Well, it's clear that I haven't blogged much about nature lately. To be fair, it has been rainy and raw outside the last few weeks. I've started thinking about making this blog more green. As in, writing about environmentalism and conservation. I may still throw in some nature moments, but right now I feel I'm being compelled to write about more accessible (and less whiny) things.
So here are some things my husband and I do to help the environment. We rent a house, so we can't do a lot to the infrastructure, but we have been able to do a lot.
1.
We compost.
People often associate trash take-out with nasty smells, garbage bags bulging with gross things all ready to bust open the second you snag it on something. Our trash doesn't stink. Pretty much ever. That's because we've taken the food out of it. Banana peels, coffee grounds, apple cores, leftover crusty bread, potato and carrot peelings, wilted salad, tissues, and dryer lint all go into the compost crock. Any meat or dairy products go into a bread bag in the freezer until trash day. This eliminates all smells from our garbage, which keeps away rodents and other critters. Our compost crock is from the Gardener's Supply Company and has a charcoal filter in the lid to prevent our kitchen from stinking up while we accumulate enough food waste to merit a trip to the compost bin. Between the two of us, we take out the crock about 2-3 times a week. Our compost bin is a black 4-sided bin with a locking lid. All we do is take the crock out, dump it in, and maybe throw in some leaves now and then. In the 6 months that we've lived here, we've made about 5 pounds of good compost that we can now use to fertilize our garden. A lot of people would complain about the smell, but the compost bin is located in a spot that is far enough away from the house that it doesn't bother us. Or our neighbors. Also, if you do it right and keep your food scraps and leaves balanced, it won't smell at all until you're standing right next to it.
2.
We use Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs. Ok, so everyone can do this. These light bulbs last longer than the traditional ones. My only problem with them is that they contain mercury. I only say this because I dropped one yesterday and it shattered all over the floor. All I could think of was, "I just inhaled a bunch of mercury vapor", because that's what's inside of the bulbs. Great. I followed the steps on the EPA web site to clean the bulb up, and also learned at Earth 911 that you can recycle unbroken bulbs at places like Lowes and Home Depot.
3.
We dry our clothes outside. We used to do this in our apartment. We haven't done it here yet because we haven't had the time to buy and build a quick laundry line outside. We have tons of clothespins, and our clothes come in smelling great (albeit full of pollen sometimes). The only downside is that some things can stretch on the line (like wet heavy towels). No dryer required!
4.
We use a push lawnmower. The kind that you actually push. Without gas. We bought a Scotts Reel Lawnmower about two weeks ago, and it turned out to be a great investment. Our yard is flat. I wouldn't recommend this lawnmower for anyone who has more than an acre of grass to mow, or a yard that is all bumpy. Pushing the lawnmower isn't hard. It does take some muscle, but even I was able to maneuver it around our yard and mowed the front, back, and sides of the house in about an hour. I let the grass clippings mulch into our yard because it's a barren wasteland, mostly. Keep the blades sharp and the wheel axles oiled, and think about how much gas you're not buying!
5.
We have a smart power strip. These cost a little more than your average surge protector, but are well worth it. The power strip has four outlets for things you leave on all the time- like your wireless router or a clock- and six outlets for things you can turn off when you're not using them. Vampire appliances are sneaky- they steal energy even when off! We plugged our TV, Wii, DVD player, stereo, and VCR into this, and we turn it off every night before we go to sleep. We've saved on our electrical bills! And even better, you can turn it off when you go on vacation and save even more.
6.
We recycle. This seems pretty obvious to even the least environmentally conscious people out there, but I can't tell you how many times I've gone to the landfill to drop off trash and seen some dude in a pickup truck unloading ten garbage bags of mostly plastic bottles. And the recycling center is RIGHT THERE! Really! It doesn't take much. But I guess some people don't really care. But if you are able to do it, do it! It makes a difference.
7.
We fix things instead of buying new. My husband is really good at this. I broke the compost crock lid and got so upset that I left the room, complaining that we'd have to buy a new one. When I came back, I found that he'd glued the lid together using some Gorilla Glue. Good as new. In our throw-away society, we need more of this fix-it-up mentality. Sew up those holes in your socks! Glue broken things back together! Give gently used items away or Craigslist them! Find any which way to keep those things out of the trash, which is basically a big hole in the ground.
8.
We buy organic. This is not easy, nor is it always a priority. When you're living on one income, eating organic is hard to do. But we've signed up for Community Shared Agriculture, which is a share of fruits and vegetables we get once a week starting late this month. The farm is organic. It has a great work-share program that I'm participating in. I work 4-5 hours a week for them, and they give us a free share of veggies. Great deal, isn't it? We also buy from farmer's markets and try to buy local or organic when we have the extra cash.
9.
We only own 1 car. Granted, this is not feasible for a lot of people, but we make it work. I take my husband to work in the morning and pick him up at night, or let him take the car if I don't need to run errands. We try to make our shopping trips as economical as possible, saving on fuel and time. I would bike everywhere if I could, but we live out in the boondocks and everything is far away.
10.
We use green cleaning products. I like Greenworks multipurpose spray and toilet cleaner. Windex now has a natural window cleaner that isn't blue. For mopping the floor, I use 7th Generation soap mixed with a little vinegar in hot water. The 7th Gen dish soap gets our dishes clean and is safe. I particularly like the natural sponges we discovered- they're brown, and they are amazing! They hold up even better than the regular sponges. The scrubbing side saves me from having to use Brillo pads. Best of all, when we're done with it, we can throw it into our compost bin!
More to come...I hope these ideas have inspired you to be more green! Go for it!
