Impact

[sarahmichelef]

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!)

Comments

[meneleth.livejournal.com]

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"!