The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. He created all we see and
then gave man dominion.
We are stewards of this planet and should care for it. Green is God's idea
and we need to be more
aware of how much we consume and how we dispose of the leftovers.
Genesis {1:26} And God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the
cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth. {1:27} So God created man in his
[own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them. {1:28} And God blessed them, and
God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish
the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living
thing that moveth upon the earth.
These ideas were collected from all over the web. I have not tried all of
them, but plan to implement as many as possible. Your feedback would be great.
If you've tried one that works, email me. If you've tried one that is a loser
let me know that too. Email me at:
proverbialwoman7@aol.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
Leave your
shoes at the door; you track fewer pollutants into your home.
Bring your
own bags to the grocery store. Many provide bags you can buy for a nominal
cost. (These bags can even be made of recycled materials like soda and water
bottles.)
If you do
use plastic, recycle them by either bringing them back to the grocer or making
them into something useful.
Wash your
laundry in cold water. Follow the detergent’s directions for cold water usage.
Line-dry
your linens! They smell great and you’ll be spending less on electricity.
Unplug
unused electronics as these pull power even when they aren’t on.
Use a laptop
instead of a desktop as they tend to use as much as 50% less electricity.
Keep your
car tires inflated to the recommended pressure as you will use more power if
your tires are under inflated. Purchase a tire gauge and then look at the side
walls of your tires. The recommended pressure should be there for you to see.
Recap the valve stem after checking. Savings
of 8 cents per gallon.
Do
the speed limit and avoid jack rabbit starts and stops as this uses fuel. If
you really want to save, stay under 65 MPH as anything over this eats fuel.
By reducing your mileage to 65 MPH you can save 19 cents per
gallon.
Turn your
car off at the bank if you’re in a long line. Don’t sit and idle waiting for
someone as this too uses unnecessary fuel. If you pick your child up and the
weather isn’t too hot, turn your engine off while waiting.
Find and
shop at your local farmer’s market. The food is better for you and you support
your local economy. It takes a lot of fossil fuel to get groceries to you.
Make sure
your air filter is clean. You can improve your gas mileage as much as 10% by
replacing yours. Savings of 28 cents per
gallon.
Poor
alignment can also eat away at your gas mileage. Savings of 28 cents per gallon.
A properly
tuned engine can improve mileage as much as 4%. Savings
of 11 cents per gallon.
Do you have
a broken or missing gas cap? Air getting into your tank can cause you to lose
mileage and harm the environment. Savings of 2
cents per gallon.
Riding your
brake can cost you a lot! It will prematurely
wear out your breaks and can cost you as much as 96 cents per gallon.
Learn to
reduce, reuse or recycle. Reduce your consumption of goods, think smaller,
think leaner, and think less clutter. Reuse or find someone who can reuse what
you don’t need. Find a recycling center near you and learn what they accept.
Create a recycling center in your backyard, garage, carport or back porch.
If you have
two vehicles and one is smaller than the other, use it for the majority of
your travel.
Carpool.
Bring your
lunch to work or if you must go out to eat, fill a car with folks and go to
the same restaurant.
Change your
light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). You can find CFLs where
light bulbs are sold.
Save over
$100 a year and use less energy by raising your thermostat two degrees in the
summer and lowering it two degrees in the winter.
Change your
water fixtures to low-flow. You can even find low-flow + chemical filters for
your shower. Removing chemicals is great and so is saving water!
Crafters,
you can stop buying more and use what you have. How many of us have boxes of
unused material, patterns and craft supplies and yet we buy more and more?
Take time to
surf the web for ideas and keep your green fresh. It’s easy to start strong
and end weak, but if you give a little time each week to keeping green you
will develop green habits. Here are some websites with ideas.
Quit
charging your cell phone overnight. It should only take 2 hours to recharge
after the initial charge. Overcharging causes overheating and premature aging
of cell phone batteries. Oh yes, when your battery won’t hold a charge any
longer recycle it.
www.rbrc.org (recycle batteries)
Keep your
cell phone out of extreme heat. This wears them down. Avoid leaving it on the
dash of your car or in direct sunlight.
Turn your
cell phone off at church, during movies and anywhere else you don’t want to be
bothered. You can live without it on 24/7.
Avoid using
the “extras” on your phone that run the battery down quickly. Things like the
camera, the games, the MP3 player and other things you can daily live without.
Go to the
library and reserve that latest top selling book. Better yet, check out some
of the tens of thousands of books you’ve never looked at that are at your
library every single day. Read magazines you like when you’re at the library
and make copies of the articles you like for future reference.
Composting
is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to reduce the amount of garbage your
household produces. Through composting, yard waste such as leaves, grass
clippings and food wastes such as vegetable scraps can be turned into a
nutrient-rich soil amendment that reduces the need for commercial chemical
fertilizers in home gardens. Do not add meat or oil to your compost pile/bin.
Run your
dishwasher full. You’ll save up to 20 gallons of water per load and up to
7,300 gallons per year. That’s enough water to quench the thirst of a human
for an entire lifetime.
Turn the
water off while brushing your teeth. You will conserve 5 gallons of water a
day per person! That adds up very quickly.
Clean your
dryer vent EVERY time you dry. Don’t make your dryer work harder than it has
to. Check the hose for lint buildup as well. Not only will you save money, but
you could avert a fire.
Use the
right sized burner for the pot you’re using. Small pots on big burners waste
electricity or gas. You could see a savings of $36.00 for electricity and
$18.00 for gas!
Avoid using
polystyrene as it is not normally accepted by recycling centers. It is also
known by one of its brand names, Styrofoam.
Water early
in the morning or at dusk. Water evaporates in the high heat of mid day and
water left on the leaves of plants can burn the leaves. Soaker hoses and drip
systems are ideal.
Recycle your
magazines by taking them to nursing homes, hospital waiting rooms, dentist and
doctor’s offices. Don’t forget to black out your address for security reasons.
Green
Apples: Macs come with energy saving features. You will save up to 77% of the
energy used by your Mac if you set your computer to go to sleep when you’re
not using it.
Buy Energy
Star appliances for your home. The usage ratings are posted on yellow easy to
read stickers.
Keep your
extra refrigerators and freezers in cooler areas. They suck power when it’s
hot as it makes them work harder.
Pay your
bills online, but make sure and use a high security password so you don’t fall
victim to identity theft. This saves paper. You can even download your monthly
statement to your desktop and avoid the cost of paper, envelopes and the gas
it takes to get it to your home. (A high security password is one that
combines letters and numbers and is at least 8 digits.)
Recycle your
cell phones: visit the following site as they are supposed to buy your cell
phone!
www.greenphone.com
Fix dripping
faucets and leaky toilets. Put food coloring in the tank of your toilet. If
you see color in your toilet bowl you have a leaky toilet and it should be
fixed. Leaky faucets can be fixed with just a little work. Need help? Here’s a
few articles that might just do the trick.
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,193895,00.html
Let your
grass grow longer. Grass loves to be about 2 ½ inches long. If you leave the
clippings on your lawn they will act like fertilizer and put needed nitrogen
into your lawn. Not only that, but you’ll keep them out of the landfill!
Buy ladybugs
and use them to eat nasty bugs in your garden. Avoid toxic herbicides and
pesticides and take the time to find environmentally friendly alternatives.
Thinking
green is about developing new habits. I made a little "GREEN" sign for my car.
It reminds me to keep my foot off the accelerator and to use my "green" bags
when shopping.
Green Groceries
PaperProducts
When shopping for paper goods, choose those with the
highest "post consumer waste" content you can find, either unbleached or
whitened without chlorine.
Candles
Replace paraffin candles, which are made from
crude oil, with cleaner-burning soy or beeswax ones.
Trash
Bags
Select biodegradable bags or those made with at least 65
percent recycled content.
Light bulbs
Compact fluorescent bulbs use 1/4th the energy of
incandescent bulbs and last 10 times as long. You should know that they
contain mercury gas which is poisonous. Be cautious when handling them and
disposing of them.
Cleaning Stuff (Make your own) Buy prepared basics
or mix your own cleaners using common ingredients.
Recipes:
Soft Scrub
Add enough soap to 1/8 cup baking soda to make a creamy mixture. Apply with
sponge to clean; rinse the surface well. Use and discard.
Appliance Cleaner
Dry baking soda shines up small appliances and even removes bread wrappers
burned onto the toaster. Try rubbing a teaspoon onto your grubby blender or food
processor with a clean flannel cloth.
Toilet Cleaner/Deodorizer
Sprinkle toilet bowl with 1/4 cup baking soda. Drizzle with 1/4 cup vinegar,
then scour with a toilet brush.
Oven Cleaner
Sprinkle oven with 1/2 cup baking soda (more if needed) and spray with water.
Let sit for several hours or overnight before scraping up stains and spills.
Rinse thoroughly with water.
Hardwood Floor Cleaner
In a pail or bucket, mix 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar in one gallon warm
water. Mop wood or linoleum floors, then rinse with water, making sure not to
leave large pools to dry.
Reusable Cloths Use flannel cloths, for
dusting or wet cleaning, can be washed and reused.
Natural
Scrubbers Try cellulose or natural sea sponges instead of plastic ones. Old
toothbrushes come in handy for cleaning grout.
Come On Baby, Let’s do the Twist!
Think all sponges and cleaning cloths are alike? Think again. TWIST products
are 100% biodegradable and the packaging is earth-friendly and recyclable. And
wimpy? Absolutely not. The loofah sponge is antibacterial and the cleaning
cloths are as absorbent as paper towels and dishwasher safe! You can buy TWIST
sponges and cleaning cloths, $1.99 to $4.99 when you visit
www.twistclean.com. Twist goes one step further. Their packaging is
recyclable in a neat way. They make bird feeders and birdcages! Visit
www.twistclean.com/birdfeeder.
You can improve your gas mileage by around 3.3 percent by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure. Underinflated tires can lower gas mileage by 0.4 percent for every 1 psi drop in pressure of all four tires. Properly inflated tires are safer and last longer.
