Going Green

Yesterday I mentioned how our church had given us a list of things we could do as a family to lessen our environmental impact. I noticed that just after Earth Day Ms. Kitty posted a list of things she was doing to "go green". I thought I'd share what we either already have been doing or are planning to implement soon.

- switching to cloth napkins and towels from paper
- reusing (double-siding) scrap paper
- having our names removed from 3rd class mailing lists
- start composting kitchen waste
- switching from disposable to reusable plates, cups, utensils
- recycling glass, paper, cans, plastic, cardboard
- starting to recycle batteries and plastic bags
- buying products made of recycled materials
- wrap our water heater
- set hot water heater at 120 degrees
- change our thermostat setting (2 degrees warmer in summer)
- gradually switching all lightbults to compact fluorescents
- cooling hot leftovers before putting in fridge
- washing and drying only full loads
- rinsing with cold as much as possible
- buying locally grown produce
- buying organic when possible
- no longer buying meat (especially red meat)
- seal windows and doors
- checking tire pressure regularly
- not using drive-thrus (not eating meat helps with this one) ;-)
- not allowing vehicle to idle more than 30 seconds
- watching environmental films such as An Inconvenient Truth
- reading The Great Turning (a book endorsed by our church)
- planting a garden
- planting a tree
- fixing water leaks around the house
- using low-flow toilets
- installing low-flow showerheads
- reducing amount of water used on lawns/gardens
- reduce number of times flushing by half
- turn off water when not actually being used (washing hands, teeth, etc.)
- reducing shower time
- washing dishes by hand in sink half the time

There are other items we'd like to do like buy new Energy Star appliances, start buying green energy, etc. But those things will have to wait until our financial situation is on a little better footing. Right now we're doing what we can.