Saving Green

This month's "green" issue of Domino magazine inspired me to think a bit about my own green efforts. I don't believe in being a green militant or a green pusher, but I DO believe that little efforts add up. Some of our green changes are:

• We installed a programmable thermostat in our house
• We've replaced all of the light bulbs in our house with energy efficient bulbs
• We don't keep lights on in unoccupied rooms
• We use cloth napkins at meals, rather than paper towels
• We generally use cloths to clean, rather than paper towels
• The paper towels we do use are from recycled paper
• My husband doesn't leave the water running while shaving (Thanks, honey!)
• We don't leave the water running while brushing our teeth
• I got my mom to stop doing that, too (Thanks, Mom!!)
• We harvest rainwater to water our plants
• We only wash full loads in our dishwasher and clothes washer
• I hang a lot of my clothes to dry
• We use environmentally friendly dishwashing powder and laundry detergent
• We drink filtered tap water
• I drink from a glass at work
• I drive a small, fuel-efficient car
• I have a reusable bag in my car for spur of the moment shopping
• We use reusable grocery bags (four of them have thus far been enough)
• I buy free-trade, organic coffee
• I buy free-range, hormone- and antibiotic- free meats whenever possible
• I often buy organic produce
• In the summer, we get a good deal produce from local farmers
• We use an old-fashioned rotary lawnmower
• We recycle at home and at work
• We keep trash to a minimum
• I subscribe to my local Freecycle group

None of these efforts are really big ones, and none have compromised our lifestyle, but add them together and they really reduce our household footprint. Consider what you can do!