Simple Steps

[2huskies4me]

I copied this off of my site- thought I'd share. I sometimes make the mistake of "assuming" everyone already knows all of this stuff.
~2huskies4me

Reuse and Repair Old Furniture
Before buying new, think about purchasing used. Check out local antique shops for unique furniture- something no one else has. You’d be amazed at the compliments you’ll receive from others on your individual style.

Stop Unwanted Mail
Reduce the amount of paper you need to recycle and de-clutter your life by reducing the amount of junk mail that enters your home. For more information on:
How to stop junk mail: www.greendimes.com
Eliminate credit card offers: www.optoutprescreen.com
A national movement to reuse unwanted items: www.freecycle.com

Bring Home the Goods, Not the Packaging
Buy in bulk when possible, and purchase products with the least amount of packaging possible.

Composting Food and Yard Waste
Yard waste and food scraps also add to what each household throws away. Composting allows you to convert that waste and use it as an enriching soil additive.

Those Darn Lightbulbs
Replacing old lightbulbs with compact fluorescent ones could trim up to 5% on your monthly electricity bill. Traditional bulbs can be thrown away in your regular trash, but compact fluorescents cannot. Contact your local hardware or home improvement store, there is a good chance they accept compact fluorescents for recycling.

Recycle TV’s, Monitors and Other Electronics
Keep mercury and lead out of our environment (and protect our health) by recycling your old TV’s and monitors. Replace bulky computer monitors with a flat LCD monitor. LCD monitors use about one third the electricity of conventional tube monitors- the equivalent of leaving a 50-watt lightbulb on all year. Save our natural resources and keep electronics out of our trash.

Don’t Burn Your Trash
Burning your trash in a burn barrel or fire pit releases poisonous toxins that pollute our air, water and soil, ultimately ending up in the food we eat. Get rid of your trash the safe way- through your local trash hauler or at local drop off site.

Paint with a Purpose
Choose a paint low in volatile compounds- VOC's. Inhaling VOC's can cause health problems as well as harm our environment.

[Unkle_John]

Excellent tips! Here's more:

Well, we switched our incandescent bulbs to florescent ones (from home depot), I believe the brand is "Commercial Electric". They come in two different packages: "Green" for regular yellow light, and "Blue" that is true light. These bulbs are classified as 60 watt, but only use 14 watts of electricity. They last A LOT longer too. I noticed almost a $30 drop in my bills after I converted over to them. I'll never go back again. But then again, we don't use any lights in the house until the sun goes down. I also have lanterns and candles for when the electricity is knocked out by a storm. I also have a battery back up tv/radio combo for weather reports. You can also put used batteries in the freezer. they will recharge themselves.

I live in an area that gets pretty darn cold in the winter (as apposed to where I moved from). All of those cards that fall out of magazines are used as fire starters. Pine cones are good too to start fires with. I also shred those stupid pre-approval letter from credit card companies as fuel in the winter.

Soda cans are money, so if I'm walking my dogs around the neighborhood, I pick them up out of yards. I live on a street corner, so I usually pick up at least half a six pack every other day. I normally don't drink sodas anymore, beer still comes in a can and I sure as heck recycle those too.

Plastic ltr. bottles are good for bird feeders and plant waterers. You can buy or make attachments for them. Metal hubcaps and trashcan lids are good for bird baths. I use my found hubcaps for art. AOL CD's are good for making art, or wind chimes, etc.

I collect rain water, when it's possible out here. Currently I collect condensation drips from my window units. Not to drink mind you, but to water my plants with and to refill my small pond. The water would be drinkable, after boiling, but heck I use it to water my tender plants instead of using my water hose and running up my water bill. Our bills are very low, about $45 a month (this also includes city sewer, trash, and such). Collecting is good also because it will help the foundation of my house. I also dip a used milk jug (with the lid cut off) to water the plants with.

As for plants, I also use my old fire stove ash as fertilizer. It helps the acid content of the soil. My dwarf banana plant has grown to 2 ft tall so far, by using ash. Anything can be a container for a plant. An old coffee can, a jar, an old shoe.

Eventually when I get the extra dough, I'm going to invest into solar panels for our house. I also plan on collecting rain water for drinking. But the purifier is costly as well.

Some tips from some friends:

Placing the brick in the toilet tank has the effect of basically reducing the size of the tank. So the toilet uses less water per flush. (equal to the volume the brick takes up).

It displaces water that would normally be needed to fill the tank. ~ Treehugger

If you don't have a brick, you can fill a milk jug with water and set it in there. Works fine. ~ Pedata

And I am a firm believer in cloth bags, I use them for all my shopping.
Also reusing plastic bottles, shampoo/conditioners buy in bulk and refill them, same with hand soaps. I use old yogurt containers for cups for my son and I save any plastic container that I can store anything in, food or anything.
I dont buy juice box's or anything like that, that's what cups are for, and I buy a lot in bulk there is not so much waste that way as far as packaging goes. I wash zip lock baggies and re use them.
non chemical cleaners. ~ Libra

Thanks Kath, Cass, and Denise for posting those a while back on the PD site.

[CowboyHippy]

more of a survival tip, but....

if you dont want to boil the water to purify it you can put it in a clear plastic bottle and leave it on the roof in the sun for a week, the uv will kill off damn near everything

you can also just bend the rod that the toilet float is on, bend it down and it'll shut the toilet off at say 3/4 or half full. if your water is like mine you'll be able to tell by the rust ring. i leave my bricks in the bowl.....

[Unkle_John]

i leave my bricks in the bowl.....

LOL!!!! :kngt: