good stewardship

Cheryl- Chris - posted on 04/03/2009

Yeah, most people don't know about the toilets. That's what we are for- to encourage and inform!!!!!

Amy - posted on 04/02/2009

I never knew that about the toilets, thanks Cheryl. That is really good to know.

Cheryl- Chris - posted on 04/02/2009

One thing about the toilet~ ask a professional plumber if your toilet can have the reduced water. Most of the old toilets cannot have the reduced amount- they need the full amount- unfortuantely. We take our garbage to the transfer station, and they have bins for recyling. Of course, in NY, it's mandatory!!!

Amy - posted on 04/01/2009

I use my plastic bags as garbage bags, instead of buying ones for the bin. I have a wall mounted holder for them in my hall closet. I also use cloth bags and plastic bins for groceries. SO that you don't have to replace your toilet with low-flow you can put a 1-2 liter bottle (filled with water) in the tank so every time you flush you use 1-2 liters less. When my daughter finishes a sewing project the kids all use the scraps for making doll/stuffy clothes. My kids also use cereal boxes for craft projects before those get recycled too. 

Claudia - posted on 04/01/2009

I didn't make my own, our local health food store sells 100% recycled fabric ones.  That's too bad about not having paper ones availabe where you live, maybe that is something you can talk to them about?  I had a huge stack of plastic ones too... I started to use them up for cleaning up after my dog and dirty diapers to get rid of them (they had to go one way or another ???) But if there is a choice, I always ask for paper and have my fabric ones in the car at all times.   The shower heads are great because it's a dual purpose, they filter the chlorine and metals as well as provide low water usage. 

Claudia

Tanna - posted on 04/01/2009

Quoting Claudia:

We became greener for the sake of our family's health (I wasn't aware of all the toxic chemicals in our everyday products until I was educated by a friend) but have since started to recycle more, buy environmentally safer products that have been bottled in recyclable bottles. I re-use our paper grocery bags or use recycled fabric ones, we have filters on our shower heads and low-water usage toilets, most of our light fixtures have the energy efficient light bulbs.  We don't have curb side pick up but we go to the local recycling depot.  I try to limit using my washing machine to twice a week and rarely use my dishwasher.  I'm sure I can keep going.... hope this helps a bit.

This is helpful. Did you make your grocery bags? Paper is not an option at our grocery store, and I do have a huge amount of plastic ones that I try to reuse but it is getting a bit out of control. I just hate throwing them all away. We just switched to the low energy bulbs, but I will have to check into the water stuff. That could be helpful. Thanks!

Tanna - posted on 04/01/2009

Quoting Amy:

 Also is there a recycling depot nearby even if they don't have curb side pickup there? Otherwise many dumps have recycling drop spots. You can also recycle yoghurt, sour cream, ect containers for left overs instead of using ziplocs or buying containers. Use your dishwater to water plants, ect. 

 

Those are great ideas I didn't think of. We do have a few recycling bins but only for computer paper, brown glass, pop cans,magazine, and newpaper. The only one we really use is computer paper, we don't drink so we don't have brown glass, we don't drink soda (it is not liked in our family because of the bubbles :)  )so we don't have cans, we don't get a newspaper and magazines we tend to keep. So recycling is a bit tough. I was so use to being able to recycle everything in Seattle and that is why I am at a lose here. Thanks for the tips!

Claudia - posted on 03/30/2009

We became greener for the sake of our family's health (I wasn't aware of all the toxic chemicals in our everyday products until I was educated by a friend) but have since started to recycle more, buy environmentally safer products that have been bottled in recyclable bottles. I re-use our paper grocery bags or use recycled fabric ones, we have filters on our shower heads and low-water usage toilets, most of our light fixtures have the energy efficient light bulbs.  We don't have curb side pick up but we go to the local recycling depot.  I try to limit using my washing machine to twice a week and rarely use my dishwasher.  I'm sure I can keep going.... hope this helps a bit.

Amy - posted on 03/30/2009

You can clean with lemon, baking soda, and vinegar instead of buying/using chemicals. Also is there a recycling depot nearby even if they don't have curb side pickup there? Otherwise many dumps have recycling drop spots. You can also recycle yoghurt, sour cream, ect containers for left overs instead of using ziplocs or buying containers. Use your dishwater to water plants, ect. 

Hope some of these ideas help.