Simply Saving

1. Pass on the paper towels (same goes for napkins)
2. Fill up your freezer, since the fuller it is, the less energy it uses to keep food frozen
3. Dress sustainably (try designers like Linda Loudermilk, Stewart+Brown, Edun)
4. Buy in bulk to avoid excess packaging
5. Spend more time outdoors
6. Seek out reclaimed wood furniture
7. Weather permitting, take your exercise outdoors
8. Think big picture
9. When traveling, ask your hotel what it’s doing to be greener
10. Start composting
11. Choose reusable instead of disposable products (diapers, razors, cups, pens)
12. Prewash dishes only if you have to
13. Install dimmers or motion sensors for your lights
14. Use organic beauty products
15. Buy Fair Trade

1. Use greener cleaners. Baking soda will clean just about anything!
2. Wash clothes in cold water
3. Cover pots on the stove to avoid losing excess heat—and wasting energy
4. Line dry your clothes when possible
5. Find a green dry cleaner, and bring your own garment bag
6. Turn off the dishwasher’s drying cycle
7. Shut your computer down when you leave work—especially on Fridays
8. Vote for change
9. Drive a hybrid
10. Join a food co-op
11. Swap paperbacks with paperbackswap.com
12. B.Y.O.B. (of water)
13. Shred old paper for packing instead of using Styrofoam peanuts
14. Collect rainwater and use it for landscaping
15. Use natural—not artificial—fragrances

Have you checked out “We Are What We Do”?
From their site;

“We’re not another charity. We’re not an institution. We Are What We Do is a movement. We’d like to inspire people to use their everyday actions to change the world. Whoever they are. And wherever they are. And that includes you.

We’ve created 100 simple, everyday actions that can improve our environment, our health, and our communities and make our planet and the people on it much happier. We started by putting these actions into a book but it rather burst its bindings. Today it has gained momentum, gathered community and become a global movement with two books and over 500,000 registered actions”.

Here is a list of my current actions:

Decline plastic bags wherever possible.
Read a story with a child
Smile and smile back
Spend time with someone from a different generation
Turn off unnecessary lights
Use a mug not a plastic cup
Seize the moment
Recycle your books
Buy fairly traded products
Take time to listen
Don’t overfill your kettle
Shop locally
Hug someone
Grow something with a child
Learn more, do more
Practise good manners
Shut down your computer properly
Lose the plastic cup
Aspire not to have more, but to be more.
Support small businesses
Avoid waste
Say thanks
Spread the word

Did you know that:

* Equal parts of ketchup and Worcestershire sauce make a great copper
cleaner? Mix together and apply with a cotton cloth. Rinse with water and dry.

* Equal parts of vinegar and salt clean brass? So does ketchup.

* You can clean out the innards of your dishwater by running it empty with a bowl of vinegar in it? Same is true for your coffee pot (except not the “bowl” part.).

* Coffee and tea stains can be cleaned by rubbing baking soda into them?

* Cleaning a microwave is a snap when a few spoonfuls of baking soda are put in a cup of water and then heated in the microwave until boiling? Just wipe those splatters away!

* You can put the last scraps of soap from a bar in a jar and add water to make liquid soap?

* You can clean blinds by putting on a rubber glove covered by an old sock? Sure, just dip your gloved, socked hand into rubbing alcohol and start cleaning those blinds!

* Black scuff marks on the floor can be removed by scrubbing with a paste of baking soda and water?

* You can remove soap scum from a faucet in 10 minutes by wrapping the faucet in paper towel soaked in vinegar?

* You can clear soap from a drain by pouring vinegar into the drain?

* A lemony spray deodorizer can be made with 1 t. baking soda, 1 t. lemon juice, and 2 c. hot tap water, Put this in a spray bottle and spray as you would any deodorizer.

* The Amish make an all-purpose cleaning solution by combining 1/4 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup ammonia, 1/4 cup white vinegar and a gallon of water? Shake well and pour the solution into a spray bottle. * You can make a carpet disinfectant from 1 c. cornmeal, 1 c. borax and 1/2 c. baking soda? Just sprinkle the mixture on the rug and rub it in with a cloth. Leave it alone for a few hours or overnight, then vacuum thoroughly.

* Baking soda and vinegar have been successfully used to clean carpet spots? Sprinkle the baking soda on the spot , then pour on some vinegar. It’ll bubble like crazy. Let it dry some and then vacuum up with a shop vac. And make sure you test the color fastness of your carpet FIRST before cleaning the whole thing.

* Shaving cream cleans carpets? Sure thing… Rub some into a stain, and remove with a sponge. And guess what? You can use this on your sofa, too! Yep, upholstery responds well to being cleaned with shaving cream!

* Those pesky miniblinds can be cleaned with water and baking soda? You have to take them down in the closed position and lay them on the ground outside or in a bathtub. Clean them with a sponge (one of those handled sponges works well) dipped in the solution. Then use your garden hose or your shower head to rinse them off.

* Your kids don’t have to give up their favorite non-washable stuffed toys? All you have to do is put them in a plastic bag with some baking soda and shake the heck out of them. Open that bag out side and then shake the heck out of the toy to remove loose baking soda. Brush the rest off.

* Your silk flowers can be cleaned by putting them in a plastic bag with some salt and shaking the heck out of THEM.

* Small-necked bottles can be cleaned using a baking soda, vinegar and a secret ingredient - GRAVEL! Fish tank gravel will do. Mix the three together (ratios don’t have to be too precise) and shake them around inside the bottle! CLEAN!

* Olive oil can be used as a furniture polish on unvarnished wood? Sure thing!

Here are reasons number 94-126.

94. Use The microwave. It uses just a third as much energy as a conventional oven.

95. Electric shaver means less water down the drain.

96. vacuum cleaners. Cleaning appliances and heating vents regularly is a simple way of making them more energy efficient. Dirt and dust on a refrigerator’s coils, for example, can reduce its efficiency by 30 percent.

97. Regular soap. Antibacterial cleansers can kill good germs, may add to the problem of antibiotic resistance.

98. Mercury-free fillings. Dental waste is a major source of water pollution.

99 & 100. Environmentally speaking, no food is as sinful as beef (The next worst eco-offender: poultry, followed by pigs.) Beef cattle account for 20 percent of water pollution in the U.S (It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef.!)Think about the immense cost of energy used to raise cattle and to transport meat to your supermarket shelf before buying beef. Besides all this, cows consume enormous amounts of antibiotics and are a prodigious source of methane, which is the number-two greenhouse gas. If you simply cannot give up the goods, eat grass fed beef. It’s more earth-friendly and certainly better for you.

101. Don’t assume that just because it’s plastic, it’s recyclable. A lot of places recycle plastic only in the form of bottles. Instead of dumping those deli containers out with the cans and newspaper, wash them and use them for storage.

102. Charcoal smoke is more than just annoying. It contributes to air pollution and lung disease. Using a gas, rather than charcoal grill, is the most environmentally friendly way to barbecue

103 & 104. If you must use charcoal, make sure it comes from a sustainable source. Enormous areas of tropical rainforest are destroyed every year to produce the 900,000 tons of charcoal burned annually in America. CHIMNEY STARTERS are the most environmentally friendly solution to lighting charcoal. They use only a couple of pieces of newspaper, meaning you can avoid the gas-flavored meat that accompanies barbecues started with lighter fluid or fire starters.

105 & 106. Don’t feel guilty about buying the occasional pack of paper plates or napkins. Just look for brands made of recycled materials. Using plastic utensils isn’t exactly up there with drilling in Alaska, either, but would it hurt you to take them home and wash them for the next party?

107. Attention, bottled water addicts: It’s no better for you than tap water and the packaging is wasteful, plus recycling it is nearly as polluting as making plastic from scratch.

108. You know pesticide-free foods are better for your health as well as Gaia’s. Did you know that many wooden picnic tables, benches, decks and chairs also contain pesticides — a form of arsenic that causes cancer? Cover that table with a cloth. Don’t eat food that’s touched wood and wash hands often.

109. Look for wild salmon at the fish market even if it’s been frozen. Farmed (aka Atlantic) salmon is raised under conditions that are terrible for the environment.

110-112. Look for ways to reduce food packaging. Buy from the bulk bin (110). Get boxed and canned foods in the largest containers you can (111). Skip plastic bags (112) and so what if the checkout clerk glares at you when you plunk down six apples or a bunch of grapes? Dump the berries in a brown bag after you pay for that basket of strawberries and hand the basket back to the clerk. You will feel incredibly self-righteous as you walk out the door.

113. Drought alert: Some foods require vast amounts of water to produce. A single avocado tree needs up to 300 gallons of water per week in the hottest weather. Those super-size fast-food fries are longer than they used to be and they need more water to get that way.

114. Support local farmers. Your food has traveled 1200 miles (maybe more with the new Global Economy) just to get to your plate. Shopping at farmers’ markets, co-ops and CSAs allows you to buy directly from the people who grow the food.

115. Sea life around the globe is being threatened by everything from pollution to over-fishing. We are quickly running out of seafood in general and in the process, destroying the ecosystem in which they live. Choose your seafood responsibly. Excellent choices: Mahi Mahi, Pacific Cod.

116. Paper or plastic? Turns out which bag you choose doesn’t really matter to Mama Earth. Plastic creates less pollution during manufacturing and takes up less landfill space, but paper biodegrades faster and is more likely to be recycled. Bottom line: Pick whichever bag you’re likelier to reuse or take cloth bags when you shop.

117. Disposable or cloth diapers? According to the most thorough study, disposables produce twice as much waste (excluding baby poop) as cloth diapers do. However, cloth requires up to 27 percent more energy and up to 2.5 times more water to clean. Bottom line: In areas where landfill is scarce (check by going to www.ciwmb.ca.gov/profiles/facility), cloth’s a tad better; where water and energy are in short supply, disposables may have the edge.

118. Synthetic or cotton? True, polyester and other synthetics are made from petroleum, whose extraction and refinement leads to oh so much warring and environmental harm. Cotton farming is no eco-picnic and it uses many more agricultural chemicals than food production. Bottom line: Buy fewer clothes, use ‘em longer, pass ‘em along.

119. SPRAY CANS? Starting in the 1970s, manufacturers began moving away from using ozone-depleting substances as propellants for aerosol products. Now, most hair sprays, deodorants and other aerosols rely on low-toxicity hydrocarbons that have relatively little impact on global warming.

120. Styrofoam cups? Polystyrene foam also has been reformulated so that it no longer damages the ozone layer. On the downside, foam still doesn’t biodegrade. Bottom line: A mug is a better choice, but an occasional half-caff latte in a foam cup doesn’t mean you and Dick Cheney will end up sharing the same strip-mined circle of eco-hell.

121. Diminishing qualified landfill space, due to increasing standards required by the government to protect the public’s air and water quality standards.

122. GROWING PUBLIC CONCERN regarding mining of ore and clear cutting of the world’s forests has encouraged the reuse of consumer packaging as raw materials for new products. We need to begin conserving where possible and that includes manufacturing with post consumer waste (recycled commodities) as opposed to more expensive virgin material.

123. BECAUSE IT’S EASY Right now, the City of Ocala sponsors nine Recycling Drop-Off Centers. They are color standardized and all centers are the same, accepting newspaper (colored and glossy prints may be included), magazines, aluminum, steel cans, #1 & #2 plastic (rinsed, without caps) and clear, brown and green glass. Surely, there’s one close to you:

124. Quantum Fuel Systems (QTWW) products include high-capacity hydrogen storage tanks that can be used in cars powered by fuel cells. These tanks can store enough hydrogen to power a fuel-cell car for about 300 miles. What’s more, the military is “very aggressively deploying hydrogen technology” to combat the expense and logistical difficulties involved in transporting liquid fuel in battle. That’s not bad.

125. Corning (GLW). The venerable glass and ceramics company has developed a new glass composite that doesn’t include heavy metals in the manufacturing process, reducing environmental hazards associated with the glass, commonly used on liquid crystal display televisions. 126. Winchester (Va.)-based Trex (TWP) sells a composite of reclaimed wood and plastics that can be used to build decks, fences, and other outdoor structures. It recycles materials that would otherwise go to waste. Sure, Trex’s material costs more than normal wood, but it’s more durable and requires less maintenance. That means no staining. That means no paint fumes, easing another environmental concern as well as no splinters. PLUS: Do some checking up before you give another dime to a big enviro group. The Better Business Bureau’s http://www.give.org/ website analyzes the finances of many large charities, including salaries, administrative spending, and fund-raising costs. Chronicle of Philanthropy (http://www.philanthropy.com/) ranks the 400 richest nonprofits.