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catherineldfMy standard intro: a couple of years ago, I started an annual Earth Day post on things we were doing to make our household greener. Previous posts: 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Some of these things may be useful to you and yours if you're looking to tread a little lighter on our poor planet. I also do it for me since it's a way to remind myself of what we've done so far and what I'd like us to tackle next.
It is worth noting that we've spent years on this, making a few changes every year. My goal has been to add a few new things every year, which we are on track for. I will also note that most things on my list have had a direct cost savings in the longer term, particularly the ones with start up costs. But there are also things we can't do because of finances or the state of our yard and so forth, such as growing all our own veggies (we manage some) and there are things that stay in the planning stages for years at a time while I figure out budgeting and so forth. We also own our own home in a very urban environment in a city which supports a lot of green programs and I've done quite a bit of research and planning on all of this to approach it holistically. I recommend Green America as a good resource for tackling environmental impacts from one social justice perspective.
What we've done so far:
Switched to reusables: lunch bags, dish towels, handkerchiefs, cups, straws, traveling utensils, grocery bags, yard waste containers, etc.
Switched to recycled/refurbished: all paper products, aluminum foil, electronics where feasible (refurbished iPads, router, etc.), some furniture, some clothes, plastic containers, food packages, garbage bags, etc.
Other things we reuse: wash and reuse plastic bags, recycle magazines and single use containers for art projects, buy bulk and reuse single use containers for storage.
Basic house greening: swapping out light bulbs to LEDs, additional insulation, improved windows, green cleaners, green care products, biodegradable cat litter, energy efficient appliances, solar fan in the attic to keep the house cooler in summer, water barrel, yard waste compost, city compost, city recycling, new plumbing with water efficient shower head, toilet and faucets, yard is completely organic and planted with pollinator-friendly plants, electric mower, we use grit to deice and our house is powered by 100% wind power through our utility.
Additional stuff: Committed to buying the bulk of our groceries at the local coops and farmer's markets.
And that's it for now. Feel free to share the things that you're trying or any questions you have about what we're doing.
Some of these things may be useful to you and yours if you're looking to tread a little lighter on our poor planet. I also do it for me since it's a way to remind myself of what we've done so far and what I'd like us to tackle next.
It is worth noting that we've spent years on this, making a few changes every year. My goal has been to add a few new things every year, which we are on track for. I will also note that most things on my list have had a direct cost savings in the longer term, particularly the ones with start up costs. But there are also things we can't do because of finances or the state of our yard and so forth, such as growing all our own veggies (we manage some) and there are things that stay in the planning stages for years at a time while I figure out budgeting and so forth. We also own our own home in a very urban environment in a city which supports a lot of green programs and I've done quite a bit of research and planning on all of this to approach it holistically. I recommend Green America as a good resource for tackling environmental impacts from one social justice perspective.
What we've done so far:
Switched to reusables: lunch bags, dish towels, handkerchiefs, cups, straws, traveling utensils, grocery bags, yard waste containers, etc.
Switched to recycled/refurbished: all paper products, aluminum foil, electronics where feasible (refurbished iPads, router, etc.), some furniture, some clothes, plastic containers, food packages, garbage bags, etc.
Other things we reuse: wash and reuse plastic bags, recycle magazines and single use containers for art projects, buy bulk and reuse single use containers for storage.
Basic house greening: swapping out light bulbs to LEDs, additional insulation, improved windows, green cleaners, green care products, biodegradable cat litter, energy efficient appliances, solar fan in the attic to keep the house cooler in summer, water barrel, yard waste compost, city compost, city recycling, new plumbing with water efficient shower head, toilet and faucets, yard is completely organic and planted with pollinator-friendly plants, electric mower, we use grit to deice and our house is powered by 100% wind power through our utility.
Additional stuff: Committed to buying the bulk of our groceries at the local coops and farmer's markets.
- In addition, we look for reuse and donation opportunities for everything we want to get rid of that's usable: clothes go to clothing swaps as well as donation bins, books go to libraries and benefit auctions, jewelry to benefit auctions, reusable computing equipment to organizations that refurb and donate it, etc. At this point, we compost and recycle much more than we throw out.
- Committed to not driving anywhere a few days out of the month and carpooling more and taking public transportation when we can. Biking is not a option for us physically or scheduling-wise and we still need two cars for the moment, but I hope to go down to one car and car sharing in the future and we do walk a fair amount.
- Meat free meals and days multiple times a week
- Carbon offsets, particularly for plane flights and longer road trips. Offset programs that I like: Nature Conservancy, MN Tree Trust, Cool Effect, Million Metres Stream Project (if we travel outside the U.S., I look for local organizations to donate to).
- Use CREDO Mobile for my cell phone as a much greener alternative to other companies
- Investments - I screen out oil companies and other big polluters from my 401K, have my mutual fund holdings with Pax World Funds and own small amounts of stock in our local coop and in Terracycle.
- Switched out my credit cards to cards with B-corp banks or credit unions. Regular accounts are at a local credit union.
- Well, we've certainly been driving and flying a whole lot less.
- Had the attic refinished, including full insulation. Between that and replacing our ancient furnace with an energy efficient one, we've cut our natural gas usage by 35-40%.
- Replaced the A/C with an energy efficient one (windpowered!)
- Began converting the remaining lawn to clover - pollinators love it!
- Growing some food, including getting a couple of mushroom logs, planting chard, cultivating raspberries and planting a service berry bush in the front yard.
- Started using Ecosia as a search engine, when feasible. This is a German B Corp that plants trees when you do searches - they work with a bunch of international nonprofits, including the Jane Goodall Institute.
- Switched out dental floss to refillables/recyclables, switched out my replaceable head toothbrush with a bamboo-handled one, switched to a metal razor with replaceable blades and switched out our plastic water filters for a Kishu Charcoal refillable metal one with compostable fill (the water does actually taste better).
- Continued working on reducing our food waste, which is now at an all time low since I'm home all the time to cook.
- Put more effort into buying our clothes from green and Fair Trade companies; we always did some, but are doing more now.
- We've done more takeout with plastic than I'm happy with so hoping to make some changes there while supporting out local restaurants. Many of the places we order from provide compostable or recyclable packaging, so it could be worse, but damn, that's a lot of forks at a certain point.
- Finish replacing the lawn with clover (we're already down to mowing every 3 weeks or so and need to do almost no watering, apart from the rain barrel).
- I was using public transportation more, pre-plague, so hoping to get back into that, more walking, car pooling, etc.
- Look for more options to reduce our gas usage and possibly get a bidet.
And that's it for now. Feel free to share the things that you're trying or any questions you have about what we're doing.