sarahmichelef | Impact

rufinia started this over on her LJ, I'm copying & pasting my responses to her and adding some that I forgot.

Natural Gas/Electricity

Line-dry most of our clothing. Wash clothes on cold or warm.
Electronics on power strips, turn off power strips when not in use (I'm not good about remembering the one under the computer desk, sadly).
Hopefully investing in an energy-star rated furnace this summer.
Run dishwasher on lower temperature settings, don't run the dry cycle (just open it and let it air dry).
Summer: don't use the air conditioner. Fans or retiring to the basement instead.
Winter: set thermostat to 64 during the day and 58 at night.
Actively monitor doors/windows for leaks and seal appropriately (caulk, weather stripping, seal&peel).
Draft-stopping curtains on the leakiest of windows.

Water

Use water from the dehumidifier in the washing machine (just started this again last night, since I turned the dehumid back on for the spring/summer on Sunday).
Wait until there's a REALLY full load to do laundry.
Wear outer layers of clothes until they are visibly/odorifically soiled.
Bathe the kid 2-3 times a week instead of daily. Bathe self less than daily if self is not strictly in need of bathing.
Don't run the water while washing hands or brushing teeth.
Don't water the lawn unless ABSOLUTELY necessary.

Gasoline/Oil

Combine car trips whenever possible.
M takes public transit to work.
Avoid using the snowblower (I will willingly shovel 1-2" of snow from the whole property, or 3" from just the driveway. More than that and it becomes a multi-hour process.)
Mow less often. (Ha! Not hard, we forget about it until it looks like we live in a jungle anyway.)

Trash/Recycling

Composting biodegradable waste (though I need to work on the proportions of what's in there and add in some dirt 'cause it's waaaay too wet right now).
Using our own bags for groceries. (Need to remember to take them in when we go to Target, too.)
Recycle everything we can.
Bring my own cup for the coffee shop.
Use re-usable containers instead of plastic bags for lunches; carry our lunches in coolers/lunchboxes instead of bags.
Repair/remake/repurpose old clothing, or donate.
Use cloth napkins instead of paper, rags instead of paper towels.

Want to do in the future

Replacement windows (the ones we have are approaching 60 years old and some of them leak like sieves).
Make use of farmer's market (don't know when it will be starting, but I'm thinking TRex and I will start walking there on Saturday mornings - it's about a mile and a half away).
Begin to grow own produce (I have a location in mind but it's going to be a couple of years before we're really able to invest the time/money in doing it).
If we ever acquire further offspring, cloth diapers instead of disposables.
On-demand hot water.
SOMETHING about the insulation of the pipes in our house - so you don't have to run water for a long time before you get hot water.
Eliminate sponges for cleaning; move to washable rags instead. (Added bonus: no narsty sponge-smell!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Good one. But why has no one mentioned buying higher-quality clothing and appliances so we don't throw away quite so many? Better quality clothing can be mended and resized rather than discarded. And a stereo or TV that lasts 20 or even 50 years is better than throwing one out every five to ten years. Plus by buying from companies that don't believe in planned obsolence, you'll be helping to stem the tide by keeping these companies in business.

I line dry our clothes most of the time through the summer but for the winter I use the dryer. We do use cold water for the wash. I read a lot about the on-demand (tankless, right?) hot water heaters when we were looking at replacing ours and decided it wasn't that great a deal for us. I don't like the idea of having to run a bunch of water through it to get it hot. Seems counter-productive. Plus there were wiring issues ($$$).

We only use the snowblower when there's a lot to handle, and I'm lobbying my hubby to get a non-powered lawn mower this year.

It's nice to see people finding so many ways to "go green"!

Impact

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