Keeping the Pet Of The Day world a green place?

[emily_the_spoiled]

Let's see,
I also air dry my clothes (I the smell in the summer).
I use cloth bags when I go shopping (as much as possible).
I take public transit as much as possible.
I recycle as much as possible every week (if I miss recycle day it starts to take over the kitchen )
I use a push mower on my lawn (and it is good exercise ) and I never water it.
All my curtains and blinds are either lined or room darkening (which help keep the heat out).
I have bought a new furnance, A/C, and other appliances that are all Energy Star.
During the winter I keep the house about 70F, so it is a little cooler than normal.
I have a large organic vegetable garden and I do not use any herbicides on the lawn.
Even the cats are going green ... I have switched everyone over to the Feline Pine which is biodegradeable.

I would love to have a compost bin, but my HOA does not permit them

[jazzcat]

I'm slowly doing better.

I recycle what I can - plastic, paper, cans and cardboard.
I don't compost but I do throw all the fruit and veggie stuff over the fence into the woods for the wildlife to eat. Something out there LOVES watermelon rind.

I've changed some bulbs to CFLs.

I bought a large bag of chamois cloths to use instead of disposable swiffers.

We also installed watersaver shower heads and my new washer and dryer are HE and energy star. I've already seen a difference in my water bill from the HE washer.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Well, my soy milk has a green cap. That means they offset the energy used to make the milk with wind power.

Sadly with no car, recycling is impossible in my town. No one will pick the stuff up so it all goes in the trash. I can't haul it all on the bus either.

I can't see by the new light bulbs. They just aren't bright enough. So, all in all, I'm not doing anything I guess. Well, I am saving gas because I don't drive any more and by taking the bus, I don't go as much.
Sorry Planet!!!

[RICHARD]

I just got a solar powered tea maker.

It's the top of the line model too. Made of recycled plastic and has a recloseable cap, I can put it into the fridge and when I am done I can
throw it away!


It's a two liter soda bottle. I rinse it out and roll up a tea bag to put inside, fill it with water and in the evening I have the best tea!

I go until I get ticked off trying to get the old tea bag out, then I chuck it!

To me, solar tea is better that the tea I make in the coffee maker!

[momoffuzzyfaces]

You can also make "sun" tea by using a big clear glass jar with a lid. Fill it with water and a tea bag or two and set it in the sun for a few hours. YUMMY! Plus, you can wash the container and reuse it.

[Cookiebaker]

Cloth diapering, and its the BEST! Each cloth diapers cost less than a box of 'sposies, and they can be used over and over again. I don't have to pay the inital cost of a sposie, and I don't have to pay to throw it away (garbage here costs $4/bag)

I recently stocked up on microfiber towels (found in the automotive dept in Walmart). They are soo much more absorbant than paper towels, and have *so* much more scrubbing power. I use them to scrub the bathroom, the floors, dusting cloths, wipe up spills, wash windows, and pretty much every place I used to use paper towels. I have about 20 of them so I can use as many as needed to get the job done, and then chuck in the laundry.

For an experiment for one whole day, I cut off the amount of toilet paper I normally would, but then chopped it in half (or at least 2-3 squares) to see how much I would save. Then I multiplied it out to see how much I would save in a week, and then a month, and then a year. I couldn't believe how much I would save!!! So ever since then, I make a conscious effort to only use a couple of squares of tp instead of 6 or 7.

[Grace]

I've been using my own cloth grocery bags for about 20 years.

There are re-cycling bins at our township hall, so every week I take paper, cardboard, cans, plastic and glass bottles, magazines, anything they allow.

I also donate used clothing to the Salvation Army or another local organization.
We've been changing over to the new light bulbs as the old ones die out.

I use the clothesline for drying except in the coldest part of the winter. We have one of those energy efficient washing machines. Uses 1/3 the water, and just a wee bit of HE detergent.

We recently bought a new car that gets almost twice the gas mileage of the old one. And I plan my errands these days.

We have ground water AC. The water comes from the well, circulates in the coils above the furnace, then the cool air blows through the house. Electric costs are 1/3 what a regular AC would be. The used water has to go somewhere - so it is diverted to an outside faucet, and we use it to water the gardens.