In the recent years there has been much emphasis on going "green" ... I banned paper towels from home! I have really been trying mimimize the trash , and make every effort to consume all of the items I purchase . Just wondered ..What have you changed to live a "greener' life ?

We compost everything compostable, recycle anything marked, collect rainwater, raise our own fruit, veggies and eggs, bike or walk anywhere we can, use cloth, reusable grocery bags, and the list goes on and on. We really do try to collectively use LESS and impact the environment less as a family. It makes us feel better about the world we share.

We are trying to reduce our carbon footprint. We buy the organic paper towells and toilet paper. We recycle and compost everything that we can think of. We also collect rainwater, take the train and bus to the airport. We try to use the reusable grocery bags and are getting better. We reuse any plastic grocery bags.

I use long life shopping bags, recycle and compost everything possible, had my cavity walls filled with polystyrene beads, and I have solar panels on my roof for hot water (I got a Govt. grant towards the cost of that one).

I do still have to drive, as my nearest bus stop is 6 miles away, but I go out less, and try to combine trips wherever possible.

Within reason, but I don't go out of my way, or my budget to do so.
It's amazing how much the words "Organic" and "Green" add to the price of products.

I agree with you! I try and recycle plastic, aluminum,tin, cardboard and paper. Vinegar and baking soda are excellent "green" cleaning products and don't cost a fortune.

I've been buying more green fabric....does that count?
(lol) :P


Seriously, we do recycle aluminum, plastic plus tin cans. I have been more aware of using and reusing items.

I agree. We recycle for the most part, and we compost. That's pretty much it though. We raise our own beef and pork and have chickens for eggs but not sure if that's being green. I have reusable bags but 99% of the time forget to take them with me. I love my paper towels and wash everything in hot water.

I was raised by very "green" parents. My Dh has the same inclination. Our main emphasis lately has been on lower power usage. DH chose our heating/cooling system to be as efficient as possible. Insulation is a big emphasis around here. most of our lights are LEDs. For 4-6 watts, we get 60-100 watts worth of high color temperature light. The refer is very high efficiency. We also use cloth grocery bags, which have the added advantage that they hold more without shredding. We have recently downsized our abode, which also helps. Not only did we get several thousand for our yard sale stuff, lots of stuff went to the local thrift store.

Our LQS has a regular recycle deal, if you bring in a bag for your purchases, you are entered in a monthly drawing for a $20 gift certificate. I've won it twice in the last couple of years.

Of course, the most interesting Green activity in my life is crumb quilting.

ROTFL

I still have paper towels around, but only use them for the greasiest, yuckiest messes. i don't even use 1 roll a year.

I stopped getting paper bills and other paper things that can be accessed on the internet instead.

i recycle newspapers, cans, and plastic jugs.

i buy used when i can and sell or give away items i don't use/need anymore.

I have been green, or as we call it, "CHEAP" for a long time. The only paper/disposable goods we buy is toilet paper. Haven't bought new clothing in years, I shop at my local thrift store.
We heat and cook with wood. For a while we were heating hot water with wood but that didn't work out.

We do quite a bit but I read recently that a volcano erupting can wipe out all the things people do worldwide in three days of spewing out ash and smoke. Won't stop us making the effort.

I'm building a green home, all solar, wind & wood.
We recycle cans,glass and paper, and I use home made from jeans grocery bags & tote bags for walley world and or fabric stores.

You bet. We have recycled everything and anything since the word hit the airwaves. We live in a condo and are the only residents with a compost bin. We have Rich soil for our flower beds.

The next major thing we need to recycle is the rotary cutter blades. PLEASE do not put them in the garbage. Drop off a plastic container full of them where metal is recycled. They probably won't BUY them from you, but you are helping the environment.

June in Cincinnati

We do a lot of these things too. But, a lot of my Christmas gifts this year will be green too. I'm making a lunch bag for my daughter with matching sandwich and snack bags. I'm also making the bags for the dr. I work for too. It seems the nurses always want to go out for lunch. One lady is getting a coffee cup wrap with a space for a pic of her granddaughter. I made a lot from my scraps this year. Still have to buy chocolate though.lol

Buying used instead of new, recyle the newspapers and cans and generally do with less things than we used to buy. We try to consume whatever we buy for food and not waste like I did when I was working. I make all our bread and we get eggs from my sons farm. The one thing I can't do without is decent napkins and paper towels! I know it's awful!

I recycle as much as I can. I compost everything I can. I've even trained my husband to compost though he complains bitterly of the smell (I find it "earthy" more than stinky most of the time!). I don't use canned or prepared foods 99% of the time. I subscribe to freecycle.com to keep things out of the landfill. I am careful with electric use, turning off lights when I leave the room. I garden a lot to give back O2 to the environment from the plants. Every little bit helps us all.

Use locally produced as much as possible: all framing and all siding in my tiny WIP cabin is from a local sawmill. I hope the interior will have some local t&g panelling.

I throw my tiny fabric scraps out in my back yard for the bird to help build their nests every spring. I've seen some pretty cool nests in the neighborhood in years past.

I tried many of the 'greener' cleaners. None of them worked to clean anything but I hope the germs were at least gone. DH used a green lawn care product and the yard turned to dead grass and thriving weeds. He spent double the time trying to get the yard back to growing grass. He had to reseed most of it.
It uses more energy and resources to wash cloth then to use recyclable paper products. When I have a choice I choose paper over plastic and when I remember I'll take reusable bags. That's about all the green I want.

We try to recycle everything recycleable.

Do you really think the earth is going to stop spinning on its axis if you don't re-cycle, go "green", or whatever the moniker of the day is?
Do you really think the earth is going to send you a thank you for "saving" it? The earth doesn't care what you do or don't do.
If it makes you feel better to use your God-given common sense to use glass instead of plastic, carry your groceries home in a canvas bag instead of a plastic or paper one, compost all your clippings, etc. then you've succeed in you goal. That is, you feel better.
In the context of how long the earth has been spinning on its axis and perpetually repairing itself relative to the life span of a human being, I doubt that in 100 years what you compost today will make a bit of difference.
On the other hand, here's a very real problem. We have been encouraged and trained to waste our hard-earned money on buying "stuff" that is generally junk. Perhaps it's more important to consider the choices we make relative to spending our money and what we get in return over "saving the earth".
BTW, I live in the same town as Solyndra (the poster child for "green" and the oh-so-politically correct business that is now bankrupt and skimmed $500 million dollars of your and my tax dollars). Yeah, in that world, "green" is your tax dollars tossed down a rat hole and chewed up by rats.

If you feel good about what you're doing, fine. Just don't expect the earth to thank you.

Until the whole world population goes green, the people in one country isn't going to make a dent. Fast food places generate more harmful paper waste in one day then all American families do in one year.....and I don't see anyone protesting that.

Hardees used to recycle. They had special containers for their food containers as opposed to the food waste. That didn't last long. Guess it was too much work or too expensive.

I try to do what I can...recycle, compost, use less paper, only have lights on when I am using them, and have the new style bulbs, paperless for most bills. My mail these days is mostly ads/credit card offers.

Besides that, Al Gore is a certifiable NUT. A rich one now but still certifiable.

I agree with both of you. I don't like "green", doubt most of it is any good. I use to save when I was younger, not anymore.

I don't think there's a thing wrong with caring about the earth and teaching our future generations to do so as well.
Just because there's no tangible reward for THIS generation doesn't mean there won't be one for future generations. I'm sad about the 'if it doesn't benefit ME than it's not worth it' generation. I suppose that's one reason this country is leaving such a horrible financial legacy to our kids...the 'let someone else fix it' mindset.

You can write off Gore and his pro environmental pals if you like but at it's core, the message of caring for anything we take for granted is a sound one.

It's just a shame that Gore doesn't practice what he preaches. Makes it hard to take him seriously (not that I would even if he did practice it).

1)Take newspapers, magazines, aluminum cans, etc to the recycling place.
2) We do not purchase liters of soda anymore
3) We do not purchase bottled water for use at home....use a Brita instead. I do keep a case of bottled water in my classroom for my use 'cause I don't care for the taste of the school's water.
4) We compost.
5) I take the reusable shopping bags to the grocery store.

I do not purchase food items that say 'organic'...they are more expensive and not worth it to me.

I don't remember anyone saying she doesn't care about this earth....I hang out my clothes to dry (aren't solar dryers wonderful and gosh, cheap too). I have low-flush toilets (I used to have bricks or coffee cans in the tanks before we replaced perfectly good toilets) and only run my 2 year old dishwasher (first one I've ever owned and I'm 67 yrs old) once a week to save water. This is just a small part of what most of us do. I don't know if you can change the minds of the ME generation, I don't have much hope for the city bred ones but I'll back up the countrified ones to the hilt.

I don't know if you're aware of this but Gore and his environmental pals (EPA) is trying to outlaw carbon dioxide. The trees need it to live and if you stop supplying it, everything would DIE. I am so sick and tired of watching farms dry up for lack of water to save a little bitty fish that are surely the last ones on earth. I could go on and on and on about the abuse Gore and the EPA have thrust upon us. Actually I thought we were doing pretty darn good saving the planet from our little corner of the world. At least we don't throw human waste out the bedroom window onto the streets anymore.

You can write off Gore and his pro environmental pals if you like.... I did and liked it a lot.

I taught my kids to be mindful of waste of any resource, trees to money to brain cells. Odd the new young mover and shakers of the world forget all about their do good thoughts when all of a sudden they are in charge. I've seen so many change their eco ways almost over night when the big money salary is there for the taking. And they take and never look back.

I guess I was raised to be green. My grandparents taught us not to be wasteful. We didn't buy anything unless we really needed it. If it could be fixed we fixed it. I'm still that way today. We cook at home and my kids ate what I made. None of this short order cooking that some do. We watch our utilities and try to keep them down. Why give our hard earned money to someone else. I reuse anything I can because I don't want it going to a landfill and I don't want to spent money on something when I can use a little creativity and use something I already have. I recycle all paper and cardboard because we have a local place that uses it to make insulation and it created local jobs. I recycle pop cans because our local youth uses the money from the cans to do things from trips for school to building things for our park and ball fields. Sorry but I just don't believe in the "ME" generation who just thinks that everything is disposable and that all the things they throw out won't come back to kick them in the butt later on. Yes the world will keep spinning if we don't recycle but if you can do something that will make it better why wouldn't you?