It’s Good to be Green
December 10, 2007 
This post is dedicated to my husband, who is completely paralyzed by has some mild anxiety about the environment — and how we are affecting it. This is a topic that, for us, has been escalating in recent years, probably because it’s so widespread and talked about now… everything is going green. And so are we. (Just not fast enough to save my poor husband from thinking desperate thoughts at times.) It seems like the more you learn, the more horrified you become, really. And it can feel downright disheartening at times.
But things are being done. Sure, they are little things, but little things add up. (There’s a reason I talk about baby steps here all the time!) And at the end I’d love to get your tips, dear reader, on little things you’ve done that help make a difference. Because I’m sure we’re just scratching the surface, and you all are usually chock full of awesome ideas. So help Colin feel less anxious by leaving a tip or two. hee. :)
Here are some basics we’re doing, Colin (it’s nice to see them in one spot, isn’t it?):
- We take our own reusable bags to the grocery store. This is so easy to do and saves lots of plastic bags. We use 3 giant IKEA bags we got at our shopping trip there (which are made from recycled goodness).
- After I wrote this post, I realized how solidified my view was and we finally made the full out switch to organic, biodegradable cleaning products. (We use Method because you can easily pick them up at Target. Plus they smell good.)
- For other cleaning ideas, I got this book from the library and have started using lots of those tips regularly. (example: cleaning/clearing drains with a mixture of baking soda, vinegar and boiling water.)
- We went vegetarian.
- We drive a fuel-efficient car (and have plans to trade both of our cars in when our lease is up and switch to one Prius or some other hybrid to share). Also along these lines: we save up errands and run them all at once and plan out a time and energy saving route.
- We buy organic food.
- We buy local when we can.
- We don’t turn up our heat and opt for sweaters and blankets instead. (Or two pairs of socks and pants in my case.)
- We almost always buy used/thrift. Or we just use what we have. (I heart thrifting!) … (We just got a fancy Christmas tree stand for $3 at a local thrift store, and I found a really awesome easel at the Habitat for Humanity Restore for $55!) And in the same line: we give to thrift stores and therefore simplify what we own while hopefully giving someone else something they’ll love.
- We use cloth napkins instead of paper. (Cheap cloth napkins found thrifting, of course.)
- We dry clothes on the line when weather permits.
- We purchased an energy saver washer and dryer when the ones that came with our house went ca-put (and we recycled those).
- We recycle. (duh, but hey, it’s gotta be on the list, right?)
- We use the same bath towel all week long (this may be gross to some people, but it works for us.)
- We are the stinky kids who only shower every other day (and take quick showers unless covered in mud).
- We stopped junk mail. (thanks to real simple)
- We stopped almost all magazine subscriptions and instead read magazines at the library.
- We use the library instead of buying books, when possible. And try to buy used books too (plus, it’s cheaper).
- We try to give handmade or fair trade gifts.
- We are purchasing less by being content with what we have. (although, I did need those new jeans because my other pair had a hole in the butt… which I plan on patching when I get a patch on our next errand trip. Thanks for noticing Alison! hee)
- We switched some of our bulbs to CFL (not all though cause they are just not as pretty), and turn off lights when not in use.
- We are conscious of the plastic we consume and buy natural materials where possible. (This woman has sworn off plastic completely! Wow!)
- We stopped getting the newspaper, and instead opt for news online.
- We use rechargeable batteries.
- We turn off water when brushing our teeth (hey, little things add up!)
- We buy recycled goods at the grocery store. (toilet paper, packaging, etc).
- and lastly: we are planning to start composting. (does planning count?)
Um, that’s all I can think of right now (and that took me long enough that now it’s late and I’m tired). So I’m going to end it there and open it up to comments… do you guys have some tips on green living? If so, please do tell!
Oh, and here are two green links I love: Planet Green and Worsted Witch (who turned me onto Planet Green).
See Colin? We are not just sitting idly. Do you feel any better yet?
December 10th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Whoa, that’s quite a list! Thanks, Lope, for listing all these, and for calming my jangled conscience — seriously, you did — more than a little bit.
Now if I can just stop feeling bad when a fume-spewing pickup truck speeds to get in front of me in traffic, and I wonder if I could have just slowed a little to let him by sooner…
You do what you can with what you have, where you are, right?
December 10th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Good C. I’m glad it helped. And I’m smiling at you right now from across the room. :)
December 11th, 2007 at 12:22 am
One more thing to make you and C. feel better: I’m doing the *exact* same things! So double that little-things-add-up feeling.
(This is going to be a big de-lurking post, I can tell. But, while many of your posts have felt uncannily addressed right at me, this one is the most uncanny. I mean, the things you list could have come right out of my own head. Wow.)
We’ve just moved back to Appalachia, living in the hills of rural Kentucky, and all this has gotten quite a bit tougher. For example, there’s no recycling in this county yet. There’s no local farmer’s market (but I’m working on trying to get my own little garden going, as well as getting a market up and running for the spring). Cashiers and baggers have *no* idea why I’m bringing my own bags to the IGA or the Dollar General Store (our only shopping sources in our little town–which makes the buying-nothing-new pretty easy, except that the thrift shops here in the poorest counties in the whole nation don’t have much to offer). In fact, I have some funny taking-my-reusable-bags-to-the-store stories. For example, after I had handed my bag to one cashier and said, “I brought my own bag to use,” she put the reusable bag into a plastic grocery bag and handed it back to me.
But, since we’ve being doing almost all these things you list–with nearly the same thought behind some of them–other things have gotten so much easier. We spent one afternoon about a year back cutting thrifted ribbed knit material into “paper towels.” (We got 40-some reusable towels for $1!) Using them took a while to get used to, but now we don’t even think about it, and haven’t used a whole roll of paper towels this whole year.
A tip: a great place to buy 100% post-consumer recycled toilet paper–if, like us, you can’t find it anywhere else–is at Staples. Get the big 48 roll office supply packs. We recycle the paper wrappers and have reused the big plastic wrap it comes in as a mini-greenhouse: to keep frost off our plants and to let light in.
And one other thing: since I haven’t been able to buy natural cleaning products here, I’ve taken to making my own laundry detergent. (I’ve also unclogged a drain with baking soda and vinegar–isn’t it so cool?! Like the middle school science fair volcanoes! And, I like knowing that I could eat/drink what I clean with and it not kill me.) Here’s where I got the recipe for the laundry detergent if you’re interested. (And here’s my own post on “laundry as activism.”
Oh, I have so much more I could riff on, but I’ll quit monopolizing the comments here.
Keep up the good/green work! Your example is worth as much as your deed. Y’know: works, faith. All that…
Sara
December 11th, 2007 at 1:56 am
hi penelope, why, i think colin and yourself are already doing a mightily great job at living green! that list seemed endless! my mr m. and i do a lot of those things too. some of our friends think we’re mad, but we have fun! some things which spring to mind are these… we’ve been living without a fridge for a year now. the explanation as to why, and how (!) is on my blog archive (it’s quite long to tell here, but it is much simpler than it sounds! especially if you’re vegetarians). we have an allotment and eat our veg from there whenever we can. but the rest of the time we only buy seasonal produce, thus refusing heated greenhouses. we only heat the house with a log stove in the kitchen (also mentioned in detailaon my blog) in the winter we cook on top the log stove, bake cakes and biscuits in its little oven, and use the hot water from its hot water vat to fill up the hot water bottles to warm the bed.
as we shower we have a bucket in the corner of the shower unit which can be used to collect excess run-off water, which you can use to flush the toilet a time or two.
when we rinse salad or vegetables we keep the water to water the plants.
we only buy recyled, unbleached paper toilet rolls.
we use fabric napkins at the table instead of paper ones.
we use soap nuts in the washing machine instead of chemical washing powder.
we don’t watch tv.
we try to make our own food, but when we buy packaged produce we choose the ones with least-amount, and most-natural packaging.
sorry, i’m rambling. if you like you could hop over to my blog and check out the archives, if you’re interested. also i have some links on there to some other good sites like the ecologist magazine and various organisations.
tell colin not to worry, you guys are doing a great job. and passing on ideas to friends is one of the most effective things possible too. that way these positive little changes grow. and every little help. like the dalai lama said “if you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito!”
…have a good day!
December 11th, 2007 at 5:14 am
I have a list up here (with lots of helpful comments and tips from others!) I’m also eagerly awaiting the demise of our appliances so that we can get Energy Star ones. It is the little ways that add up, and every little thing you do does make a difference.
[http://www.frenchtoastgirl.com/weblog/2007/04/happy-earth-day-to-you.shtml]
December 11th, 2007 at 6:00 am
@sara: I commend you for doing so much in a rural area! It sounds like it’s hard to do. I, too, get weird looks at the grocery store when I take in my own bags. How weird. It seems like one of the most obvious tips, doesn’t it? And wow! Your own laundry detergent!
@Na: Oh my goodness. I can’t believe you live without a fridge. That would take some time to get used to! So inspiring though… I am looking forward to getting greener like you. :)
@frenchtoastgirl: Thank you for that link! I had actually been looking for a link to the list of food to buy organic. And lots of my friends are doing the cloth diapers on their kids. Apparently they’ve come a long way from the ones my mom used. :)
December 11th, 2007 at 8:55 am
OH you are all so good,and should be commended! I am in awe.
I just finished writing a Sustainability Curriculum for my work, and I wish I could get you all to come and speak when we launch it. One thing we did when we built our new building was to add a “manufactured marsh” which treats all of our gray and black water with plants! The water is then recycled for toilet flushing (it is safe for swimming and fishing!). There are plans on the internet for making home grey water systems that treat the water from sinks/laundry.
Since you are already doing a lot of the hard stuff, you may want to look at some of the “fun” stuff. I love the solar computer/gadget chargers (Real Goods Catalog-which is online as well. They also have a nifty diaper system called “g”).
When folks ask me about what they can do, I always tell them that sustainable behaviors are just as important as all the lightbulb changing and organic food buying. Change what you can, when you can, and in a way that you will be able to continue. Add changes as you go-for some making big changes all at once is just too draining, which leads to falling back on less eco-friendly behaviors. So change something now, add something next month, the month after, etc. But you all know that! I am inspired.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:35 am
that’s a great list and truly significant. something we do that you may want to look into. Our local power utility (IPL/IPALCO) offers green energy credit. For us, we pay a premium per kWh that we use so that all the energy we used is replaced with electricity from a renewable source (wind, methane, PV, etc). on a $100 bill, you can expect about an extra $4 per month. miss you guys - ak.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:41 am
hey pennylope, awesome. i’ve been wanting to post about this as well, and this is a good push. we also do the things on your list! in addition…we have a big garden, can tons of food for the winter, get local milk and eggs from animals down the road, share lots with neighbors (including chores/canning together), we collect rain water for gardening/landscaping and continue to work with the flow of water throughout our land so when it rains the water doesn’t wash right out our land but it is diverted through channels and to all the trees/orchard/garden, have a SUPER-duper solar efficient house (this is what i’ll be bloggin about asap—we don’t use any AC and only use about 1 1/2 cords of wood to heat our house in the winter (which is about 1/4 of other houses here), are getting an on-demand hot water heater this year and giving away our hot water heater, just bought the super insulated honeycomb Bali Blinds for our windows which have insulated our house even more, and last but not last, we’re getting a geodesic greenhouse in the spring so we can grow all our food all year long (our dream). i’ll post in detail about a lot of these things soon since they are new to some folks…living in the desert has been a great education…
thanks again. i get down about the state of the environment. it makes me really sad, so it is exciting to hear about more and more people making the changes.
December 11th, 2007 at 10:49 am
you’re doing some many good things already. I only have one to add to the list. You may already be doing it and not listed it. Pay bills online, and go with paperless statements.
December 11th, 2007 at 11:18 am
wow…you guys do quite alot. I do alot of the stuff you do but definitely not all. The cloth napkins is a big one, no paper plates and I wish I could eliminate paper towels too but haven’t figured that one out…any ideas? We have a handmade compost bin (made from left over lumber) that makes such a dent in the trash we generate each week. Good job!
December 11th, 2007 at 11:55 am
awesome list. a few things that my mom has taught me- some of which i used to be embarrassed by:
1.worms can eat your garbage-http://www.wormguys.com/page/1319499
2.have chickens and eat their eggs
3.grow your own food
4.instead of wrapping gifts for family - use pillow cases! or sew re-useable bags for others.or even just recycle wrapping paper or make own from decorating paper bags or something crafy.
5.re-use yogurt containers as tupperware so that your fridge is full of yogurt containers and you cannot tell the natural peanut butter from the spaghetti sauce… oh that was just my upbringing!
addendum- label these as to not traumatize yourself or your kids!
6.organize pick up trash days on the street
7.make your own blankets from found sweaters
8.knit & sew your own clothes
9.preserve your own food
10.bike
11.public transport
12.don’t buy bottles of water, or refill them
13.potlucks instead of going out to eat (maybe that’s just $ saving)
14.have book and clothing exchanges
15.biodegradable garbage bags
16.use old t-shirts as cleaning rags.
thanks for the reminder P!
17.offset your carbon footprint:
http://www.terrapass.com/about/how-carbon-offsets-work.html
xo
m
December 11th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
o! You are being so good!! And it is so very reassuring to see that other peoples are doing this stuff too!!! john and I are doing most of the same things you are too, although now I’m feeling pretty guilty about my magazine habit. Also my water usage! you know about me and my dirty hair thang…
But on the plus side, it made me feel less guilty about my one single jealously guarded incandescent lightbulb (every single other light has been changed to CFL and I’m all for that, but the light they throw off is ghastly!). Please, please someone… invent a pretty CFL bulb!!! Can’t they just make the glass pink so that it throws a nice warm light? how hard can that be?!
If anyone has tips about how to make CFL light look nicer, please share! I’m desperate.
I also heartily recommend using only recycled toilet paper. You’d be shocked if you knew how many trees we use in a year to wipe our butts.
Also plant some trees!!! and use native species in your landscaping. And use solar lights to light your yard/walkways. If you hang christmas lights, invest in the energy saving LED kind and only leave them on for a few hours during the week of Christmas, not for the whole month.
Also, you may not realize it, but a lot of your appliances/electronics are sucking small amounts of energy even when they are turned off particularly if they have a memory in them for clocks or such (like VCRS and computers and stuff). You can combat this by plugging them into a power bar then turning off or unplugging the power bar.
and when you do buy new things, make sure that they are good quality and timeless in style so that you will continue to want to wear them/own them for longer. I’m trying to do that. It’s more expensive at first, but ultimately it pays off. I also really engage myself before purchasing anything new, asking myself if I really really want it. And I pay attention to where it was made and what it was made from!
December 11th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
p.s. Danny Seo has some good, creative, fun green ideas on his blog too: http://dannyseo.typepad.com/
p.p.s. I am also buying more organic clothing/bedding
p.p.p.s For those who can’t quite eliminate using paper towels all together, definitely buy recycled. Also, \Method makes great reusable microfiber cloths.
and Colin will be happy to know that stores will soon no longer be providing plastic bags … at least here in Canada. We have bins and recycled bags (made from plastic bottles) that we use for our grocery shopping.
December 11th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
oh… and just one more thang: Grow your own herbs! It’s fun. And tasty. and pretty and stuff too!
December 11th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
aaron: I am working on a project now with IPL that talks about exactly that… how funny. I didn’t know programs like that existed when we were in Indy.
miss you guys too. (no silver in the city goodness for christmas for me this year. :( )
December 11th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
You guys all have awesome tips! Thank you! If you think of any more, do tell. :)
December 11th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
(and ya’ll make me want to start a garden in the spring… I was already thinking about it, but now I think I should go for it.) I wish we were all neighbors and could can together, like miss Jenny talked about!
December 11th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
i thought of a couple more things! one is a ‘riduttore del flusso dell’acqua’ …it’s really embarassing and frustrating to admit that i don’t know how to say this in english! it’s a word i learnt out here in italy and i did an internet search now, to no avail…. but anyhow it is a very small and cheap thing that you screw onto your taps (or in the shower heads too) where the water comes out, they create more spray and use less water, without you noticing a difference. sorry i can’t give you the english name, if i find out i’ll tell you!
another thing - some people will have you believe a dishwasher saves water. this is true if you wash dishes under a constantly running tap. but handwashing the dishes saves more water if you wash everything in a bowl of water in the sink, and just turn on the tap to rinse off the suds at the end.
turn off, don’t use standby.
if you put something that has a big enough volums in the cistern of the toilet then each time it fills up it’ll fill up with a little less water, so you can still flush, but without using quite so much water each time.
have computer toners refilled, don’t throw them away.
use bad photocopies and scrap paper as notepadsif the other side of the sheet is still bare.
if you can, check out this article from friends of the earth (foe) there are zillions more ideas too! ‘hope you and colin have fun!!
http://www.foe.co.uk/living/articles/top_tips_waste.html
December 11th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Here is a couple of things which I think you do but forgot to put there:
– use recyclable, multi-use water bottle instead of buying hundreds of plastic bottles a year.
– when the water in your bottle goes funny or you just don’t want to drink it because you shared it with the dog on your walk :) - don’t pour that water down the drain - put a little container next to your sink and collect “water leftovers” - watering your plants made easy :)
– reuse paper before recycling - we print directions (although there is a way to get them on your mobile - not sure hoe planet-friendly that is), and we print e-mails and comments on projects … and then we can draw on the back of the same paper ;) And then recycle and keep only the one you really need ;)
Cheers to your green ways! I am hoping to learn a lot from your list!
December 11th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Great post and lots of gems here in your comments.
Here’s a small one, but it hadn’t occured to me until I visited the green exhibit at the National Building Museum: don’t pre-rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Scrape off excess food, but don’t rinse. Modern appliances are up to the task, so it’s just a waste of water to do so.
Also, in response to Na’s remark about dishwashers using more water, that does depend on which one you have. The newer, small Bosch dish drawers, for example, are quite efficient and you still get the high temps to sanitize.
I question the demand for bamboo flooring products, that are in fact, chemically impermiated and shipped (fuel?) all the way from Asia. I don’t know that that’s what I’d consider a “green” option.
Thanks for the dialog, here!
December 12th, 2007 at 7:04 am
Great post, Penelope! I’m feeling equal parts impressed with myself (for doing most of the same things) and challenged (must stop junk mail! gotta get more healthy house cleaners! wish I didn’t live in an apartment, so I could compost!!)
This is an amazing list of personal lifestyle changes that do a lot of good (especially as they’re spread to the people around you!) But, as I learned when I measured my ecological footprint (at http://www.earthday.net/footprint) my personal choices only get me and the earth so far. A lot of the impact I have on the earth comes simply by living in the U.S., because I can’t directly control how green my public places are. One thing I haven’t seen discussed here is to advocate for environmentally-excellent legislation. Write to your representatives and city council, etc., about whatever issues you are passionate about– public transportation, green infrastructure, LEED building practices, building a green roof on the local library, whatever! Support candidates who will DO something for the environment (but don’t be a single issue voter, obviously. There are lots of important issues!) THEN, you can be green-friendly when you’re out in public, too!!
Keep up the good work! And keep sharing links and helpful tips– thank you!
December 12th, 2007 at 9:39 am
A couple of quick things. There are toilets that have two levers for using less water. One for tinkling and one for solid. The tinkling uses 75% less water to flush.
Change your water heater to a tankless water heater. That way, you’re not constantly heating this big tank full of water. It heats it as you use it.
For those who have water softeners which will save you on soap and allow more cold washing, there are now water softeners that don’t require salt. All that salt is entering the water tables and it’s not good. The salt-free one still takes energy, but like I said it does make your washing appliances work better.
December 12th, 2007 at 10:24 am
I also meant to add that I love the painting that accompanies this post.
December 12th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Rock on! We do all of this, too (smiles for your hubby). My husband and I share a fuel efficient vehicle too, and he carpools twice a week. I’ve found hot water, baking soda, white vinegar and lemon juice work for cleaning pretty much everything. I find Method’s fragrances too strong, but they’re great for people who can’t stand the smell of vinegar. Also, thanks to the fabulous Portland General Electric, we are now fully green-powered. Power to you! ;)
December 13th, 2007 at 12:06 am
here is an interesting article about recycling…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/13/ethicalliving.carbonfootprints
December 13th, 2007 at 8:22 am
Wow. I don’t know if this is green or maybe brown. I am an animal activist-type and artist. I buy all my nonleather accessories at PayLess Shoes and Target (but I have to weed through the belts to find anything nonleather). Veganessentials.com I think also even has nonleather cowboy boots for the vegetarian who likes to go boot scoot.
December 13th, 2007 at 10:19 am
I think it is so easy for individuals to feel overwhelmed, like they can’t do anything to make a difference, but look how huge your list is!! There are so many things we can all do.
December 13th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
great post penelope! it is great to see all the great things you guys are doing.
we just moved to P.E.I, which has one of the best recycling programs i have ever seen. we also have a waste bin and a compost bin and they alternate pick up each week. it is amazing how much less waste we have from composting everything.
:)
December 13th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
Hey guys! I wanted to thank you again for the links and ideas. I know I’ll have a lot to think about and change in the future. Thank you!
Also: Jenny just posted about her “green house”… so so inspiring: http://dancingelephantstudio.blogspot.com/2007/12/passive-solar.html
December 13th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
this post made me so happy! it’s wonderful finding people of like minds. my husband and i do *all* (amazingly!) of the above things that you guys do too!
good luck with the composting! we’re super lucky in that sonoma county has a curbside compost pickup program… so we don’t have to do a thing (other than save our compost and put it in the bin).
December 13th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
hey Penny—man, these comments are just awesome. such a wealth of inspiration…i copied them all to a file so i can make a sort of checklist/reminder list and hang it on the fridge. thanks everyone for sharing.
i also wanted to mention about grey water again if some aren’t sure what it is/how it works. you basically arrange the plumbing from you kitchen sink or bathroom sink and shower/bath to drain outside. (it’s actually quite simple to do.) then you can direct it to your flower beds, orchard, trees. it’s so awesome. we had it at our old house, and can’t wait to convert to it here. you have to use environmentally safe soaps/shampoos/cleaners (which many of you seem to use already). and you can have a switch on the plumbing for when you want to divert it to your septic/sewer instead, for times in the winter or when there is something not so safe for plant life. when we convert our plumbing in the spring/summer, i’ll document it step by step on my blog. i just think it’s one of the coolest things…and it feels SO good to re-use the water!
anyway, thanks again for this super energizing post!
December 14th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
I make my own 100% whole wheat bread every week. I’m happy knowing that what I’m feeding my family is natural and healthy, and there are 2 less plastic bread bags being taken home each week.
We live in Quebec where there is a LOT of snow. Almost everyone hires a giant gas consuming, fume producing snow plow to clear out their driveways every time it snows. We have chosen this year to clear our own driveway with a shovel and muscles and sweat. I’m proud of our decision. It’s easier on the environment and we are doing our bodies good too.
December 22nd, 2007 at 8:08 am
Hi Penelope!
Thanks SO MUCH for the blog love—not just one, but *two* of my blogs! I’m incredibly honored, especially since I’m such a fan of yours!
That list sounds amazing; It’s easy to get paralyzed and not do anything, which is why Planet Green (look out for the Discovery channel coming out next spring)is all about positive, proactive things we can do. No one can do everything, but everyone can do *something*. Even if we’re doomed, we’ll at least go down fighting, right? ;)
Thanks again! You totally made my week!
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
It’s been awhile since you posted the original message here, but seeing this little movie made me think of this post and the comments here:
The Story of Stuff
Thought you might appreciate it, and pass it along, even.
Sara