What do you do to be green?

[louisa]

After visiting Nepal...and coming back to higher food prices, and higher gas prices..... I feel like I have turned a corner in living more sustainably!! In Nepal we would use a tissue 3 times..once to wipe a plate dry! (to cut down on the chance of untreated water touching our food) next time to blow your nose, and the final time... as toilet tissue! I'm not kidding..when you have to carry what you need for 3 weeks you see things differently... I really believe in the saying...Live simply...so that others can simply live.. it's not easy...it is not that other countries are underdeveloped...we are overdeveloped. it's hard though..today I bought a pair of shoes that caught my eye.. and I am trying not to buy anything!!! Yes... I refused a bag...but I didn't "need" those shoes!
I am using old tea..to water my plants...It feels shocking to me to waste treated water to flush a toilet..when so much of the world has unsafe water to drink
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vancouver girl

[brdgt]

Two of my favorite blogs about living greener are Tiny Choices and Go Greener, Australia (it's not terribly Australia specific). I love the premise of Tiny Choices - that small choices matter and that being green doesn't necessarily mean sacrificing.

[cassie]

I recycle as much as possible. We have a collection for household waste that can be recycled and a recycling centre nearby to take our glass bottles. My son loves doing the glass 'cos he gets to drop them in and hear them smash :)

I recycle fabric too by making boring things into cool things. Envelopes and wrapping paper are re-used. I try to find a new use for everything. I even keep those bits of ribbon you get under the armpits of clothes when you buy them!

I don't drive, I use electric and gas carefully, that's about it I think.



I'm also becoming less and less of a "consumer" so I'm pretty green :)
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"Start where you are with what you have and never lose sight of your dreams"

[Astrid]

I find everything I need (except food, although there are people - Freegans - who do even that) in the waste of other people. From craft materials to clothing and furniture, I don't even go to the thrift shop anymore. Though I'm proud to 'Not Buy' and not support the corporate world, it sadly proves how overdeveloped we are indeed (and how many people still don't give a s***) as long as I find all this stuff. Other than that I recycle what I can, of course I bring paper, glass, textiles and batteries to the collection points, plastic bags from bread are used 10 times for something else before they end up as tiny cat litter waste bags, I don't flush the toilet for every tiny *** (I live alone), I water my plants with rain water, I ship my Etsy sales in reused packaging and most items in my shop are made from reused material anyway. There's more, but this is what comes to mind right now. It's not hard to do really, it's just a matter of deciding to and getting used to it.

Oh yeah, I don't drive either. Bicycle and public transport get me anywhere I want.
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My Etsy Shop with crocheted tea cosies and much more: http://www.LeChatCrochet.etsy.com
Weblog about frugal living and giving unwanted stuff a new life: http://trashcollector.blogspot.com

[cultureeclipse]

after coming to some of the same realizations of trying to be more green, i''m taking baby steps and doing the best i can. i completely cut out using paper towels, i use handmade household cleaners made from natural materials, i ride my bike as much as possible, i buy locally, organic, i never go to walmart anymore, etc. i don''t buy things that have a ton of unnecessary packaging. when i create art i try to use as many found objects, recycled and/or natural materials as possible. we are doing renovations right now to my gallery/studio/home and using all green materials. i''m glad that more people are getting into living green and hopefully everybody can see how detrimental our current consumerism culture is. but some people still laugh at me for not using paper towels!

[KirstyMarie]

[quote:955748c75b=\"louisa\"]After visiting Nepal...and coming back to higher food prices, and higher gas prices..... I feel like I have turned a corner in living more sustainably!! In Nepal we would use a tissue 3 times..once to wipe a plate dry! (to cut down on the chance of untreated water touching our food) next time to blow your nose, and the final time... as toilet tissue! I''m not kidding..[/quote:955748c75b]

Haha - I had glandular fever during my first year of university, and so I had to quit work to rest and be strong enough to still go to all my lectures. I was so broke that I always, ALWAYS blew my nose on a toilet tissue before using it to clear up downstairs... it''s a habit I can''t get out of even today, nearly 4 years later!!

Yuck!!
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Kirsty Marie xx

Please check out my blog and Etsy shop if you get a mo!

www.madebymekirstymarie.etsy.com

http://madebymekirstymarie.blogspot.com

[happyhats]

I save food scraps to be composted later. I don't have access to a good recycling center right now but I'm looking. In the meantime I recycle paper products (mail, etc.) and I reuse things that would otherwise be thrown out. I have moved to almost all cloth products-cleaning rags instead of paper towels, cloth menstrual pads, etc. I'll be using cloth diapers for my new baby and I'm also going to start using cloth toilet paper once she comes too (we'll use the same pail). I try to buy second hand as much as possible, and I use all natural cleaning products and pet care products (natural kitty litter, moving away from a lot of processed foods and learning to make my own). I've been trying to get better and better at cooking from scratch which is no easy feat when you grew up in a cans and boxes household, lol.

[jTyler]

hello hello,
You know, I do what I can & teach my son to do the same. But some of my friends are real extreme when it comes to being green and although I know the importance of it .... I haven't stepped it up a notch yet. I'm moving forward with it, but I suppose I'm at a turtles speed compared to some.
Janice
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adult costumes and costume accessories

[Papou]

I try to do lots of things to be green, from carrying cloth bags, to commuting by bike, to line drying my clothes (green and soooo peaceful to do!). I love the idea that someone posted of using leftover tea to water plants - I wonder how that affects the plants, and whether it might get moldy at any point? I guess as long as you don''t put sugar or milk in the tea it''s just plant juice in the end, so the plants probably love it. I know also that adding coffee grinds or tea to your compost pile makes it really rich for plants.

The other way that I''ve been green recently is sewing with recycled sweaters!! I love the idea of extending the life of a product while making it into something cool and special. Lisa from ModEco Kids covered a few Etsy artists yesterday (for full disclosure, including myself) that all use recycled sweaters/fabric, check it out to see all the different things people are doing: www.modecokids.com.
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Papou features handknit and sewn children's apparel and other goods for hip, eco-conscious parents and babies. Many of our designs are made from recycled, felted sweaters in luxurious natural fibers such as cashmere, merino, and lambswool.

[h_pets360]

We reuse bathwater for the toilet. I think it's called "gray water" or something. We compost our compostable food scraps. One thing I'd like to be better at is bringing our reusable shopping bags with us. We use the plastic bags for cat litter, and paper bags for wrapping presents and for crafts when we forget though. We also buy local food whenever we can (depending on availability and how expensive things are).

[LesFex]

One thing I do is reuse. It seems easy to just throw it in the trash, but I think first; is there another use for this item? Can it be repurposed, repaired, refinished, resold, composted, donated, or otherwise given another use? Recycling is the one more thing. I had come across this interesting opinion poll 'We are going to run out of space to dump rubbish if we do not recycle!' sounds true to me.

[Coopersewing]

Interesting topic.

I take part in a whole host of things from recycling to switching off electricity points properly (making sure things are not left on stand by!). I also use public transport a lot more and cycle into work when it''s not raining (or snowing!).

Plus after reading these comments - recycling of clothes. Definitely one I think I need to start doing!
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Sewing Machines
Janome Sewing Machines

[Annabanana]

Buy food items like yogurt in large containers instead of individual ones, recycle, reuse stuff, water plants with shower water, use tea bags 2 or three times, buy items in bulk so there is less packaging, buy as much used stuff as possible, grow your own vegetables in flower beds instead of flowers, fill your home with plants to freshen the air instead of air purifiers, breastfeed your baby, fix stuff when it breaks instead of replacing it, unplug cell phone chargers and turn off computers when not in use, and turn junk mail into art projects with your kids!

Anna

[jennifermagnesidesigns]

I of course recycle! I also ALWAYS use the paper bags at the grocery store (or knit ones).
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*~* JENN *~*