Several months ago, I decided to be apart of the Green Movement in a small way. To be honest, I never thought about it much before or knew how to be involved. It all was a little intimidating to me and I didn't want to be crazy about it. But now that I am a mom and thinking about the future of my son and his future environment, I want to be conscious of what I do and try my best not to waste as much as possible. Simple Mom posted this a few days before Earth Day which inspired me to participate in being more green in my home.
Here are a few of the ways I try to be Green in my home:
1. Turn off all the lights when I leave the room.
2. Not turning on the lights as long as I can and using natural light. *This works better for me in the cooler months. I have my blinds open all the time in the fall/winter months to allow the sun to naturally warm my house. Doing so saves me money too on my electric bills, because the heater does not have to come on as often. It is the same principle in the summer, but I keep my blinds closed to keep the heat from the sun out. It makes a huge difference on the comfort level in my home and my unit does not have to work as hard.
3. Turning my computer off every night.
4. Unplugging chargers that are not being used.
5. Printing on both sides of paper as much as possible.
6. Put a stop to unsolicited mail – sign up to opt out of pre-screened credit card offers. Also, if you are tired of the phone ringing at dinner time make sure you’re on the “do not call” list.
7. Turning the television off when I am not actually watching it.
I am interested in trying a few more such as:
1. Making reusable grocery bags.
2. Buying a water purifying system, so I will not have to buy bottled water.
3. Planting a garden. I love fresh vegetables and I also think as my son gets older it would be a great way to teach him about the earth and how to grow your own food. And it helps the planet all at the same time.
What do you do in your home? Do you think about how to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle? What are other simple, attainable goals that we can try to achieve?
Leigh Ann
3 comments:
Right after I posted, I remembered something else about saving money on your electricity bills. It is not exactly Green related, but it is the same concept as using the sunlight to warm your home. In the cooler months when you do laundry and the drier is going, leave the laundry room door open and let that help warm your home. The opposite concept is true the the warmer summer months, shut that door! And keep your home cooler. In the summer you can also be mindful of doing your drying of clothes at night, not baking in the heat of the day, and running the dishwasher at night. There are definite times when that cannot be avoided but when possible your house will be cooler and you will be living greener.
Thanks for sharing these! Matt and I talk all the time about trying to be more conscious of living green. Just the other night we were talking about unplugging everything that is not being used. We're trying to find a practical way to put it all into use.
I always run the dishwasher at night, but never thought about the dryer. But I always shut the door so maybe that is helping. I'm going to work on these ideas!
I really like all the ideas on this post. I'm an elementary health teacher and this year I am planning on starting a recycling program at school, so its nice to know all the things I can do at home. I might even share a few with my kiddos! Thanks!
Post a Comment