Experiments with conservation on a personal level
I am feeling the need to be productive, again. It's warring heavily with my desire to spend the winter in my warm cocoon of blankets. At the moment, I'm not really sure which one is winning.
Of course, when I start to feel productive, I start searching the "green" sites, seeing what new things have come to pass while I've been hiding under a rock. Invariably, I'll find some new gadget to focus my ire upon, but I come across good ideas, as well. Those good ideas generally get mulled over in my head for awhile, and if I find them to be things that our family can do, I start the process to make them happen. One of those things started the Paper Towel War, that I have temporarily lost since Shane's dad gave us half a Costco pack of paper towels. Once those are gone (which will likely be a long while as we are used to not having them), we'll be going without them again. We really don't need them - we've got cloth napkins, and rags...and for those rare times that we need them, there's usually paper napkins left over from a fast food trip around here somewhere.
Tonight, we are doing an experiment. One of my biggest complaints is that it takes two or three rounds in the dryer to get our clothing dry. It has been this way since we got the machine, and it's completely ridiculous - it should only take one round. So, the experiment is this. The girls washed a load of their clothing, at which point we hung their shirts on the shower curtain rod to dry. Their jeans, socks, underwear and a towel went into the dryer. The dryer clothing was perfectly dry at the end of the first cycle, all that remains is seeing how long it takes their shirts to dry. I washed and dried their second load as is usually done - if we're going to hang dry the clothing we're going to be doing it one load at a time - as a load gets dirty, it gets washed and hung out to dry. I have a thought about making a drying rack for smaller stuff to be put over the bathtub, but we'll see how this experiment goes first. If this works out well, we'll be saving a good bit of electricity.
I have another experiment to try - this one a bit more personal. In fact, I'll be the only one in the house trying it. I'm going to be putting some edging on our older washcloths, and using them in lieu of toilet paper for the most part. The exceptions to this rule are: I will not use them if I have to use the heavy flush option and I will not use them during my moon time. It's something my grandmother has done for years, and it makes a lot of sense. As a diabetic, I'm prone to yeast infections - most of them caused by scented products or bits of paper. Trying this eliminates the second issue, and I've already eliminated the first...
That reminds me, when the farmers market or Portland Saturday Market is open again, I need to go down there and stock up on soap. It's not cheap, but I -love- Dragon's Blood scented soap...it's one of my luxury items. I really want to learn how to make it, and I'm determined to do so at some point. Right now, though? The crafters need money, and I need soap. :)
When asked how far I could take this by Maia, I mentioned to her that I could sew up cloth pads and use those for my moon time instead of disposables - in fact it would be better if I were to do so, as I have a mild allergy to the disposable pads of my choice. She gave me a funny look, but she really is starting to understand that given a choice between something that can be used over and over again and something that's going to sit in a landfill, reusable is better. I suspect that if I made them pretty as well as functional, she'd probably use them without complaint when that time comes for her.
Of the two of them, Maia has been the least resistant to the changes I've been trying to make in our lives. Rhi will resist until we're actually doing it, then get excited about trying something new. I've learned not to really involve Shane in it - while he cares enough to recycle and all that, he acts like he thinks I'm completely nuts on the reusable vs. disposable argument. I've tried to find out and understand his point of view, but it ends up turning into a pointless argument that I just refuse to deal with any more. At this point I simply put the changes into action - most of the changes involve things that Shane doesn't often touch, anyway. Like laundry. Or dishes. I'm going to be teaching Maia another method to do dishes that doesn't involve using as much water.
At this point, all of the water fixtures are low-flow. The toilet is dual-flush. All I need to do is get Maia to stop wasting so much water on the dishes, and water conservation is taken care of. I mean, there are a few other things we could be doing, but we're good for now.
Maia's pet peeve is packaging, so she and I will be working together to find a way to avoid as much of that as we can. I need to go pick up some light fabric for little bags - that way we can make some to use instead of the produce bags at the store. We need to remember to take our cloth bags for groceries instead of using the plastic - while we use the plastic here for the bathroom garbage, we have far too many plastic grocery bags lying around this apartment.
I, personally, need to cut down on the soda again. I've been doing fairly well so far, but I've noticed my intake increasing the last couple of days, so I'm trying to put a stop to it. I should be drinking tea and water, instead. Working on that as much as I can.
I have a couple more ideas as well, but those will take time. I'm thinking of an indoor vent kit for the dryer. Why should all that heat go outside, in the winter? I want to get my garden going, but I'm still not sure how I'm going to go about it. Wheeled garden boxes, perhaps, that I can put against the house in the parking area? I want to start a potato box, as well. That one doesn't require as much sun, but the garden project itself may be set back until next year. It really all depends on time and resources right now. We're long on time, short on resources.
We'll get it figured out.
Of course, when I start to feel productive, I start searching the "green" sites, seeing what new things have come to pass while I've been hiding under a rock. Invariably, I'll find some new gadget to focus my ire upon, but I come across good ideas, as well. Those good ideas generally get mulled over in my head for awhile, and if I find them to be things that our family can do, I start the process to make them happen. One of those things started the Paper Towel War, that I have temporarily lost since Shane's dad gave us half a Costco pack of paper towels. Once those are gone (which will likely be a long while as we are used to not having them), we'll be going without them again. We really don't need them - we've got cloth napkins, and rags...and for those rare times that we need them, there's usually paper napkins left over from a fast food trip around here somewhere.
Tonight, we are doing an experiment. One of my biggest complaints is that it takes two or three rounds in the dryer to get our clothing dry. It has been this way since we got the machine, and it's completely ridiculous - it should only take one round. So, the experiment is this. The girls washed a load of their clothing, at which point we hung their shirts on the shower curtain rod to dry. Their jeans, socks, underwear and a towel went into the dryer. The dryer clothing was perfectly dry at the end of the first cycle, all that remains is seeing how long it takes their shirts to dry. I washed and dried their second load as is usually done - if we're going to hang dry the clothing we're going to be doing it one load at a time - as a load gets dirty, it gets washed and hung out to dry. I have a thought about making a drying rack for smaller stuff to be put over the bathtub, but we'll see how this experiment goes first. If this works out well, we'll be saving a good bit of electricity.
I have another experiment to try - this one a bit more personal. In fact, I'll be the only one in the house trying it. I'm going to be putting some edging on our older washcloths, and using them in lieu of toilet paper for the most part. The exceptions to this rule are: I will not use them if I have to use the heavy flush option and I will not use them during my moon time. It's something my grandmother has done for years, and it makes a lot of sense. As a diabetic, I'm prone to yeast infections - most of them caused by scented products or bits of paper. Trying this eliminates the second issue, and I've already eliminated the first...
That reminds me, when the farmers market or Portland Saturday Market is open again, I need to go down there and stock up on soap. It's not cheap, but I -love- Dragon's Blood scented soap...it's one of my luxury items. I really want to learn how to make it, and I'm determined to do so at some point. Right now, though? The crafters need money, and I need soap. :)
When asked how far I could take this by Maia, I mentioned to her that I could sew up cloth pads and use those for my moon time instead of disposables - in fact it would be better if I were to do so, as I have a mild allergy to the disposable pads of my choice. She gave me a funny look, but she really is starting to understand that given a choice between something that can be used over and over again and something that's going to sit in a landfill, reusable is better. I suspect that if I made them pretty as well as functional, she'd probably use them without complaint when that time comes for her.
Of the two of them, Maia has been the least resistant to the changes I've been trying to make in our lives. Rhi will resist until we're actually doing it, then get excited about trying something new. I've learned not to really involve Shane in it - while he cares enough to recycle and all that, he acts like he thinks I'm completely nuts on the reusable vs. disposable argument. I've tried to find out and understand his point of view, but it ends up turning into a pointless argument that I just refuse to deal with any more. At this point I simply put the changes into action - most of the changes involve things that Shane doesn't often touch, anyway. Like laundry. Or dishes. I'm going to be teaching Maia another method to do dishes that doesn't involve using as much water.
At this point, all of the water fixtures are low-flow. The toilet is dual-flush. All I need to do is get Maia to stop wasting so much water on the dishes, and water conservation is taken care of. I mean, there are a few other things we could be doing, but we're good for now.
Maia's pet peeve is packaging, so she and I will be working together to find a way to avoid as much of that as we can. I need to go pick up some light fabric for little bags - that way we can make some to use instead of the produce bags at the store. We need to remember to take our cloth bags for groceries instead of using the plastic - while we use the plastic here for the bathroom garbage, we have far too many plastic grocery bags lying around this apartment.
I, personally, need to cut down on the soda again. I've been doing fairly well so far, but I've noticed my intake increasing the last couple of days, so I'm trying to put a stop to it. I should be drinking tea and water, instead. Working on that as much as I can.
I have a couple more ideas as well, but those will take time. I'm thinking of an indoor vent kit for the dryer. Why should all that heat go outside, in the winter? I want to get my garden going, but I'm still not sure how I'm going to go about it. Wheeled garden boxes, perhaps, that I can put against the house in the parking area? I want to start a potato box, as well. That one doesn't require as much sun, but the garden project itself may be set back until next year. It really all depends on time and resources right now. We're long on time, short on resources.
We'll get it figured out.