Green Living Challenge: March 2007! - Page 4

[edensmama]

Originally Posted by sweetirishCT

:
subbing.. some really great ideas here, ladies!! keep em coming!!
Any of you who are off-grid, how did you convince your SO?? DH was raised in a family SO FAR from natural living, that I feel like every idea takes some SERIOUS convincing to talk him into trying it... For example, his counter to solar panels is that we will never recoup the cost of putting them in, and when I push using less fossil fuels, he keeps saying that 'global warming' is a scam (especially with the record low temps this winter : )...
Mostly I think he humors me to keep me happy...

It took me about 5 1/2 years to get Dh on the band wagon of Green Living. He still needs a little reminding or coaxing but for the most part has learned to live green. He doesn't think global warming is a scam...anymore. I would preach about our child's future and what the earth would be like for her at our age if we didn't recycle, compost, save energy etc.
Keep promoting green living and he will follow suit eventually. Good Luck!

[sweetirishCT]

Originally Posted by Jennisee

It seems that Feline Fresh is very popular in the Pets forum, but my grocery store doesn't carry it. The second most popular litter seems to be The World's Best Cat Litter. snozzberry, can you explain what you mean by not liking the smell? Does it not cover up the pee/poop smell well?

We use Feline Pine, and really like it... If you MUST be scoopable, they have a scoopable style, but I don't know what holds the clumps together. It really doesn't stink (the pine neutralizes the ammonia), and we have 2 cats and I am terrible at changing the box : ... Right now I am working the new cat into it, but so far so good!!

[Jennisee]

Originally Posted by sweetirishCT

We use Feline Pine, and really like it... If you MUST be scoopable, they have a scoopable style, but I don't know what holds the clumps together. It really doesn't stink (the pine neutralizes the ammonia), and we have 2 cats and I am terrible at changing the box : ... Right now I am working the new cat into it, but so far so good!!

This may be a silly question, but what do you do about the pee with a non-scoopable litter? Do you just leave it in the litter box and only scoop out the poop?

[Jay'smom]

I'm rethinking my car routine. It dawned on me this morning that I get into my car, start it, then put my sunglasses on, check the mirrors, change the cd, stow my purse, etc. The whole time the car is running. So, I am now making an effort to do all of this piddly stuff before I start the car. Even if it saves a minute or two a day, that's 6-12 hours a year. Or, I'll start the car then remember I've left something and run back in to get it. So now I am taking a minute to think before starting the car to make sure I haven't left anything.

Even though it's in a garage, I still let it run for a minute or two in really cold weather. Now that it's warm, though, I don't need to do that.

[whitedoyle]

Keep up the great work everyone

Our effort do matter. Thanks to everyone who is trying to make the world a better place for my kids!

[snozzberry]

In my post-college adult life, I'm taking the bus in my town for the first time this morning! And I'm taking it to the downtown farmer's market. Yay!

DH took the car downtown for a run with friends, so I'm taking the bus and I'll meet him at the farmer's market. I can't wait to see what yummy stuff they have today!

[snozzberry]

In case anyone's ready to move on to April...see you there!

[mrsalf97]

subbing

[eirual]

Originally Posted by Slabobbin

~ Get rid of paper towels - this one is going to be a hard one for me. We use cloth wipes for the baby and I use cloth mama pads but I use paper towels for the gross things that I don't want to deal with, like cleaning up dog vomit, etc. How do those of you who have done away with paper towels deal with things like that?

I use things that are heading for the trash anyways- mainly socks with irrepairable holes. WHat about saving your paper that you make lists on and using that for those yuk jobs? dampening it a bit will make it more pliable.

[VivC]

I do some of these things, and some of them are things I want to do. I'm a little overwhelmed, so I'm just marking my spot so I can keep up and get some ideas for a few days!

[binkin]

Oh, neat. I am instituting some changes in our house for the month of March - can I join in? I am trying to make small, measurable changes a few at a time to help with my ultimate goal of reducing my footprint on the planet, as well as helping us to prepare for a more rural, simpler lifestyle when we are able to buy land and build on it.

I'll try to match up to the format in the first post here and just list what I'm doing and then update sometimes!

Working On in March:

Reduce

• Turn lights off when leaving a room, even if it's just for a few minutes
• Change out lightbulbs to CFL as they burn out
• Reduce junk mail
• Turn computer off when not in use
• Use less paper products
• If it's yellow, let it mellow

Reuse

• Use canvas bags when shopping - I am also trying to sew more out of old t-shirts and fabric I have around
• Switch to cloth TP - I am just waiting on some wipes I ordered to arrive, then I will be starting with just #1
• Use rags for daily toilet/sink wipedown
• Make a wetbag of some sort for cloth TP and one for cleaning rags - I will probably be using an old sweater and felting it for these

Recycle

• Find out where to take plastics for recycling

Simplify

• Make more purchases locally, or buy handmade items

Safe Home and Body Care

• Try unshampoo for at least two weeks
• Use honey as face cleaner
• Get rid of chemical air fresheners as they wear out and see if I can reuse the outlet units with EOs or something similar
• Find a non-toxic cat litter that allows me to flush cat waste rather than throwing it away

Food/Gardening

• Improve composting setup - mine is pretty bad, I think everything I put in it was too big and is not turning into compost
• Get seedlings started on schedule for SFG
• Build and prepare SFG bed if the ground warms enough
• Research local suppliers of hormone/antibiotic-free meats and dairy
• Make bread once a week

There are some things I think I already do, like:

• Reuse as much paper as possible - I cut up stuff that's only printed on one side and use it for notepaper. Stuff without color ink/gloss goes in the compost, magazines and the like are turned into crafts, like origami or paper strip crafts.
• Use natural light as much as possible - I just don't like artificial light that much
• Use Keeper menstrual cup - besides being green it's just BETTER
• Driving as little as possible - I don't drive myself but we try really hard to consolidate trips

I hope this post is in the right format and everything!

[northcountrymamma]

Subbing!!!
So excited to see this here, I've been off MDC for a while.

For the my spring cleanse (beginning on the equinox) i plan to make one change for the better to green my life up a bit more each day. This is giving me so many ideas!

What we do now:
* accept no plastic shopping bags
* only use plastic produce bags for small loose items
* use all CFL lights (as a side note - Phillips is recognized in the industry to have the lowest mercury content in it's CFL's, still concerning but good to know the awareness is beginning. Consider this though
"...before you get freaked out and swear off them forever, your super energy efficient CFL's contain much less mercury than what's spewing out of the coal fired power plants that power your regular inefficient bulbs" (ECOHOLIC - Adria Vasil) Apparently CFL's contain a millimetre wide pinch of mercury, about 5milligrams, compared to a watch battery at 25milligrams, or a silver denture filling at 500milligrams.
* buy no "new" furniture until I have exhausted all other options and then look at places with a sound ecological footprint.
* conserve water (I just posted all of our methods in another thread about water conservation)
* buy local and organic food when available. Shop at farmers markets, part of a CSA in the summer. We consider where a food comes from prior to buying it from the grocery store.
* sew and knit and craft things for gifts rather than purchasing.
* sew and knit things we need if I can.
* use all natural home cleaning products, body products, and healing products.
* teach others how to conserve, reuse etc.
* use no television, microwave.
* use a laptop and only plug in while charging.

What we want to do:
* BAN all plastic from our home.
* Make cloth produce bags and remember them EVERY time
* Remember to turn the natural gas stove down at night (our only source of heat).
* Make all of our own cleaners for the house to reduce buying plastic containers and save money.
* Find hand powered tools to replace all electric tools. Kitchen, general home tools, outdoor tools. Donate the electric tools to those in need
* Make cloth hankey's for tissues. (my dd has an obsession with having a completely empty nasal passage )
* Go to family cloth for our bathroom.
* We just moved to a new house so we will be finding rain barrels for our gutters and fixing our compost set up.
* We live in the country and have to drive to school/work/town and require 4wd, and space for our 65lb and 95lb dogs. I just bought a subaru impreza which for the money i could spend was the best gas efficient car that had 4wd and some space. My long term goal is to buy a hybrid vehicle, but that will be a very far off goal.
* Share my conservation practices with those I work with and the corporation in general. Instead of shaking my head at the paper usage, create a goal for the company.
* Can and preserve summer harvests.

*I put in red those things I want to accomplish by April.

Thank you for this thread!!! Really, thank you!

[artparent]

lovely thread.
instead of plastic bags for loose items like apples, we've been using these fabulous mesh cloth bags with a drawstring. they were $$ but i adore them...i'd like to make some myself. the folks at the store were impressed.
i've visited the sewage treatment plant, they actually use the compost out of the end result of the treatment of solids...including toilet paper. so given that i'd be using my inefficient washer, and i can buy environmentally friendly tp, i'm not convinced...please feel free to convince me!

we've sold our car and joined the car co-op, and i'm using the bus or bicycle or walking as much as possible. i'm scheduling any classes for my little homelearners as close to home as i can. i've got an organic grocery delivery once a week, and order bulk three times a year.

we live in an apartment, but i've been eyeing the place and might propose a rainbarrel system for the whole building. i'd love it if they would compost; meanwhile i have my own new worm compost and i'm working out the details. at the moment it seems like there's just too much stuff for the worms to handle. i'm fascinated with the freezing idea, i may have to do that in fruitfly season!

we already have a humidity problem in here, so i am considering rigging up a wick-watering system for the plants, to help deal with the water in the window sills!!! meanwhile i need to wait until it is warmer, and i hope to do a lot of clothes drying outside. i've been seriously decluttering our wardrobes, and i'm finding we're doing less laundry of the search + rescue type...just hoping to find something to wear! we also bought more wool, which needs cleaning less often.

i'm preparing to do some square foot gardening (without peat) on our little deck, and possible collaborate on a friend's community garden plot. a bunch of mamas are talking about canning shelf-fuls of gleaming glass, i'd love to see what that does to our need to shop next year! it also makes more sense to have jars of food stored canned rather than frozen, so i'm hoping we can really do a lot this coming year. i've been baking my own bread and i'd like to get back into making yogurt.

my folks trained me well to keep lights off, and reuse paper, but now we have a printer i need to find recycled stuff for it.

i would also love to start sewing again, and reworking vintage stuff.

our dishwasher is actually more efficient that handwashing - although it sounds like you folks wash *very* efficiently!! we use environmentally friends detergent, and i try not to use much.

i've got us down to baking soda + vinegar, olive oil soap, salts, in the shower, but i'm not sure my family is convinced! i'm also planning to make homemade toothpaste/powder. i'm sure i'll be popular around here. we use a salt crystal as deoderant, i have mama cloth + a keeper...and lunapanties from lunapads.com are so great in combination with it! i can't imagine spending money every month on products.

i've been looking at the makeup i do wear - i've been careful with cleansers and moisturisers for years, but i hadn't really gotten around to the mascara. the healthier stuff is $$$ so i shall have to save up.

we sprung for mattresses without chemicals, with a layer of wool, but i'm not sure we can afford organic bedding, as much as i'm sure it would be gorgeous! someday.

we have managed a winter without heating most of the flat at all, just using the gas fireplace briefly on chilly mornings. i'm really pleased about that.

i let go of my magazine subscriptions except for one, i'll read them online.

i'd like to look at the clothing we buy/receive for our children and how to minimise that and reuse more. i'd also like to get busy on freecycle and craigslist again to really let some of the *stuff* go....so someone else can use it. but i'm afraid we've got some serious consumer culture stuff going on, it is hard to change. i'd like to read that peter walsh book!

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