Trying to go Green?

Submitted by Brittany on Sun, 03/02/2008 at 6:06pm.

I've become more and more concerned about being a conscientious consumer and how to be kind to the environment. I recently picked up National Geographic's Green Guide at Costco and wanted to share some tips:

1. Avoid using chlorine bleach because of the extreme health dangers, and carcinogens that get released during production. Instead, try adding 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide to laundry or oxygen-based bleaches such as OxiClean Free or Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Bleach

2. Keep your car in shape! Inflate your tires, lighten up the cargo, don't rev about 3,000 rpm, don't idle your engine, and plan your travel routes wisely.

3. Check your cleaners and throw out any containing these chemicals: Ammonia, Chlorine, monoethanolamine, glycol ethers, alkylphenol ethoxylates, phthalates, and triclosan. They all have serious health and environmental effects and are not worth having in your home. If you're looking for alternatives, comment below and i'll post the simple recipes for natural cleaners that work just as well but won't kill you or the environment.

4. Lower your carbon footprint (the amount of greenhouse gases you produce in a year) by a few simple steps:
             -wash your clothes in cold water instead of hot ( i do this at school and my clothes are just as           clean)
             -use a drying rack as much as you can (it'll loer your electric bill and eliminate as much as 1450 lbs of carbon a year
             -turn down your heater to 62 when you're going to be gone all day or at night.
             -only run your dishwasher when it's full
             -unplug appliances during the night, even if they're off. they still use a serious amount of electricity when they're in sleep mode

5. Use paper bags at the grocery and reuse and recycle them or use cloth bags. Don't use plastic, because they are extremely difficult to recycle and just end up in landfills or animal's stomachs (yes, it's true).

Even if you just try one of these things, you will make a huge difference.
For more info, buy the green guide, visit www.thegreenguide.com or http://www.onebagatatime.com

» posted in Brittany's blog

189 reads | 17 comments |

1 vote:

Comments:

by alesha - 4 years ago
South Jordan, Ut United States

Member Since: Jan 2007
Member Points: 3215

I watched an Oprah show about these kinds of things. Cool tips!

by Chaco - 4 years ago
LO - aka The Bubble United States

Member Since: Jan 2007
Member Points: 3068

I bought cloth bags for .99 each at Fred Meyer several months and I keep them in my trunk and use them for all my shopping. It really makes me feel good! Good ideas Britty!

by laura - 4 years ago
Sandy, UT United States

Member Since: Feb 2007
Member Points: 1506

Thanks Brittany, these are great ideas. So far my attempts at being eco-friendly invovle a conscious decision to use 2 papertowels instead of 3 to dry my hands in the bathroom at work and recycling the mounds of things I print out at work and don't end up needing. I have a long way to go!

by Chaco - 4 years ago
LO - aka The Bubble United States

Member Since: Jan 2007
Member Points: 3068

I'm surprised it didn't talk about trying not to use plastic water bottles. I drink tons of water, and always keep a water bottle in my car, but I've tried hard to skip the plastic water bottle and use a Nalgene refillable instead. I think I read somewhere that it would save tons!

by scott - 4 years ago
Salem, OR United States

Member Since: Jan 2007
Member Points: 3721

Our thermostat is set at 66 when we're home and 62 when we're away. So if you like the cold, come to our house. We just bundle up in a bunch of sweats, "balla" clothing as Sean would describe it. As far as vehicle loading goes, our car is really light since someone decided to modify our car for us. No rear bumper adds to better gas mileage.

by Franky - 4 years ago
Sherwood, OR United States

Member Since: Apr 2007
Member Points: 921

Thanks for the friendly tips. I don't know about not using ammonia in the bathroom after we know it really kills germs. A lot of good ideas though.

by pizzicato871 - 4 years ago
Tualatin, OR United States

Member Since: Feb 2007
Member Points: 157

Thanks Britt ,I will work on the part about unplugging electronic devices when not using them! I have another one, don't keep the water running when you're brushing your teeth!

by benluke - 4 years ago
Evanston, IL United States

Member Since: Apr 2007
Member Points: 257

Good blog--I'll just add that it isn't a good idea to just throw these cleaners in the trash. Dispose of them properly, or they just get released in the landfill.

by Valorie - 4 years ago
Orange County United States

Member Since: Jan 2007
Member Points: 13594

Thanks for the reminders. My heater is never on except during the day when I am home and it gets below 65 then I turn it on. I have to admit I am too lazy to unplug all of my appliances at night. I want to buy those canvas bags and start using them.

by Tachale - 4 years ago
Tualatin, OR United States

Member Since: Feb 2007
Member Points: 601

And the biggest tip of all from Brittany to the rest of the Bigelow girls --- those bath towels can be hung up and re-used! I washed 47 bath towels last week -- yes, I actually counted ---- I'm being the towel nazi now!

by Franky - 4 years ago
Sherwood, OR United States

Member Since: Apr 2007
Member Points: 921

I agree whole heartedly about reusing bath towels. You are clean we assume when you step out of the shower. Hang the towel up and let it dry to be used again. the biggest problem is that each household member must have his own place on the towel rack. that was the biggest problem when we had so many at home but it can be accomplished. Not only does it save on the laundry detergents, water and dryer but it saves on the towels so they don't get washed to death. When I was young we didn't have paper napkins. Yes I am really THAT OLD. My mom had our initial on the cloth napkin. Before we left the table we folded our napkin with the used side in and then reused it at the next meal. Sounds kind of gross to me now but it worked. We were taught to leave our napkin folded in half on our lap, just use one side so there was always a clean side to be folded out. Thank goodness for paper napkins. I still like using the cloth ones some times but they go in the wash after one use.

by Brittany - 4 years ago
Tualatin, OR United States

Member Since: Feb 2007
Member Points: 274

That's interesting about the napkins, Grandma, because the magazine I was reading talked about how much money you could save if you used cloth napkins at each meal instead of paper and reusable rags instead of paper towels.

by geoff - 4 years ago
Fountain Valley, CA United States

Member Since: Jan 2007
Member Points: 11604

oooh man, grandma. the napkins - that is bad.

i'd like to propose to all you mothers with infants. i think you should go back to cloth diapers that you scrub in the toilet water. that would help our environment. thanks.

by scott - 4 years ago
Salem, OR United States

Member Since: Jan 2007
Member Points: 3721

wow Aunt Shelley that is alot of towels! I think I use one towel every 2 weeks. Oh wait, actually I take one to noon basketball to shower with, so that makes 2 towels every 2 weeks, or 1 towel per week since there is a common denominator. I also leave one drinking cup out next to the sink at home and re-use that for a few days. I'll even do that with my toast plate sometimes. I dont think a few crumbs over a few days will be that bad right? Robie thinks my ideas of re-using dishes is a great one and she has adopted these practices.

by Aimee - 4 years ago
Portland OR United States

Member Since: Feb 2007
Member Points: 5646

Wow, Shelley, we don't own anywhere near that number of towels!

Geoff, they've done studies, and the energy/environment cost of washing cloth diapers is actually pretty equivalent to disposing of the disposable ones. At least so I heard, and I'm going to go with it :-)

by Tachale - 4 years ago
Tualatin, OR United States

Member Since: Feb 2007
Member Points: 601

Just to be clear - I don't own 40 towels - I just do laundry every day so by the end of the week, I've washed about that man - except I seemed to have shamed a few household members via turtlefox to consider more conservative habits!

Geoff -- I did cloth diapers for 3 kids and believe me -- it's not worth it!

by hseverson - 4 years ago
Portland, OR United States

Member Since: Jan 2007
Member Points: 2273

Yeah, cloth diapers for Alyssa convinced me that it was a lot more work than it was worth, but the leftover diapers have made great rags for everything else for the past 13 years! That's recycling.