make a smaller ecological footprint

I just bought a new house so there are going to be many things that I did previously that I’m going to be re-doing here as I begin to settle in and figure out how I can make this place more green. We’ve been here a month and have spent most of that time in construction so I’ve yet to be able to really figure out where my troubled areas are going to be. We’ve already put new insulation in the attic over the kitchen and dining area but I know I’ll have a real to do list in the next few months here. SO I’ll be back here for sure.

Some of the things I’ve done to reduce my ecological footprint:

• Bring my own reuseable coffee cup to work and use it everyday for beverages.
• Use only a reuseable bottle for water and water based beverages while away from home.
• Maintain a garden for some of our own vegetalbles and purchase locally grown produce whenever possible.
• Plant trees in the west and south locations of our yard to lower energy use for cooling in the summer months.
• Save paper for recycling.
• Save aluminum cans for recycling.
• Reduce the number of trips to the store by buying in bulk when possible.
• Use our clothesline for drying in the warmer months to reduce energy use in our home.
• Installed energy efficient replacement windows.
• Replaced our old A/C and furnace with high efficient ones.
• No longer subscribe to magazines and donate our old ones to the local senior center, nursing homes.

Things I’ll probably not do:

• Become a vegetarian.
• Replace our current method of dealing with our mole problem with a more environmental friendly one which has not worked well in the past. Our neighbors are all treating their lawns with chemicals the last couple years and the little varments have invaded our yard with a vengence killing most of our tulips and leaving large trenches. crisscrossing our yard.

I read a lot of books and have nearly always bought new ones and then given them to charity when I’ve finished reading. Anyway I’ve now joined the library so that I don’t need to buy new books any more.

Summer is coming and along with it is hot weather. I am thinking of installing reflective shades on my east and west windows to reflect heat out and save on my AC this year.

When I do the laundry the first load is always the heaviest items, mainly jeans and hoodies, so they can go into the dryer first, later loads will have lighter weight items.

Instead of having to run the dryer a long time for darks, I run it for a much shorter time (sometimes only 20 minutes). Lighter weight dark items get done really fast and the heavy items usually only feel damp around seams. When the nect load is ready to go into the dryer it shares space with the remainders of the heavier items.

Not only am I reducing the amount of power I am using but I am also reducing my utility cost. Additionally, the dryer does cause a lot of wear on clothes so the less time spent in the dryer the better.

I have also found that most everything comes out better with a lower heat setting. Again, saves power and saves clothes. (saving clothes not only saves money but reduces the need for additional resources needed to make new clothes)

For those of you who purchase bottled water, unless you have an excellent recycling center in your area, those water bottles may find themselves forever in a landfill. While using reusable water bottles may not eliminate that possibility in my household, I try to keep one handy for roadtrips. I’m proud of myself that I used one this weekend and even remembered not to forget it somewhere and brought it home.

In response to growing pressure from international law enforcement agencies and conservation groups, eBay, the online auction giant, announced Monday that it would ban all commerce in ivory, including most heirlooms, to avoid providing a market that will encourage the slaughter of endangered elephants.

Score : Pachyderms 1 – Poachers 0

so I totally slaughtered a pair of jeans today, and not being one to do the cut off thing, they are now in the church donation bag. The brilliant thing about those donations is that the items that are not chosen by homeless people are bundled and sold to a fabric recycler – keeping them out of a landfill. Somehow those Levi’s will find a new life.

Our company’s Commuter Challenge is officially starting next week! We’re having a kick-off event Thursday toward the end of the day to present it to everyone and get them psyched up for it. Which is getting easier all the time! We’ll be serving margaritas (“green” drinks!) and announcing the PRIZES!!

After work I went to a couple outdoor gear stores we picked to ask them about prizes – added value really, because we have some money to spend. I was blown away by the positive response!! They’re talking about doubling the money we’re spending, free schwag, percent-off coupons – wow.

So awesome.

Reuse: As of today, we are saving all our beer bottles. A neighbor is making his own beer.