Thursday 13 - 13 Little Ways Our Family is Going Green in 2008

When I was a kid in the 1970’s during the Carter Presidency, I remember being energy efficient was big. Issues of Dynamite Magazine had tips on saving energy for kids, like turning off the water while you brushed your teeth, and we had stickers in our bedroom on the light switch to turn off the lights when we left. Do you remember? I don’t fully understand why, but we returned to being a consumer economy. Now were “Going Green” and my kids are coming home with the same tips I learned when I was a kid. The following is a list of ways we’ve decided to “Go Green” in 2008:

:: Installing Smart Strips for our televisions and computers.
:: Bringing our own basket and bags to the market
:: Using energy efficient smart light bulbs that use up to 75% less energy and last 8-10 times longer than standard bulbs.
:: Carrying our own refillable water bottles
:: Cutting back on consuming and spending. It will help reduce packaging and increase our financial bottom line.
:: Shopping more often at our local produce market. If we buy locally, we don’t have to rely on farms that ship food nationwide, which in turn helps to decrease use of oil and gas emissions.
:: Composting
:: Using biodegradable pine kitty litter
:: Using the clothes dryer less. My husband installed a wooden dowel handing line in our laundry room and I’m using it to dry some of our clothes to save energy. According to Project Laundry List, clothes dyers are the third-largest energy users in the home, behind the refrigerator and washing machine, costing more than $100 a year to operate.
:: Using rechargeable batteries. I recently got at digital camera that goes quickly through AA batteries. Using rechargeable batteries will reduce the number of batteries we go through.
:: Keeping our freezer full. This too will help the environment by reducing the energy we use, and it will help me with reducing our grocery bill by having dinners on hand when I’m too drained to cook.
:: Washing more clothes in cold water. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, almost 90 percent of the energy used to wash clothes is used to heat the water. In addition, according to the Alliance to Save Energy, turning the dial from hot to warm will cut your energy use by 50 percent per load, and save up to $63 a year.
:: Teaching our children to be environmentally conscious by turning off the lights, not running the water while they’re brushing their teeth, taking a more active part in things we recycle at home, and encouraging them to pay attention to how much they consume.

Any other little suggestions? Are you "Going Green"?

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