Day #78: sun drying

since snow gloves soak up so much water when you wash them, i decided to hang them in my car in the sunlight heat instead of in the house.

Day #73: air drying

Day #70: save the landfills

by reducing the amount of trash in the landfill our unwanted items will have a second life. we're donating them to the disabled american veteran's foundation.

Day #58: reducing ignorance

reducing ignorance by spreading the message of recycling. the sticker is placed on my snowboarding helmet so people see it while waiting in line on the lifts.

Day #44: thrifty shopping

i finally found a cute winter black dress coat! i found it at thrift store city, one of the largest second-hand stores in the tidewater area. it cost me a whopping $10 which is kinda expensive for thrift store shopping but totally saved me some money in buying a brand new coat that i'd only get to wear maybe two or three times every winter season. shopping in thrift stores is also helpful in reducing landfill waste.

Day #42: ready, set, recycle!

rinsed and ready to be recycled.

READ HERE FOR USEFUL INFO ===> Should you rinse your recyclables or save the water?

Day #41: my buddy

so far, this lil blue klean kateen has been reused many times over the past month to carry my agua. i bring it with me almost everywhere.

trying to reduce the amount of plastic water bottles being purchased as well as my high fructose corn syrup intake.

Day #36: you've got mail!

click HERE ===> "how does recycling junk mail help the earth?"

Day #33: adopt plants

increasing the plant population is a step towards reducing CO2 emissions.

every little bit helps.

Day #30: double pane windows

it was our first snow day of the year! i could totally tell the double pane energy saving windows were doing their job.

"Windows can be one of your home's most attractive features. Windows provide views, daylighting, ventilation, and solar heating in the winter. Unfortunately, they can also account for 10% to 25% of your heating bill. During the summer, your air conditioner must work harder to cool hot air from sunny windows. Install ENERGY STAR windows and use curtains and shade to give your air conditioner and energy bill a break. If you live in the Sun Belt, look into low-e windows, which can cut the cooling load by 10% to 15%." - excerpt from article by the U.S. Department of Energy

Day #29: efficiency

"While a top-loading machine requires enough water to cover all the clothes in its drum, a front-loading washer needs only a third of that amount because its drum is set horizontally in the machine. As the drum turns, it uses gravity to drop the clothes back into the water. And while a top-loading machine will empty the soapy water and refill for a rinse agitation cycle, a front-loading machine just sprays clean water on the load as the drum continues to turn, saving gallons. Since there's no agitator in a front-loading machine, there's a lot more room for dirty clothes - and larger loads means fewer loads.

Finally, the front-loading machine's spin mechanism can reach up to 1,000 rpm, as opposed to the standard top-loader's average 650 rpm. That means less water left in the laundry, which in turn gives you a shorter drying time, saving energy there, too." - excerpt from an article by Kris Jensen-Van Heste

Day #26: paper or plastic

the hubby and i had a telepathic bonding moment of sorts when we were at market fresh. the cashier asked, "paper or plastic?" and at the same time we replied, "paper!" (jinx!)

we both like paper.

:)

reduce the amount of plastic bags that may end up in the landfill by using paper bags or the reusable bags.

Day #25: slay energy vampires

unplug cell phone chargers once your cell phone is charged to reduce energy waste. it's that simple.

read more ==> HERE

Day #21: kill the lights

usually when i'm up late at night, the only light sources i have are the monitor of my macbook and my cellphone. this simple method helps reduce energy usage.

Day #17: 100% compostable corn cups

anne, a good lady friend of mine, contributed large plastic cups for my life anniversary potluck this past weekend. she surprised me with corn cups! corn cups?!? right? corn cups are made from polylactic acid (PLA) and which makes them 100% compostable.

"Polylactic acid (PLA), a plastic substitute made from fermented plant starch (usually corn) is quickly becoming a popular alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastics. As more and more countries and states follow the lead of China, Ireland, South Africa, Uganda and San Francisco in banning plastic grocery bags responsible for so much so-called “white pollution” around the world, PLA is poised to play a big role as a viable, biodegradable replacement." - excerpt from article, "Pros and Cons of the Corn-based Plastic PLA" written by Larry West

In West's article, he points out that there are some problematic issues with using PLA, but it's still a bit better than using regular plastic.

Day #16: stainless steel hydration containers

for my 32nd life anniversary, my hubby got me a klean kanteen. yay! for many moons i've seen these and similar stainless steel water bottles popping up and i really didn't know what the hype was about. there was resistance in wanting to know why more and more of my friends and colleagues were investing in them. then one day after almost poking my eye out from removing a plastic water bottle cap ring and seeing the overflowing recycle bin in my kitchen, the light bulb finally came on as to why it makes sense for me to use one. reduce by reusing and save an eye!

"Stainless steel is 100% recyclable. More than 50% of stainless steel products comes from old remelted stainless steel scrap.

It is years before products made from stainless steel require replacing, so when you consider the total life cost, it is in most cases less costly than many other products."

"Stainless steel is attractive, timeless and safe, and its production process leaves a very low carbon footprint. It just makes
sense." - article excerpts by Kathleen Bona in "Eco-Friendly Stainless Steel"

Day #15: programmable thermostat

having a programmable thermostat helps reduce your energy consumption. it's brilliant! you can program the time to adjust the temperature for when no one is home or when it's time to go to bed so you can "set it and forget it".


"Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer. Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment." - from How to Stop Global Warming

Day #8: bee a conscious consumer

i started using a burt's bees lip balm this winter season. not only is it 100% natural but the packaging is eco friendly. what a bonus! i didn't discover this til a few days ago while putting it on my lips and trying to read the label lookin' all cross-eyed. so i looked it up and shared an excerpt from the site below:

"We don't want to create any additional garbage on the planet, and work hard to reduce, reuse and recycle. For example, before we would launch our world famous lip balm in a plastic tube, it took us years to convince a plastic company to make recycled plastic for us. Now, that very same company is one of the leading manufacturers of recycled plastic." - burt's bees

Day #6: dual flush toilets

we reduce our water waste at home by using dual flush toilets.

an article posted in howstuffworks.com gives an awesome explanation:

"Dual flush toilets employ a larger trapway (the hole at the bottom of the bowl) and a wash-down flushing design that pushes waste down the drain. Because there's no siphoning action involved, the system needs less water per flush, and the larger diameter trapway makes it easy for waste to exit the bowl. Combined with the savings from using only half-flushes for liquid waste, the dual flush toilet design can save up to 68 percent more water than a conventional low flow toilet [source: Green Building]."

Day #5: compact fluorescent light bulbs

when we first started using CFLs, the lag time of the bulb reaching its full brightness would throw me off. it made me feel like my vision was going bad because i knew i turned on the light switch but it would be so dim. hehehe.

Read ===>HERE for detailed info posted by Energy Star about CFLs.