Virtual NFL makeover

[grnbn76]

What are the first things you would suggest to a person trying to switch from mainstream home care to more NFL? Assume the person has already made the switch from mainstream parenting and wants to make the switch from mainstream living, too.
What are the first things you would suggest? What are the most important? What are the easiest things to change? What are the hardest things to change?

[linnea]

Switching from disposable products like paper towels, napkins, cleaning wipes, etc to cloth. Easy and inexpensive to do, and it really makes a difference if your family goes through as many paper towels as mine used to!

Lemon juice, baking soda, white vinegar and tea tree oil, in various combinations, can clean just about anything. There are some great books/resources about home cleaning with natural products.

If you have a yard, compost your kitchen scraps. (This leads directly to 'Grow your own vegetables' and it's a slippery slope from there... )

Looking forward to reading what others have to say!

[PikkuMyy]

ITA with Linnea (also reuse paper bags for grocery shopping or instead, buy some canvas totes) and I'd add:

for disposable products like toilet paper, switch to recycled - trader joe's has really cheap recycled toiletpaper. Also use recycled plastic garbage bags, or better yet, there are ones made of cellulose that easily compost - we get them at the health food store.

Instead of petroleum-based artificially-scented dish and laundry products, switch to plant-based soaps from companies like Ecover, 7th Generation, Tree of Life, Country _____ (?). Check out all of the brands at your health food store. I buy in bulk and save money that way (like a gallon of tree of life dishwashing liquid at once which I use to refill a small bottle on the sink.)

If you do these four things, you've already made a huge difference in the amount of resources, electricity, etc. used.

You can also switch some of your lightbulbs to compact flourescent - we've had ours for four years and they'll probably last another four. Ours only use 11-20 watts instead of 60-120 watts.

Congrats on the journey! Once you get into it, you can't stop! We haven't gotten to the veggie growing stage yet but we have a compost heap in the yard...

[carlasher]

Originally Posted by linnea

Switching from disposable products like paper towels, napkins, cleaning wipes, etc to cloth. Easy and inexpensive to do, and it really makes a difference if your family goes through as many paper towels as mine used to!

Lemon juice, baking soda, white vinegar and tea tree oil, in various combinations, can clean just about anything. There are some great books/resources about home cleaning with natural products.

If you have a yard, compost your kitchen scraps. (This leads directly to 'Grow your own vegetables' and it's a slippery slope from there... )

Looking forward to reading what others have to say!

I love those ides but what if it is cheaper to use paper than cloth? I am speaking in terms of laundry; and we have coin-op :, and killer stairs to climb up and down to do laundry. Also, we have no yard for kitchen scraps (though we used to compost when we did). What does one do w/o a yard?

[girlndocs]

Originally Posted by carlasher

we have no yard for kitchen scraps (though we used to compost when we did). What does one do w/o a yard?

You might try Googling "worm bin" or "worm box" I don't know if that's something you'd be interested in doing, but it's one option.

[carlasher]

Originally Posted by girlndocs

You might try Googling "worm bin" or "worm box" I don't know if that's something you'd be interested in doing, but it's one option.

Cute! I love worms, but live in an apartment where even that may be a problem. We dont have a plot of dirt to put the box on, nor any space at all. I think we will use this when we move though.

http://gardening.wsu.edu/stewardship...comp/worm1.htm

[EnviroBecca]

For paper products that you can't replace w/cloth due to the laundry expense, buy recycled unbleached versions in bulk. You may be able to get a deal on a case from your local store (esp. if it's a co-op) but if not, buy online. You can stash a case of toilet paper in a closet, under a table, etc. Not only do you save money by buying in bulk, but you don't have to worry about running out for a LONG time!

Remember that for some cloth products, you will not use as many as you would of the paper version. Handkerchiefs are a good example: When my nose is extremely runny, a tissue is good for ONE nose-blowing (and often not even that!), but I can blow my nose at least 3 times into a flannel hanky before it has no dry spots. For routine healthy nose-wiping, the same spots on a hanky can be used over again after they've dried, whereas a tissue gets much too gross and falls apart. And hankies are so small that you won't notice the addition to your laundry.

My other suggestion for your makeover is to walk around your house looking for ways you are wasting resources. What's in your trash--could you reduce the amount of it that you use, replace it w/something durable, recycle it, or use each one more than once? Do you really need so many lights on? Could you wash dishes in a way that uses less water and soap (hints: Soak! Do not leave water running!)? Could you line-dry your laundry?

See The Evolution of an Environmentalist for ideas on how to make a gradual transition.

[carlasher]

Recycled paper products - that I do anyway. Unfortunately, we dont have the space for bulk products, but dont mind buying them more often.

Hankys - I always use them. Thanks to estate sales, I have dozens of vintage hankys

Line drying - I really wish we can do that, but lack the space

Recycling - that has never been a problem

Reuse - Since I do a lot of mailing and shipping, I love to reuse padded mailers, large envelopes, etc.

I reuse all of my bottles of castile soap and refill them at Whole Foods bulk section.

We also reuse all of our Trader Joes, Berkeley Bowl, etc paper bags (the ones with the handle on them) up to three times for grocery store trips.

[pageta]

Just do a few things at a time. I'm slowly getting rid of my strong cleaning products. I now wash my bathroom sink with the soap that has built up on the soap dish (we use bar soap). I swish my toilet every day (brush it with the brush) so no more toilet bowl cleaner. I've switched to cloth for myself, but haven't switched in the kitchen yet. I'd like to, but just haven't used up the current supply or come up with a replacement I'm happy with. As you look around, you'll see things and just integrate them one by one as you feel comfortable doing.

[Lisa Scott]

We've been making the switch over the past several months and it's been extremely easy.

Easy
1. Grocery Items - We happen to live within a mile of Whole Foods and Trader Joe's so this is easy and doesn't require any more effort than going to Safeway or other regular store.

2. Cleaning Items - Same this as above. Have made switch to Seventh Generation.

3. Clothing - A friend turned me onto pangaya.com which is my new favorite site for clothing for me and the kids. Have other stuff too. As we shopped online before this didn't take any effort.

4. Swich to energy efficient lights. No brainer.

Difficult
1. Cars - We have two and can't live without them. Will switch to hybrid for the next ones though.

2. Heating & A/C - When it's 90 degress inside it's hard not to turn on the A/C. Same when it's cold. Stil haven't been able to do without.

3. Running Shoes - Good luck finding a good pair that don't come from a company with a history of labor abuse.

[carlasher]

Originally Posted by Lisa Scott

Difficult
1. Cars - We have two and can't live without them. Will switch to hybrid for the next ones though.

2. Heating & A/C - When it's 90 degress inside it's hard not to turn on the A/C. Same when it's cold. Stil haven't been able to do without.

3. Running Shoes - Good luck finding a good pair that don't come from a company with a history of labor abuse.

1. Cars - Yes that is hard. Hybrids are so pricey new, but with gas at $2.50 something a gal...I wish they would make a wagon, I would really consider it then.

2. When its cold, it is hard for us. I will invest in a down comfortor for the bed, but energy is so expensive where we live - we just freeze. :LOL

3. If anyone knows of any company that make running shoes for severly flat feet - please let me know. I will pay up to $150.

[grnmtnmama]

I think it's important to take it slowly and adopt things into your life in a way that doesn't burn you out. switching cleaning supplies is an easy thing to do. so much of your cleaning can be done using plain water, vinegar, baking soda and dr. bonners. use a sponge instead of paper towels to clean.

as you use up your mainstream products, switch over and take the time to figure out what's going to work for you.

[LisaSueandBabyBoy]

I have just started this transition myself this year...so I can share where I started and what I've done.
I think I started with the food-switched to as much organic food as I can afford. It was mainly because I wanted to make my son's baby food and realized how important what I was feeding him and how that needed to not have all kinds of crap in it. So then I thought, if my son is going to eat healthy, then my husband and I need to also. So I started buying organic.
Then I started to CD. I was nervous, I said I wouldn't do it at daycare (and now I do-I'm the director of my son's daycare and am proud to have peaked some interest or at least curiousity). The thing about CDing is that it's fun and cute-and so that makes it an easy change.
Then we actually started to recycle seriously. It took some getting used to and some nagging DH to dig out those cans he'd thrown in the trash. But now...gradually...we have two huge recyling bins on the curb and don't have to put our garbage out every week.
Then I started to think about my cleaning products. Again, another big motivating factor was my son-why was I cleaning my home with all of these dangerous chemicals? So I tried some different things, started with 7th Generation, and then moved on to Dr. Bronners, baking soda, and vinegar...I clean most of my house with just those things.
I'm still working on it. I am not really crunchy like most of the women here. But that was how I started.