high efficiency electronics many things - especially temperature control things like space heaters and AC units, but also fans, dishwashers, washer/driers, refrigerators...MANY things can be bought at a slightly higher price in an energy efficient version. they almost always pay for themselves in a couple months.
buy recycled. toilet paper, paper towels, and many other things can be bought made out of recycled things. the thrift store is your friend.
recycling doesn't always mean putting things in your bin for the service to take away. sometimes it means getting canvas bags and keeping them in the car for grocery shopping (or any shopping). in this vein. bottled water isn't a bad thing if you bottle it yourself in a bottle you will reuse like a nalgene.
pay attention to your diet. if you eliminate high fructose corn syrup (not even the regular corn syrup) and partially hydrogenated soybeen oil in your diet, you avoid supporting A LOT of wasteful processing that frankly only adds un-nourishing calories nobody needs.
i just heard a story on the news this week talking about how we HAVE the technology already to take desert space in the south west - about 100 square miles of it - and fill ALL the needs of the entire country with some surplus - IN A WAY THAT DOES NOT DISRUPT DESERT ECOSYSTEMS. and we could easily do with with only a 10th of the govt. financial support currently given to the oil industry. why aren't we doing this? no political momentum for it. disgusting.
There are a ton of things we would try to do if we owned, which, sadly, we don't. And we have a fairly laconic landlord.
We have a swamp cooler, and the heating for this house doesn't get used... but our few appliances are all energy efficient. (washer, dryer, fridge, microwave...) I would really like to be able to add dishwasher to that list, but, *shrugs*... I guess, given the amount of work I can do on the amount of calories I intake, I could be considered energy efficient.
We use recycled toilet paper, and paper towels, which last forever, because for all but the nastiest jobs, I use rags these days.
Thrift stores are great, because not only is it recycling, you can often find older things with more quality than what is currently being sold for a pittance, comparatively. My little tiny loom was one such find. Unfortunately, it made me really want to have a real one someday.
*nods* We've been doing a lot as far as diet. One of the interesting things I discovered is that meat lacking in antibiotics and growth hormones when it was alive seems to be more nutritionally dense. Things taste better with proper ingredients, and people seem to eat less of it. Sort of a nifty bonus.
/agree with that last paragraph. I live in that southwest area, and am well aware of how much emptiness there is that could be utilized for something productive and nondestructive. Sort of sad that these are not the things being focused on.
I will say that being green gets harder and harder the lower your income drops. We've been having some challenges recently, due to my partner being laid off... Things are tight, and I've had to go back to some of the cheaper variants because we honestly cannot afford the better quality. Irritating the hell out of me.
insulate insulate insulate! if you own insulate
high efficiency electronics many things - especially temperature control things like space heaters and AC units, but also fans, dishwashers, washer/driers, refrigerators...MANY things can be bought at a slightly higher price in an energy efficient version. they almost always pay for themselves in a couple months.
buy recycled. toilet paper, paper towels, and many other things can be bought made out of recycled things. the thrift store is your friend.
recycling doesn't always mean putting things in your bin for the service to take away. sometimes it means getting canvas bags and keeping them in the car for grocery shopping (or any shopping). in this vein. bottled water isn't a bad thing if you bottle it yourself in a bottle you will reuse like a nalgene.
pay attention to your diet. if you eliminate high fructose corn syrup (not even the regular corn syrup) and partially hydrogenated soybeen oil in your diet, you avoid supporting A LOT of wasteful processing that frankly only adds un-nourishing calories nobody needs.
i just heard a story on the news this week talking about how we HAVE the technology already to take desert space in the south west - about 100 square miles of it - and fill ALL the needs of the entire country with some surplus - IN A WAY THAT DOES NOT DISRUPT DESERT ECOSYSTEMS. and we could easily do with with only a 10th of the govt. financial support currently given to the oil industry. why aren't we doing this? no political momentum for it. disgusting.
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We have a swamp cooler, and the heating for this house doesn't get used... but our few appliances are all energy efficient. (washer, dryer, fridge, microwave...) I would really like to be able to add dishwasher to that list, but, *shrugs*... I guess, given the amount of work I can do on the amount of calories I intake, I could be considered energy efficient.
We use recycled toilet paper, and paper towels, which last forever, because for all but the nastiest jobs, I use rags these days.
Thrift stores are great, because not only is it recycling, you can often find older things with more quality than what is currently being sold for a pittance, comparatively. My little tiny loom was one such find. Unfortunately, it made me really want to have a real one someday.
*nods* We've been doing a lot as far as diet. One of the interesting things I discovered is that meat lacking in antibiotics and growth hormones when it was alive seems to be more nutritionally dense. Things taste better with proper ingredients, and people seem to eat less of it. Sort of a nifty bonus.
/agree with that last paragraph. I live in that southwest area, and am well aware of how much emptiness there is that could be utilized for something productive and nondestructive. Sort of sad that these are not the things being focused on.
I will say that being green gets harder and harder the lower your income drops. We've been having some challenges recently, due to my partner being laid off... Things are tight, and I've had to go back to some of the cheaper variants because we honestly cannot afford the better quality. Irritating the hell out of me.
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