Go Green

greenearth
Creating A Green Home

Water Preservation Awareness
Not only for your home, but wherever you are, turn the faucet off while you soap your hands. You can turn it back on when you are done; and meanwhile, you are not wasting water.

Design for the Environment Labeling
When shopping, look for the “Design for the Environment” label on the products you buy. You’re part of the environment, so when you use products with this label, you are keeping bad chemicals away from you and your family.

designedfortheenvironment

Shopping Smarts
California has smartly outlawed plastic bags – a move that has stopped the harmful meeting of plastic, and water animals who used to become tangled in, and strangled by, the plastic bags. Bring your own cloth bags with you when shopping, and you are a part of turning the tide.

Drink Smart
Plastic bottles are everywhere, and that’s a problem not just for the environment but for your body, because certain kinds of plastics are not harmless. So, buy yourself a water bottle that is stainless steel, or a safe kind of plastic, and save your wallet too.

Say No To Yellow Pages
Go to www.YellowPagesGoesGreen.org, and let them know that you are more than happy to get your information online. You will be saving paper on something you probably no longer use anyway.

Water Conservation Tips

Did you know that you save 25 gallons of water a month when you turn the water off while you’re brushing your teeth?

Choose a shower head that is efficient when it comes to the water, and you can save up to 750 gallons a month.

Here’s an odd and clever idea: park your car on the lawn, and wash it there! I know, it means soap on your lawn! So, make sure you buy soap that is environmentally kind. You don’t have to use “mean” soaps to wash your car.

Occasionally choose not to use water to clean your driveway and sidewalk. Instead, sweep it up! You’ll save some water, and you will keep trash out of gutters.

Give up the hot water washing. Cold water works just as well, and cold water washing is an energy saver too.

Buy a timer for your plant watering hose. You will avoid the times that you forget to turn it off, and you will save lots and lots of water.


Heating Tips

Buy a programmable thermostat. You will save on energy, and you can time it for low heat for times when you are at work and are sleeping, and higher for times when you are at home.

Here’s a quick idea: Reduce your thermostat temperature by one or two degrees. You will be pleasantly surprised to see the change in your bill.

Winter Heating Tips

Replace furnace filters regularly.

Ever thinking of lowering our water heater thermostat? For every 10 degrees you lower it, you save 5% on our cost.

Heat escapes open doors. That includes your garage!

Want to save money as well as heat? Go to the hardware store and talk to them about your windows and how you would like to keep the heat in. There are huge money-saving options available at the hardware store.

Have rooms you’re not using in the winter? Close ‘em up!

Use the natural heat of the sun! Any curtains or blinds you have that face South, open them during the day and capture the heat, and then close them up at night.

Remember weatherstripping and caulking for your windows. Don’t know how to use them? Check out YouTube.com – there’s nothing you can’t learn there.


Summer Tips

Think about what you are using that could be done by hand instead of using electricity or gasoline. A good example is a mower. Pushing your mower can help your personal energy level as well.

Support your local farmer’s market. Don’t know where one is? Go to www.OhioProud.org.

You don’t always have to buy new, and you can always share. Try www.freecycle.org and create a trading cycle that doesn’t include landfills.

When it comes to your lawn, keep an eye out for (1) organic lawn care products and (2) plant-based, rather than animal-based, products.

If you are hiking, bring a bag with you for your garbage. Leave the land as beautiful and pristine as it was when you got there.

 

Home & Garden Tips

Have you noticed that when you go to the grocery store, a lot of herbs are in plastic? Avoid the plastic: start an herb garden for yourself. Don’t know how? Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbYbI-uGEyg.If you need planting soil, or boxes, or anything else for this project, hit up freecycle.org or craigslist.org. Craigslist has a free trading area as a part of its site.

It happens all the time in Vermont and California – we can do it in Ohio: Begin your own compost bin, either inside or out. Hit up a hardware or garden store for the right kind of holder for your internal composting. For external composting, you can hide that near or in part of your garden.

Take back the water! Have you ever considered making a rain barrel? You can just leave it outside, and bring it in after the rain stops, or you can put a bin under your gutter spout. Then you can use that water for watering plants. Google this phrase to find a class that will teach you how to do this, and how to make use of what you catch: “rain barrel workshops ohio”.

There are so many ways to green your life, which helps green our world. Consider a few of those in these three articles, and you will be making a difference.