40 Ways To Go Green Cheap Or Free
You don’t have to go to extreme measures to incorporate green living into your lifestyle. Just think, 100 years ago everyone was “green” and didn’t even know it. Today the need for convenience has created a plethora of ecological disasters. If you simply pay closer attention to what you buy, what you consume and what you do with the waste you can make a tremendous difference. It’s as simple as forming new habits that have been used for centuries and forgotten, as well as a few new tricks that save energy in our electric based age. Here we have put together a list of our favorite practices that are easy and very effective.
In The Kitchen
1. Avoid using styrofoam. It is not biodegradable or recyclable (we refuse drinks in restaurants served in styrofoam). It is notable that styrofoam has also been linked to health issues.
2. Use cloths & sponges in place of paper towels and napkins. Paper creates much unneeded waste.
3. Use metal cutlery in place of plastics. Or buy veggie based plastic cutlery (like the Veg Head).
4. Avoid bleached coffee filters. They contain dioxins (chemicals formed during the bleaching process). Dioxins contaminate groundwater and air, and have been linked to cancer in both humans and animals.
5. Avoid over-packaged foods and products.
6. Avoid chemical cleaners, instead make your own. Baking soda, vinegar, and salt are the main ingredients of a green-clean home. A clean home doesn’t have to be an unhealthy one. Also avoid all anti-bacterial cleaners & soaps. They will destroy necessary bacteria in septic tanks and they also can create stronger more dangerous strains of bacteria.
7. Reuse containers & water bottles, glass sauce jars, plastic tubs etc. This way you get more than just the product that came in them for your money. You also get another useful storage container for free.
8. Recycle your trash. We recycle 80-90% of our household waste. The only thing that goes to Rumpke is plastic wrap containers, plastic (food) bags etc. Everything else (glass, metal, most plastic containers, paper, cardboard) is accepted at the local recycling bin. Click here for the complete Eastside-wide list. Save and sell your cans/waste household metals at a metal recycling center. Every dollar counts!
9. Never put food in the trash or disposal. Simply start a small compost pile outside. Or discard in a unused outside area.
10. Recycle plastic grocery bags or use them in place of trash bags. See our web site for drop off locations.
11. Adjust your freezer setting to 28-30 degrees. Frozen is frozen, there is no benefit to setting your freezer to lower than 28-30 degrees. Keep your fridge at 40-45 degrees. Test with a thermometer.
12. Use sauce pots that tightly stack. Instead of keeping 4 burners on warm you can simply stack the pots 2 to a burner. The heat will rise and keep both pots hot. This cuts your electric use in half.
13. Use small toaster ovens in place of your large oven when possible. Toaster ovens use 1500 watts average, your ranges’s oven uses double that at minimum. Plus, toaster ovens heat up much faster.
14. Catch the water you waste waiting for your hot to warm up in a big pot. Use it for your plants or to fill your toilet tank etc.
15. Avoid using the dishwasher. Soap up the dishes with a wet soapy sponge and stack. Then rinse with a low stream and a clean sponge and air or towel dry.
16. Avoid sodas. Water, tea and juices can be made and stored in your own container. It’s healthier and much less wasteful. Never buy diet sodas.
17. Make your own “boxed” dishes (Like mac & cheese. All you need is pasta, milk & cheese). This saves packaging waste and the dish is far superior.
18. Keep only what you are going to eat in the next couple days in the fridge (besides condiments). How often do you throw out food gone bad? That’s the ultimate waste. Plan meals for 2-3 days maximum. Buy less & shop more often. It’s fresher and less wasteful.
19. Use natural enzyme drain cleaners in place of toxic ones. If you can’t get it on your skin don’t put it down the drain. We’ve found that Zep Commercial Drain Care has the best results. Use it monthly and avoid costly plumbing clogs. It’s all natural and very effective.
20. Never buy Teflon coated pans. They’re bad for your health and eventually end up in the trash anyway. Cast iron and stainless steel are the best.
In The Laundry Room.
1. Wash only full loads of laundry and use only cold water. You will notice no difference in the cleaning power at all. Another trick for washers without a pre-wash cycle is to leave the lid open to prevent the wash cycle from draining when finished, then reset the wash cycle and close the lid. This gives you a double wash cycle resulting in much cleaner laundry but using the same amount of water. The same technique can used for the rinse cycle as well.
2. Avoid dryer sheets. They contain chemicals that cause health issues and they are not recyclable.
3. Put a large dry towel in the dryer when you start the load, replace it with another half way through. This can cut drying time in half.
4. Install a modern “super efficient” dryer vent. Keep all dryer vents lint free by checking them at least weekly.
5. Cut down on ironing by hanging clothes immediately after drying. Also you can hang a wrinkled shirt/dress etc. on the far end of your shower rod before you shower. The shower’s steam will remove much of the wrinkles.
6. Avoid drying expenses all summer & fall by installing a simple clothes line. No dryer sheet ever made smells as fresh as line dried laundry.
7. Use towels twice before washing.
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8. Avoid bleach. Use products like Oxy Clean instead.
In The Bathroom.
1. Take showers in place of baths.
2. Never let the water run while brushing your teeth or shaving.
3. Before your shower, run the water through the tub spout into a bucket until it gets warm. Re-use this water for plants, filling the toilet tank or use for mop water etc. It can save as much as 5 gallons or more per shower.
4. Install low flow toilets, shower heads and faucets.
5. Shut the water off or very low when soaping, washing long hair or shaving.
6. Use drain screens to prevent hair from going down the drains. This prevents costly clogs and keeps drain water cleaner.
7. Use recycled paper toilet tissue.
8. Avoid disposables. Replace paper towels and disposable wipes with cloth towels for mirrors, sinks, etc. Never use disposable toilet brushes. Reuse cleaning solution spray bottles.
9. Clean with non-toxic cleaners like baking soda and vinegar or a bio friendly commercial cleaner.
Spray surfaces that need cleaning—sinks, tubs, and toilets with diluted vinegar or lemon juice, let it stand 30 minutes, then lightly scrub. To remove lime scale from shower heads soak in white vinegar & hot water for an hour, rinse clean. Make your own tub scrub by mixing baking soda, castile soap (like Dr. Bronner’s) and a few drops of your favorite essential oil.
10. Avoid “anti-bacterial” soaps. They often include endocrine disrupters, which, in addition to breeding “super germs” resistant to these cleaners, may be doing your body serious harm and are wreaking havoc on fish and other organisms after they escape into the water stream after you flush.
11. Use towels made from materials like organic cotton and bamboo. Conventional cotton is one of the most chemically-intensive, pesticide-laden crops on the planet—to the tune of 2 billion pounds of synthetic fertilizers and 84 million pounds of pesticides each year—causing a whole laundry list of environmental health problems for those who apply the pesticides and harvest the crop—not to mention the damage done to soil, irrigation, and groundwater systems. Bamboo, in addition to being a fast-growing sustainable alternative to cotton, is also reputed to have antibacterial qualities when spun into linens.
12. If your shower has a curtain, be sure to avoid polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic. The production of PVC results in creating dioxins, a group of highly toxic compounds, and, once in your home, PVC releases chemical gases and odors. Once you’re done with it, it can’t be recycled and is known to leach chemicals that can eventually make their way back into our water system. So, be on the lookout for PVC free plastic, even places like IKEA carry them now. You can also go for a more permanent solution, like hemp, which is naturally resistant to mold, as long as you keep your bathroom well-ventilated.
All of these tips are easy and cheap if not free. Making a difference doesn’t have to involve radical changes or expensive systems. If everyone reading incorporated even half of these methods into their daily life it would improve the green effort in the Eastside tremendously. Whether or not you choose to help is up to you, whether or not our water, air and land will continue to be polluted is inevitable.
Even if all the residents take positive action in turning the environment around the businesses and factories are sure to be last in line to change the way they do business and make a positive impact on the land that surrounds them. That’s why if you see a business that is polluting you need to report them to the EPA. Call the 24 hour hot line at 1-800-282-9378. We will change our polluting problem either in this generation or a future one. Everyday we wait we make it worse for the generations to come. Start today!
