Yay Earth!

It seems these days more and more people are trying to be “earth-friendly”.  Stores are offering reusable bags (or giving them away – I got a neat one from Old Navy the other day!), and giving you credit off your total when you use your own bags; companies are using more eco-friendly packaging; cities are expanding their recycling programs.

My household has been trying to be greener as well, and as Earth Day approached I began thinking of some ways we could do our part:

1. No more paper towels (we’ve actually been doing this one for a while, but I figured I’d list it).  We have one roll in the pantry in case there is a particularly ugly mess which would put out of commission any rag we used on it…like a giant oil spill, but other than that exception we use only washable, reusable rags for clean up.
2. No more disposable sponges (again, this one we’ve had in practice since I created my dish sponge pattern).  We use crocheted cotton dish sponges for dishes, counter clean up, and separate ones for household cleaning. 
3. No more paper napkins.  I want to make some fabric ones that can be washed and reused.  I rarely use a napkin anyway, and the ones I give to my kiddo are never used to full potential with just one meal so I usually set it aside for him to use again, but I still cringe whenever I toss them in the trash.  It just seems so unnecessary.
4. No more plastic bags.  Sometimes I forget to put my reusable ones back in my car (which probably just means I need more reusable ones), but I want to be better about having them ready and available for that spur-of-the-moment shopping trip.  Also, I need to make “manly” ones that hubs isn’t horrified to use.  Haha, I can’t blame him for not wanting to carry a frilly, pink, crocheted bag…
5. Each week I want our recycle bin to be fuller than our trash bin.  My city has recently expanded its list of recyclable items and I want to take advantage of that as much as I can.

 

Basically I want less stuff thrown away. 

Now it may seem like it’s a toss-up between throwing away things and wasting water to wash reusable things, but with more and more household appliances becoming energy-efficient, and water usage friendly, you really do come out on top when you wash and reuse items.  For instance, my dishwasher uses only one gallon of water for an entire cycle…that’s less than you’d use if you were hand-washing that same load for sure!  And make sure to choose the appropriate wash size on your washing machine as well (i.e., don’t use your default large load selection for a small load of rags).

I’m also using more cleaning products that are made from naturally-derived items (check out Melaleuca, they’ve got some great stuff!) and all my cleaning “utensils” are washable and reusable (and most are hand-made, bonus!). 

Another thing we’ve been doing more of is eating at smaller “mom-and-pop” places.  It feels awesome to know you’re supporting a local business!  In that same vein is shopping for more handmade items…if you’ve never visited etsy.com, you’re in for a treat.  It’s a great way to support independent artists and get some really neat and unique items in the process.  :)  For instance, this week my kiddo and I planted the grass from his easter basket in our courtyard…it was made from handmade, recycled paper, embedded with flower seeds!

What have YOU been doing lately, or what do you want to do differently in the future?  What tips do you have for green living?