1)Recycle! Recycle everything you can....check with your local waste management/recycling program...they all have websites and see what else you can NOT send to the landfill.
Buying items made with recycled products just makes sooo much sense too.
2)USE LESS! Even better than recycling what you use...try to use less of the things that NEVER or take years to break down in the landfill: plastic bottles, paper, and the one thing that irritates me as much as smelly people: Styrofoam.
AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS. I am convinced that this was developed by Satan himself. IT never, ever decomposes. If we have a nuclear attack, all that will be left is cockroaches AND Styrofoam.
*buy items in bulk= less packaging. Saves $$ and resources.
Water bottles: another pet peeve of mine....
I know so many people are addicted to drinking bottles of water...when most of us have perfectly good drinking water at home. Do you know how much energy and petroleum it takes just to produce the bottles??? WAY TOO MUCH. Remember where we get MOST of our oil from? really, do we want to keep our world dependent on those places for our oil...for making plastic bottles?
I think NOT. It only took a minute for my Jason to see the err of his plastic bottle dependency. Yeah!! for Jason...spread the word !!! This saves $$$$$ and non renewable resources too.
Something
"Approximately 1.5 million barrels of oil—enough to run 100,000 cars for a
whole year—are used to make plastic water bottles, while transporting these
bottles burns even more oil."
3) DITCH THE PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS!!
I know you have heard this from me before.....seriously, this is the easiest step to take. If I see YOU out there toting your 65 plastic bags (when 3 reusable ones would have fit it all) I will "accidentally" bump your ankles with my cart. Ok, I won't really bump your ankles...but I will be thinking about it and that is just as bad.
And no whinning about how you forget them in your car. I will hear none of that. ;)
I realize some people need them for waste bag liners...a few are ok, but you can really make it just a few a month. right? Don't you all love your home planet?
.99 cents goes alooooonnggggg way with some nice bags.
4) LIGHT BULBS. Switch out some, if not all of your light bulbs to the eco friendly bulbs. Sure, they are not pretty...but what is more important? pretty light bulbs or a longer life for our earth??? hmmm....
These are just the top 4 items on my brain today...anyone care to add to the list????
OH my dear blogging friend....
ReplyDeleteDon't read my post today....
sandy toe
I knew you would be all over this topic today!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips. I use mt own shopping bags and get a nickle back in return from my store. :)
Those eco-friendly bulbs REALLY cut your power bill too. If you won't do it for the Earth do it for your wallet!
ReplyDeleteWe've changed out our 'frequently used bulbs' with those swirly ones. And I bought wash cloths that I use in place of paper towels most of the time. I draw the line at raw meat though. lol I use plastic bags though. I need to work on that. Its hard to reconcile my "I want to get the heck out of Walmart" feelings with my "here, use this nice bag that will save the planet but take twice as long to load" feelings. But I'm working on it. The biggest thing is, yes, they could pack that puppy full up, compared to putting three items in a plastic bag. That bugs me to pieces.
ReplyDeletewalgrens is giving away a free reusualbe bag today for earth day.
ReplyDeleteI ride my bicycle. Not practical in a lot of places but I live in a small town. So I load the backpack for whatever errands I need to run and pedal to the post office or bank....
ReplyDeleteI taught my Daughter-In-Law how to recycle. She has taught her three daughter how to recycle. The daughters have encourged their friends to recycle.... that's where the "cycle" begins. Earth day is everyday!
ReplyDeleteI love our home planet Bee. Oh, yes I do! Thank you for caring so much about our world! XO
ReplyDeleteoh you are looking so green green green today!
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous photograph. Where did you find that? It reminds me of the astronaut who said that seeing Earth from space changed his life - his perspective - literally.
ReplyDeleteI need to look into your baking soda idea. Do you have a link to something like "1000 Uses for Baking Soda?" I am sure you do...
My brother-in-law told me recently that he washes his wood floors with vinegar and water. I tried it this week, and it's awesome! Happy Earth Day! XO
karenBerger asked about uses of baking soda....here is a link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gomestic.com/Homemaking/15-Uses-for-Baking-Soda.32410
I use it mostly for cleaning my grout (with a bit of soapy water) and for cleaning my marble shower floor...also great for the stains in your coffee pot and my stainless sink!!
Baking soda is mildy abrasive, so it lifts dirt without scratching!
I've been doing as Busy Bee told me,
ReplyDeleteWon't Busy Bee, be so proud of me?!
Let's see I have started carrying a reusable bag with me to work to use when I pick up a few things on the way out.
We bought the girls reusable bottles for their lunch boxes, no more individual water bottles or juice drinks to throw away every day.
Bought reusable plastic containers for things like apple sauce and fruit for lunch boxes too. Really trying to cut down on individual pre-packaged food, for cost and environmental reasons.
Also no more water bottles for my kids who go through them like crazy, INSIDE our own house! I'm training them to drink from a cup, such an accomplishment at 10 and 6. LOL!
Thank you for nagging us all about this issue Suz!
Hi Suz, I thought you would blog about Earth Day/Week... Recycling is so important. Other things which come to mind: Quit using your dryer so much.. I hang things on a rack and over the tub. (We are not allowed to hang clothes on a line outside in our community.) Turn your thermostat on cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer. We seldom use either since we have a wood-burning fireplace and we use lots of fans in the summer. One more thing: buy a hybrid auto-- and get away from the gas-guzzlers.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a great week/weekend. Hope you got your leak fixed.
We are glad to be home.. It was a wonderful trip --just getting to see my son and family. BUT--the weather was horrible. Oh Well!!!!
I'm going to check through some of your older blog posts.
Hugs,
Betsy
I think you covered as much as I could have. :) Every little bit helps.
ReplyDeleteYay! I *love* this post! Come visit my blog for my earth-friendly/money-saving ideas today. :)
ReplyDeleteI thought of you this morning Suz. I got an e-mail regarding the aluminum foil rebate!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on all of it. I recently switched from plastic shopping bags to the material ones. Love them and they fit way more in there than the plastic ones anyway. The least amounts of trips from the car please.
I used to use plastic cups to drink out of. You know the party kind. I stopped buying them last year and use a plastic washable cup instead. That was a no brainer. I almost never use a water bottle unless I'm out somewhere and don't have a drink. It is such a waste.
LOVED your comment on my last post about wearing a helmet, knee pads and elbow pads. So true. You cracked me up when I read it.
HAPPY EARTH DAY!!
Much love from NJ,
Sue
xoxo
Green is definitely your color...
ReplyDeleteGood tips. I would go along with those who have suggested walking or biking whenever possible. I commuted by bike most of my working years and actually enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteyay for me. i'm green too. i recycle everything. i conserve energy where i can and i reuse/donate what i don't need.
ReplyDeletemy carbon footprint is shrinking.
happy earth day fellow human beings.
:-)
You inspire me!
ReplyDeleteI luuuurve my reusable shopping bags... you can fit a ton of stuff in there, you never have to worry about plastic splitting and ripping, they're easier to carry and the list goes on. Yey!
ReplyDeleteAs for paper... it's totally decomposable, it's made of wood and stuff. Specially if you use recycled paper, nothing wrong with that. Just not paper plates though :-D
ps: styrofoam has got to be the nastiest invention EVAR. I totally agree!!
hah! guess what all the hospitals use here? strofrikkinfoam! no lie! one would think a corporation like that would want to set an example. even thogh some of us have pointed it out in our bulletin... nope. they dont care.
ReplyDeletewe are green here in our home, too.
happy earth day to all of you humans too!
we are all ONE.
C
I knew I got a view of this post yesterday!!
ReplyDeleteI was GREEN before it was in vogue...I have canvas shopping bags from 16 years ago...and then they were about $5-6 each...now there are very cool ones for $1-2...and I have made some really cool Mother Earth bags...perhaps I should've given one of those away in today's drawing to honor my Blogiversary instead of a chick towel!
Happy Earth Day!!
check with the plastic bags, check with the bulbs, check with the water bottles (got a brita filter) and now I have no money so there is no extra stuff of any kind
ReplyDeleteI love reusable bags too!! And there's so many cute ones out there!
ReplyDeleteP.S. You have to come check out my "rock" story on my log cabin blog. When I was telling it - for some reason it reminded me of you and I think you would get a kick out of it! :-)