62. Turn off the water when brushing your teeth. 

63. Buy concentrated laundry detergent.

64. Go with a tankless hot water heater.

65. Eat out less. [this is easy for us, since we hardly eat out at all]

66. Use used coffee grounds as fertilizer

67. Place a brick in your toilet take to use less water

68. Never run your dishwasher if it’s not full.

69. Have cats? Try green kitty litter. [we don't have cats.]

70. Bring your own tupperware for leftovers at a restaurant.

71. Freeze leftovers.

72. Use yogurt and pudding cups for crafts or seedlings.

73. Air dry your dishes or turn off the heat cycle on your dishwasher

74. Recharge your batteries

75. Dispose of unrechargeable batteries with other hazardous waste

76. Cover your pots when cooking 

77. Use pressure cookers and steamers

78. Take a shower instead of a bath

79. Use a low flow showerhead

80. Buy smart - a 1.5 liter bottle requires less energy to produce than three 0.5 liter bottles

81. Buy recycled paper products

82. Plant a tree

83. Plant scrubs around your home to help keep your house cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter

84. Buy a programmable thermostat

85. Recycle

86. Stop food waste

87. Ditch the carpet for natural hardwood (sustainably harvested of course) or a natural carpet, like wool 

88. When painting choose low or no VOC paints and make sure the dyes used in the paint areVOC free

89. Unplug your appliances when not in use

90. Buy recyclable plastic only

91. Fill up your fridge and freezer - use bottles of water to fill up space if needed

92. Instead of drive through, park and go inside to save running the car while ordering

93. Insulate water pipes

94. Insulate your water heater

95. Insulate your roof space

96. Use cold water instead of hot to wash hands etc

97. Buy recycled glass


image credit: google.com

Free Tip of the Week: Ways to Save

This week's FREE tip comes from my frugal shopping finds! Last week I discovered that many stores are now giving discounts if you bring in your own reusable shopping bags for your goods instead of leaving the store with one of their plastic ones.

At World Market they also give a discount for using their bags,

and 3 times a year they have special sales if you bring in your bag

you can fill the whole thing for 15-20% off. Check their website to

see when these local Specials come around!

At Target they give 5 cents off every time you use a reusable bag,

and it doesn't have to be one of theirs it can be any ole reusable bag!

At my local Albertsons they give a discount per bag!

It's 10 cents per bag you bring in, if you have a lot of groceries

this could be very awesome for you! But still I say every bit

can help! Check your local grocery store and see if they offer

these same awesome discounts!

Going Green; Refill your Ink!

Maybe you already do this, but I am discovering this for the first time. I've always heard about refilling your ink cartridges. My Mom does it, I don't know why I didn't do it sooner. Well, I ran out of ink, and decided to give this a go. Tons of places refill ink cartridges (Office Max, Staples, Walgreen's) just to name a few. 

I headed over to my local Walgreen's, and in 40 minutes I had newly refilled ink cartridges for half the price! If that isn't enough to make you want to do this, I don't know what is. Plus, I got a coupon for 50% off the next time I refill! (you know how I love coupons) 

Pretty worth it to me, going green and saving green at the same time! 

Free Tip of the Week; Being Green!

Ok, here's my FREE tip of the week; snag yourself one of these awesome canvas totes for your weekly trip to the Farmer's Market or the grocery store!

How can you do this, you might ask? By taking this simple 9 question online survey about recycling! Hands on Twin Cities, is a volunteer based organization that seeks to place people in volunteer roles all over the Twin Cities area, and promote volunteering around the state. They are partnering with :

To bring you this awesome program! Click here, to take the survey and get your own bag! Now, it's not a scan, it's not funny or anything, (as I've taken the survey myself) just a really cool program and you might learn a lot by taking the survey and learning to live a little greener! It's simple, fast and FREE! Who doesn't love that. They are adorable totes, if I might add.

Living Green=Saving Green!

Since making a few small changes in our home, I've seen drastic improvements in our home that I never thought I would have. Mostly in way of our bills, and how much energy we consume. Cutting, and making small changes in our home has allowed us to save some BIG green cash! Which I love, always! I'm pretty sure Orion thought I was nuts when I went around unplugging every small electronic device that we weren't using. But, after a few short couple weeks and a much improved electric bill he's caught on with me and become a very big supporter of this new way of living greener! For example, (just so you can see how serious this is) our electric/gas bill has been well over $100 for the last couple months. This month our bill was $71!!! Can you believe that! I was so excited, and inspired! Here's how we're doing it:

- we've turned our thermostat down just two degrees and kept it steady at that same temp. If you don't mess with it, or turn it off and then on again and keep it on auto always that helps. Also, since it's getting nicer now we don't need the heat on, so we've turned it completely off. If I get cold, (which I usually do at night) we keep a stack of blankets beside the couch to add warmth.
- we only run the dishwasher when it's full, and instead of using the heat setting we just let the dishes air dry.
- shaved 2 minutes each off our shower time in the mornings.
- Did you know keeping things like your toaster, blender, coffee pot, etc. plugged in all the time into outlets consumes energy even when you're not using them? Well, we've been unplugging those things until we're using them. Also we have all our t.v., DVD player, etc. all on a power strip that can be turned off when we're not using them.
- Let the light in!! Take advantage of all the natural sun light you have during the day, open the curtains and blinds. I've been doing this for a few weeks now, and turning off all lights when we're not in rooms, and just using the lamps instead of the over head lights all the time at night! Also, changing all your light bulbs to CFL bulbs can save tons of energy!
- I was clothes about every 2 weeks. I've been doing this for most of my life living on my own, and now into marriage. That alone, saves tons of water and energy not doing laundry weekly. Also change your water temp to a warm/cold setting instead of the hot setting will save energy and water too! Hang clothes to dry as much as possible!

These are small changes we've made that you can make to! I'm so excited to be saving some money and the earth in the process! Long term, I'd love to invest in Energy Star appliances for my home, but for now these are small things we can do to make a BIG difference and save money at the same time!