Green Tips to use at Home
There is plenty of information out there about ways to lead a “greener” lifestyle. It’s a trend that I hope continues. I still get excited when I see people and companies taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint.
5 Great Green Tips for Around the House
Vinegar. In my home we use vinegar as a cleaning solution. The acidity kills most mold, bacteria and germs. It’s also great for wood surfaces. I’ve read Pledge can dry out wood causing a lot of damage. We typically use 3 tablespoons vinegar, diluted in a 24 ounce spray bottle. Vinegar is cheap, safe to use around children and environmentally friendly (non-toxic).
Appliances. A good habit to form is unpluging appliances when they are not in use. This tip is more for things like a television or computer that still use power even when 0ff or in standby mode. Newer appliances are often much more efficient than older appliances. Look for the Energy Star seal of approval. Check out their site here.
Programmable Thermostat. Turning your thermostat a few degrees higher in the summer and a few degrees lower in the winter can really make a difference. A programmable thermostat can take care of that and make adjustments when your not even home.
Reusable Shopping Bags. It took a little time, but we slowly moved away from using plastic bags. Jocie wrote a great post about plastic bags. The key for us was to keep the bags close at hand. Jocie and I both keep a few in our cars.
Buy local. Purchasing items produced or grown locally is a great way to be “green”. Local items don’t need to be shipped long distances reducing emissions. It’s also great for the community. Purchasing locally supports businesses around you keeping them afloat. It also encourages better prices and better products.
What do you think? What is your favorite “green” tip?
Image courtesy of Gaetan Lee
May 21st, 2008 at 11:46 am
My favorite green tip is the reusable shopping bags AND the new light bulbs… every time one of my incadescents burns out, it gets replaced with a flourescent (can’t remember how to spell that) one!
May 21st, 2008 at 11:55 am
@Sandy, I do the same thing. I’ve found that I like some brands better than others. Lowes carries Bright Effects and so far I’ve been pleased with them. Do you use a specific brand?
May 21st, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Good list. I’m just discovering the many uses for vinegar, and I’m exploring Borax, another old-time cleaner, too. It’s notable that many of your tips are not only “green” but they have additional benefits like saving money or strengthening a neighborhood. It’s hard to argue with win/win ideas like that.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:03 am
@Josh, Part of why I love the “green” trend is residual effects like those. It’s not just about finding good alternates but being smarter with our current resources (which saves money!)
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
All green ideas are good ideas in my book. Vinegar is a good all natural cleaner, but if you hate the smell of it there are other options out there that kill bacteria and germs dead: no-chemicals, no-fumes, no residue and even more effective at sanitizing surfaces and saving you money. Let me know if you want to hear more.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:57 pm
@5lisa, do tell…
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:48 am
Ethan,
I really like the GE energy smart bulbs - Daylight. They give off a really nice, light (and they aren’t “yellowy”). You can’t beat 15 watts of energy for 60 watts of light!
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Those are some great tips! So often when I read “green” tips they involve buying something new, but you gave a bunch of useful and practical ideas that are definitely green!
I have another use for vinegar for you… weed killer. It works particularly well for sidewalk and driveway cracks, or anywhere you never want plants to grow again. It changes the ph of the soil to be incompatible with plant life… simply remove plant and pour vinegar where the roots are.
I love my reusable grocery bags… I find they are more comfortable to carry than the old flimsy plastic ones, and hold twice as much. I keep them in the trunk of my car, too.
My favorite green tip is buy used for anything possible, fix everything that breaks, and buy high quality so that it IS fixable and lasts a long time.
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Jennifer-the vinegar tip on the driveway weeds is great! We have a large area under our deck where we don’t want ANYTHING to grow. I’m going to give it a try there.
May 24th, 2008 at 1:01 am
I’m definitely going to try the vinegar in our driveway - thanks for that tip!
Please please keep in mind proper disposal of CF bulbs… they’re wonderful energy savers, but they contain mercury to a level that should never be simply tossed into a landfill, though most communities haven’t yet come up with an appropriate or convenient disposal process.
“Smart strips” are a good investment (you can google them or find them on Amazon). They’re power strips that will automatically turn off a group of things when you turn the primary item off. For example, you can use them to totally cut power to the cable box, DVD, and VCR when you turn off the TV, or to the monitor, printer, scanner and other computer peripherals when you turn off your PC.
Freecycle is one of the best “green” resources ever. I’ve found homes for (quite literally) tons of things that would have otherwise either been landfilled or that I would have had to pay someone else to cart off and possibly landfill. And we’ve obtained an amazing list of things - both of our sofas, most of the things we keep at our house for our baby granddaughter (crib, high chair, two booster seats, porta-crib, almost all of her clothes and toys), school uniforms and many other clothes for our older granddaughter, and so much more than I could list here. It’s an email list, set up by town or community, and you can find your local community’s freecycle group at http://www.freecycle.org.
And I don’t want to link-spam your site, but just this evening I wrote a post in my local-eating blog about some not-so-fun but still pretty funny experiences with bringing my own bags to our local rural Wal-Mart; I hope you don’t mind my sharing it here (http://slowcavore.blogspot.com).
May 24th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Since I have way too much “stuff” anyway, I have long had a ban against birthday and Christmas gifts from friends. But the most welcome violation of that ban was from a friend who gave me 4 reusable bags from Trader Joes. The handles are long enough that I can actually sling them over my shoulder. Much easier than carrying heavy bags hanging straight down.
It was really the best gift ever. Now I’m thinking of giving bags as gifts. Everyone can use them and no one will ever have too many. And the price is great!