Building Green Habits

BadBoy@TheWheel

BadBoy@TheWheel

DT3's Twinkie
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15 Year Club Well Known
My humble opinion is that regardless of what scientists say, we can all do a better job of practicing stewardship of this great planet we inhabit. I want to discuss not only my personal green lifestyle habits, but ones that all of you have as well. This can be very informative for those who may not know where to start.

I use a variety of environmentally friendly cleaners, one of my personal favorites are products from METHOD.

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This hand cleaner is my favorite, if free of Sodium Laureth Sulfate (commonly a product that is used in engine cleaning and is damaging to marine life)

You can buy this in a lot of places, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond to name a couple, or from the Method website.

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Great laundry detergent, basically all natural.:)

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I use Seventh Generation dishwashing detergents exclusively, greta stuff, you can practically drink it. It is phosphate free which also promotes healthy water ways by preventing the excessive Chemical Oxygen Demand that is caused byt the use of Phosphates. Yes it is a little pricey, but it is catching on, I think the prices will drop a little with higher volume.

Some other things you can use that you might have handy around the house.

Coffee grounds are great for ridding your yard of ant mounds, yes that is right, organic farmers use this solution as well as organic ranchers, totally safe way to rid yourself of pesky ants without dropping pure poison on the ground.

Okay, time for everyone else to chime in. Also feel free to ask me anything you may have a question about, I am nuts about this stuff:D
 
bb ,im well impressed.

we recycle everything

we do cold washes and use eco friendly products

we buy fair trade coffee and tea(we ban all nestle products so no nescafe)

we eat seasonal food where possible

we eat organic as much as possible

we eat free range eggs meat etc

we sell honcho ponchos made from fabric produced from plastic bottles and bags

we sell himilayan fleece hoodies also made from recycled plastic bottles

all our sale items are fairtrade and transported on ships as is most eco friendly

if its cold rather than using more fossils fuels we put on extra clothing

i know theres so much more i could do but i just try my best.sad to see europe withdraw from the talks in bali because the US wont play the game,dialogue would be a better way to deal with it.
 
thankyou badboy,
it is also something i get very interested in ,and lets face it if we dont all do this our planet is pretty much fucked:(
i do get really pissed off with the ,im entitled to do what i like and fuck global warming attitude.

also ,eco friendly products are getting less expensive .organic and free range taste better,and environmentally friendly houses have smaller bills,that has to be good.

i am still interested in using solar panels on the roof of my van(truck)with inverter and leisure battery bank,but as i said batteries are bad news in their production and their disposal.and thats a concern for me:)
 
I try and be green but unfortunately green products are quite often pretty useless. I buy free range eggs and organic food when I can (see and afford it) I guess I'm not a real Greenie but what I do is surely better than nothing, right?:confused
 
you dont have to eat organic,just eating seasonal vegetables and fruit can reduce your carbon footprint.
id also say that we neglect alot of great british veg and fruit here.
any thing is certainly better than nothing at all pete,and i have to say finding an american who embraces this philosophy has made my day:)
 
Good to hear, with my missus being ill and all its enough to drag me round the supermarket. We do buy fresh fruit and she has got me into avocado where I wouldn't normally eat fresh fruit or veg. Unfortunately a lot of our veg ends up going bad because its far easier to eat a take away or curry. Do you think this wastes more or not with this veg keep going to waste through our lack of energy. I sometimes wonder whether just buying ready meals would waste less?:confused
 
Peter Parka said:
Good to hear, with my missus being ill and all its enough to drag me round the supermarket. We do buy fresh fruit and she has got me into avocado where I wouldn't normally eat fresh fruit or veg. Unfortunately a lot of our veg ends up going bad because its far easier to eat a take away or curry. Do you think this wastes more or not with this veg keep going to waste through our lack of energy. I sometimes wonder whether just buying ready meals would waste less?:confused
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if it goes off find someone with a compost heap.......dont let it go to waste.......all mine gets composted
 
We recycle everything.

We use all CFL bulbs in our home.

Our home is ultra insulated to save on heating and cooling. Our electricity bill is $200-300 cheaper a month than our neighbor's.

Food is never wasted at our house.

We use our own 'bags' (reusuable) when shopping.

We recycle cards - use them to make crafts or even other cards with.

We installed a tankless waterheater so that the gas comes on only when hot water is needed.

We have water saving shower heads.

When we purchase appliances they are all energy saver star appliances. (nice tax breaks as well)

We never throw things out - we always donate to friends, charities, churches etc.

... there is lots more we do but I just can't think of it all as it has become habit ...
 
Here in Ireland recycling has become compulsary. We have 2 rubbish/garbage bins,one for food waste,one for non recyclables,All our recyclables ar3e put into special sacks for recycled goods. Our glass has to go to bottle banmks. Biggest problem though is that the costs of waste disposal make it a very expensive option,we pay a fixed annual fee plus the equivalent of $4 per recycling sack,$20 per non recyclable bin and $15 per food waste bin,these are then only emptied every 3 weeks. Local council makes a fortune on it all . Talk about being ripped off for doing the right thing.
 
Recycling is part of the regular trash pick up in my city. (That is,Everyone has the recycle bins issued to them, and they're picked up along side of the garbage.)

I use mainly natural cleaners. Ex: Baking soda and vinegar. IM me if you want some ideas/info on how to clean sans harsh chemicals. With an infant in the house every little thing helps.

I have a back yard garden. Fresh, organic grown vegies are the best~! Why waste water on grass?! We aren't cows.
My front yard is 'zeroscaped' If you're unfamiliar with that term, it's when you plant only those plants that can grow in your area with out the additional need of water or chemicals. In Florida it's imperative that people stop using so much gunk on their lawns, As it all winds up right in the bay. Nothing pisses me off more than the geezer who moves down here and thinks he needs to have a lawn like he did in -insert Northern state here- So he proceeds to use copious amounts of chemicals on his 'lawn' and then violates watering restrictions as well so that his grass stays green. I would love to go dump some nitrogen on that golf course style lawn and spell out the word 'selfish!~' hahahaaheheheheheee,

...... sorry, I went off on a tangent there.

Anyway. We also have installed new toilets that use less water and of course the shower heads.

This might be a Florida/California thing, but we also have papaya, mango, avocado, grapefruit and orange trees in our yard. -mmm. yummers! I also have a really beautiful fig tree, and a mulberry bush but the birds always get the figs/berries before they're ripe enough for us to pick. lol
(Don't complain, it keeps them out of the garden.)
 
Crusty Lugholes said:
Recycling is part of the regular trash pick up in my city. (That is,Everyone has the recycle bins issued to them, and they're picked up along side of the garbage.)

I use mainly natural cleaners. Ex: Baking soda and vinegar. IM me if you want some ideas/info on how to clean sans harsh chemicals. With an infant in the house every little thing helps.

I have a back yard garden. Fresh, organic grown vegies are the best~! Why waste water on grass?! We aren't cows.
My front yard is 'zeroscaped' If you're unfamiliar with that term, it's when you plant only those plants that can grow in your area with out the additional need of water or chemicals. In Florida it's imperative that people stop using so much gunk on their lawns, As it all winds up right in the bay. Nothing pisses me off more than the geezer who moves down here and thinks he needs to have a lawn like he did in -insert Northern state here- So he proceeds to use copious amounts of chemicals on his 'lawn' and then violates watering restrictions as well so that his grass stays green. I would love to go dump some nitrogen on that golf course style lawn and spell out the word 'selfish!~' hahahaaheheheheheee,

...... sorry, I went off on a tangent there.

Anyway. We also have installed new toilets that use less water and of course the shower heads.

This might be a Florida/California thing, but we also have papaya, mango, avocado, grapefruit and orange trees in our yard. -mmm. yummers! I also have a really beautiful fig tree, and a mulberry bush but the birds always get the figs/berries before they're ripe enough for us to pick. lol
(Don't complain, it keeps them out of the garden.)
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Thank you for your input:)

And rants are allowed so long as they stay on topic, which you did:)

Thank you:clap

Rep delivered and it was deserved :)
 
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