Green Living Challenge: August 2007

[snozzberry]

We use this thread to post the things we are working on each month to live a greener lifestyle. Feel free to post what you're working on, what you've already mastered, or even the things you're just thinking about working on!

I'll try to keep our roll call in the next post up-to-date but please PM me if I mix something up or miss something entirely.

If you want more green living talk, check out the Green Living Tribe.

A special thanks to rainbowmoon for starting the first ever Green Living Challenge!

Challenge History:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July

[snozzberry]

Challenge Roll Call!

Note: I try to group similar goals, so just let me know if I misinterpret anything!

(a little behind on roll call but will try to update soon)

[eco_mama]

I wanna join up again. The last GLC I was apart of was in January I believe. I'm not sure what I could change/improve as of yet but will stick around for inspiration from others.

Well, one thing I can think of is that I want to get rid of the plastic gallon jug we use to fill up our water (for filtering. it goes from being filled in jug into a glass unit). So I am looking for stainless steel, glass, etc. Maybe I should ask in the GLT.

[VeganCupcake]

I want to join, too, but I'm not sure yet what I want to take on this month. I need some ideas, too, so post 'em, mamas!

[mama kate]

joining but still deciding goals

[Living Slowly]

I'll join again. First, what I accomplished last month:

• Knitted 3 dish rags so I don't have to keep buying sponges
• Bought 10 cloth napkins at a thrift store and have been using them instead of the paper ones.
• Bought 2 packets of CFLs (20 bulbs total). I installed them in all the areas where our lights had burnt out. I think I replaced at least 6 in the kitchen.

What I am working on for this month:

• I am starting work on my frugal/green holiday gift items. I have found renewed interest in thrift store shopping and have found a bunch of creative craft ideas to make gifts.
• Put up the compost bin I got on Freecycle. I have two compost bins already, but they are full. I need to tend to them as well, I think they need some brown stuff to help them along.
• I would love to look into setting up a rain barrel, but I don't think I will have time for that this month.
• My big thing for this month is preparing a 1 hour presentation on Green Living that I will be giving at my company in September during our Health and Wellness Week. I am pretty excited about this. I am doing lots of reading and pulling facts together.

That might be all I get done considering I am out of town two weekends this month. Plus I am busy knitting away (organic cotton yarn of course!) for my little bundle of love due in Nov.

[emski4379]

We just purchased a rain barrel and a composter from a local family that sells them. I also just got a steam cleaner to start using on the floors and bathroom.

[VeganCupcake]

Originally Posted by VeganLove

What I am working on for this month:

• I am starting work on my frugal/green holiday gift items. I have found renewed interest in thrift store shopping and have found a bunch of creative craft ideas to make gifts.

VeganLove (and anyone else), I would love to know some of your ideas. I'm Compacting for the next couple of months (at least), so I need to work on local, green, and homemade stuff for the holidays.

So I guess I've sort of decided on my plans for this month:
1. Stick with my Compact.
2. Start making/acquiring green holiday gifts and things.
3. Figure out how to make yogurt that my husband will eat--I'm tired of buying disposable yogurt cups. Thus far, my two attempts have been failures. (Any advice here would be helpful, too.)

[snozzberry]

Originally Posted by VeganLove

• My big thing for this month is preparing a 1 hour presentation on Green Living that I will be giving at my company in September during our Health and Wellness Week. I am pretty excited about this. I am doing lots of reading and pulling facts together.

That's so great! Let us know how it goes.

Originally Posted by VeganCupcake

3. Figure out how to make yogurt that my husband will eat--I'm tired of buying disposable yogurt cups. Thus far, my two attempts have been failures. (Any advice here would be helpful, too.)

My DH switched to yogurt in bigger glass containers...I forget the company's name but they call it "Bulgarian" yogurt style. Maybe you could look for that as a compromise to avoid all the smaller disposable containers until you get your yogurt-making worked out?

We're also planning to start keeping some of our glass containers like that so when we have our annual holiday party this year, we can put small votive candles in the containers and put them all around the house and outside on our deck for extra lighting.

[eco_mama]

Originally Posted by snozzberry

We're also planning to start keeping some of our glass containers like that so when we have our annual holiday party this year, we can put small votive candles in the containers and put them all around the house and outside on our deck for extra lighting.

good idea. i should do that too.

[emski4379]

For Holiday Stuff, I'm thinking of using some of the frames I was going to give away to charity to use as gifts with DS photo in them.

[eco_mama]

I would like to get a compost bin. Maybe I should look into that again for this month. I want a tumbler. And I think we'll make a bird feeder out of an empty milk carton this month too.

[heathenmom]

Can I join too?

Things that we've done recently:
* When we moved into our new house, I switched to cloth napkins. To my surprise, dh didn't even bat an eye, and it only took about a day for dd#1 to pick her very favorite ones.
* Also when we moved, I found a HUGE supply of microfiber towels (bought to use with cd's, but didn't like 'em in that capacity) and kitchen towels. Pre-move, we were using a roll of paper towels every week or two. Now, a roll lasts a month or more.
* The first week we moved in, we replaced more than half the standard bulbs with cfl's.

Some things I'd like to focus on this month:
* Replace the rest of the standard bulbs with cfl's.
* We've been talking about setting up a compost bin. I'm tired of talking! LOL I'd like to keep it as frugal as possible, so I'm going to try to find 4 free wooden pallets to make a box. If that doesn't work, I like the idea of hammering 4 metal stakes/posts into the ground and forming a frame with chicken wire.
* Recycling is kind of a pain in the butt out here. No curbside pickup (no curbs!!!), and the closest place to drop off recycling is on the other side of the county (but fairly close to work). I'd like to set up a recycling station either in my pantry or on the back porch, with bins that will transport easily. That way, when they're full, I can toss 'em in the back and empty them on the way to work.
* I desperately miss my clothesline and am tired of carting my clothes to my mom's house any time I want to hang laundry. So, I'm going to nag the crap out of dh and see if I can get myself a new clothesline this month.

[lexapurple]

I would like to join too!

What we already done:

We use mostly clothesline to dry our cloths
I use vinegar for cleaning.
We have compost.

Need to do:
Don't forget to wash CD on time so I would not have to use dryer to dry them or use disposable ones.
Use wash clothes instead of paper towels.
Use up the rest of the chemicals we have in the house and get everybody in the habit of using vinegar and baking soda for cleaning.

[utopia760]

Ok im in - im always up for finding more ways for me to live green

oh and for those who asked i knitting little fruits and veggies for my kids for christmas as well as hats and sweaters also knitting socks for sister in law and mittens for my mom dad will get a back scrubber as well as my brother. Everyone will also get my homemade jam and salsa!

anyway back to green living- things we do already
cd
family cloth
cloth napkins
cloth grocery bags
hand wash and hang dry laundry
homemade soap
recyle
pick up trash outside
use natural cleaners
if its yellow let it mellow
turn off and unplug anythign not being used.
i knit all our washcloths and hand towels
knit all winter hats and mittens
knit socks
use cfl
keep old clothes and make them something else
cook homemade in masses and freeze
the list goes on and on so it takes me a bit to think of what else i can do


i sat here for 15 mins thinking

thing i want to work on this month

- figure out how to have a compost in my tiny appartment we have a big yar but are not allowed to leave things in it maybe at the inlaws and just bring stuff once a week to it.

-start my christmas gifts

-start using cloth wipes on the kids

-plant a tree

[roostery]

Originally Posted by utopia760

- figure out how to have a compost in my tiny appartment we have a big yar but are not allowed to leave things in it maybe at the inlaws and just bring stuff once a week to it.

How about a worm bin in the kitchen? It could have a cutting board on top like in the book Worms eat my garbage. I think that's where I saw that.

DH made us some benches with storage underneath for our tiny kitchen. I keep empty containers and appliances in them but you could put a rubbermaid container in and put worms in that. Great way to recycle that junk mail with personal info on it too. I always shred the credit card applications and feed them to the worms.

[captivatedlife]

I'm going to go ahead and post my offers on Freecycle instead of waiting, waiting.... then throwing them away.

I'll post more later

[Awaken]

This looks like fun!

I do most of what's listed above, so won't reiterate!

Just bought more cloth grocery bags, but I use them to carry to food into the house, then never remember to bring them back out to the car! :

I want to get a rainbarrel but haven't looked into pricing...definitely can't spend a lot on it. I've just started using the dehumidifier water and bathtub water for the trees! It's a PITB to haul it out there, but I can't stand to see the water wasted.

School will be starting soon and I'm looking into getting the reusable lunch kits for Dh and DS- I need to start a new thread or look up old threads on that b/c I can't find any I like.

Would love to start family cloth, (well really I'm the only girl in the house so it's mainly me!) but dh would vomit, I think. He only grudgingly goes along with cloth diapers!

[lioralourie]

have you guys heard about the mercury issue in CFL's? Like, there's only a tiny bit of mercury, like 5 whatevers (I forgot the tiny unit), but if we all switch to mercury bulbs the soil everywhere, and even the water supply, might be contaminated in a hurry.

However one statistic I do remember is that, according to the EPA's safe mercury concentration levels, it would take over 16,000 cubic feet of soil to safely contain the mercury from just ONE Compact fluorescent. And if one breaks in your home, you should not vacuum (spreads the mercury) but rather clean up with gloves, well ventilated, etc. so nobody gets mercury poisoning.

I'm stuck, LED lighting seems like the truly Greenest thing out there. But they are expensive on the front end.

How do you guys deal with this issue? I have just been letting the light bulbs slowly burn out, I just don't feel comfortable with any of the options.

[snozzberry]

I read recently that if you compare the amount of mercury that would be released into the environment from a CFL that is disposed of incorrectly to the amount of mercury that is released into the environment from a coal-powered plant that is providing the power for an incandescent bulb for its whole life...the amount of mercury with a CFL is still a better choice for the environment because the coal-powered plant releases so much more.

So if you can dispose of a CFL properly, that seems like the best choice. Most medium-to-big cities have a hazardous waste disposal. And I think IKEA takes their CFLs back to dispose of.

I also read a few months ago that some companies are starting to look into creating CFLs without mercury, but I forget if it mentioned the names of any of them. Does anyone know if there are any on the market?