Thursday, February 21, 2008

Around the Home Thursday

Some friends and I were making a list of small things that an average family can do to help the environment.  While I'm not an expert by any means, these are a few small things that my family is trying to do to help out.

1. Recycle all cans, plastic, and glass--We take our CRV items done to the local recycling place on the corner.  Because the kids help me, we split the money receive and put it in their piggy banks.  Any items that cannot be recycled for money, go into the recycling bin for pick up.

2. Use canvas bags at the store--Some how we've received several of these lately and I try to keep them in the back of the car so they're there when I need them.

3. Recycle old plastic bags at you local grocery store--Our local grocery store has a bin.  I take a bunch each time I go to buy groceries.
  
4. Plug electronics into a power strip and turn off when not in use--I haven't added the VCR because I hate resetting the timer.  But everything else is plugged in and shut off when we're through.

5. Unplug cell phone, etc after fully charging them--trying to stop those silent energy suckers.

6. Turn off the TV--We watch more than our fair share of television, but from what I hear, this is one of the biggest energy users in a household.

7. Use CFL lightbulbs--nuff said.

8. Wear a sweater in the house and lower the temp--The kids and I are also wearing sweaters around the house and dipping the temp to between 65-68.

9. Do laundry after 7pm--If you live in Ca, you're already used to saving energy and trying to do lots of things after 7pm.  Don't forget to use cold water and try a new "green" laundry detergent.  Also I read that you should use an extra spin cycle and it will drastically cut your drying time.

10. Don't run the water when brushing your teeth--What a waste!

11. Run errands at one time--This is a hard one with little kids, but we try to run several errands at once and only make one trip from home each day.

12. Hit the farmer's market--Yes, you will spend a little extra money.  But you will be supporting the local economy and be saving the environment from the energy used to transport food to the local market

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