How do you feel about dishwashers? I've never had one, but an awful lot of people I know do, even the ones that I've always though of a lot more eco than me.
I do use a dishwasher occasionally. You can get eco-friendly detergents to use that are no different from the detergent in the eco-friendly washing up liquids. If you have a fairly new one (ours is our landlady's, I wouldn't buy one) and it has an eco-program and you switch the dryer off, it can actually use less water than washing up. Especially as I have to wash up after 6 people everyday, if you change the water a couple of times when hand-washing you can use up considerably more than you think. You can also re-cycle the grey water from the dishwaser if you use the right detergents in the first place.
But surely it uses energy?
I understand it could help for 6 people but when there's only two of us, it's pointless.
Well, of course it does, but then so does heating water for hand-washing. The boiler here isn't that up-to-date and you have to put the water on for an hour to get it hot enough to wash up. If it was my house, I'd invest in a new one, but it's not. I can set the temp on the dishwasher, turn the dryer off and open the door to let the dishes air dry or wipe them and put them away.
It wouldn't be efficient for two people unless you only run it full every few days and no one wants stinky dishes around for that long. Washing up after a home cooked meal for 6 people might need three sinks full of hot water depending on what I've cooked, or I can run the dishwasher through once and it's all done in one wash.
Sian this is the best excuse for showering together I have ever heard .... I will now take your reasoning and use it as my own when we shower together
Recycle boxes,bottles,etc.
Regularly tidy out old clothes,books etc and take to charity shops
Use energy saving lightbulbs
Only wash when have a full load
Air dry clothes
Walk or use the bus .... don't have a car
Use eco-friendly cleaning products
Use essential oils,water and candles in an oil burner to fragrance the house
Re-use envelopes,paper etc,use full page of paper,both sides
Shower together under candle light
Drink water from the TAP .... not from bought bottles
Have a bee hive and make our own honey and use recycled bottles etc to store it
Only buy enough food as needed and try to use local produce
Have fresh flowers and plants in the house
Wooden furniture is well made,that has been ethically sourced and an investment
Do not buy/eat drink from McDonalds,Starbucks etc
Do not shop in Primark,Matalan etc
“There should be a place where only the things you want to happen, happen”
I too look forward to that day. Elaborate packaging is a problem, as are 5 litre gas guzzlers. I actually got annoyed yesterday because Land Rover's new radio ad campaign is "Why drive a car when you can drive... A LAND ROVER"
What a crock of shit! Why buy a car?! Because cars nowadays are far more eco-friendly! Cars do the necessary job of getting you from A to bloody B! Cars don't EAT fuel and damage the enviroment in order to make little people behind the wheel feel better by driving around Coventry city centre in a vehicle that was designed for FARM USE!!! :x
/rant
Most people don't need the huge cars they have. They're just status symbols... and it bugs the shit outta me.
... if you hadn't noticed :oops:
Yes I just love seeing the little darlings being dropped off to school in 4x4 with bull bars on the front.
this is what bugs the shit out of me - i need a new set of headphones ... so, i goto best buy and they're like $20 and she wants to sell me insurance for like $10 saying if they break - you can get a new pair for "free" ... she then goes on to tell me that it's a really good deal as she does it and she keeps replacing her ear phones ...
i'm like - so, you are basically telling me this product sux and that it will break ... then she backtracks and says no ...
anyhoo - it bugs me people build things to intentionally break or at the very least have a real short life ...
Have a bee hive and make our own honey and use recycled bottles etc to store it
That's all kinds of awesome! I have dreams of owning my own chickens, ducks, a goat or two and some bees. Maybe when all the kiddies have left home and I have more time and space....
- I own 2 hybrids
- I recycle plastic, bottles, cans, paper
- Started a green program at work (recylcing, turn off company computers at night, online versions of documents instead of printing on paper which will save over 1,100 trees just this year alone)
- Buy energy saver appliances
- Use natural lighting during the day, turn off lights when leaving a room, conserve power
- Only wash full loads of clothes, and air dry my clothes after washing them
- Carpool / walk whenever possible
- Donate unwanted furniture, clothing, food to local charitable organizations
One thing I don't do is use fluorescent light bulbs. I have my reasons, but I'm not a fan at all.
Oh, I don't shower with my wife. Although I'm going to tell her this weekend that we need to start so we can save water
I just spotted this post... kudos to you!
How did you find starting the green program at work? I encourage everyone to recycle paper in my office but that's about as far as they will go most days :roll:
(Definately shower with your wife... it's gotta be the funniest way to help the environment )
Well, at first I pointed out that we had printed approximately 9,500,000 pages for our mailpacks in 2008 and if each piece of paper was put end-to-end, it would stretch almost 20,000 miles ( stretching almost 80% around the world), blah, blah, blah. But because the bottom line to those that have deciding power is cost savings and not eco-friendliness, I did a business review of the hundreds of thousands of dollars the company could save by avoiding the expenses to ship all these documents, paying for the paper, toner cartridges and the labor to copy, sort, and stuff. The conservation of energy for turning off company computers at night was nice and all, but again it came down to the amount of money we could save by adopting these new policies and procedures.
If you're interested in starting a similar program at your work, just research the potential financial benefits and that should get the right people listening.
Have a bee hive and make our own honey and use recycled bottles etc to store it
That's all kinds of awesome! I have dreams of owning my own chickens, ducks, a goat or two and some bees. Maybe when all the kiddies have left home and I have more time and space....
Yep have a water filter too ... water is amazingly fresh,clean,sparkles ... also have plans to have a few chickens soon and have spoke about getting a goat .... ulitmately would love a wee self sufficient small holding
“There should be a place where only the things you want to happen, happen”
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Needing a ride to Forest Hills and a ounce of weed. Please inquire within. Thanks. Or not. Posts: 58,276
Forgot to say. We ran my husbands last van on vegetable oil. Have bought an older style diesel engined car so hopefully at some point we can convert that (I say that but I probably won't be doing the actual work). It was quite easy to convert the van, just smelt a little like a chip shop at times.
I've gone car-free! I live 2 blocks from the subway.
I help myself the the 5 cent and 10 cent refunds I can get by cashing in the recylables my neighbours leave in the basement's recycle bins. I learned enough about recycling to know that the benefit is negligible- the key is to not consume in the first place. So I never buy single-serve packages of anything (can't afford it anyway.) I never consume fast food or restaurant food. I never buy prepared beverages. I drink only water, tea, and coffee.
I use baking soda to brush my teeth. It works much better than every commercial, natural, cheap, expensive brand-name toothpaste I've tried. A one-pound box costs 43 cents and lasts months.
I rarely buy clothes. I own one pair of all-purpose shoes.
I shut off the power strip to my Computer/TV monitor when not in use so that no electricity is used to keep them in 'standby' mode. I only plug in the coffee maker, toaster, etc. for the few minutes that I need them.
With the exception of a small table lamp, all of the lightbulbs in my flat are modern compact fluorescents. They are great for not using energy, but they contain mercury in gaseous form. Here in earthquake country, that can lead to nasty poisoning.
Sian.... easy to make the spray... essence/oil (she uses orange peel but you can use anything you fancy, one or a mixture of several) the amount used is up to you too - the more, the smellier!), denatured alcohol (such as used in perfume making) and water all in a fine mist spray bottle. You don't have to use the alcohol if you don't want to.
my eco-friendliness takes a bit of a different form. I'm currently a senior in college, in an environmentally-focused major. Right now, I'm working on a couple projects to help the environment. The first is a stream restoration project. The stream is failing to meet EPA standards and erosion is also starting to threaten a few houses' foundations. Throughout the course of a few months I'll come up with computer models of flow in the stream, and based on that, make a recommendation to the city, probably to increase the undeveloped area around the stream, and design a restoration that increases bank stability and improves the water quality
The second project focuses on designing and installing a series of rain gardens, and then after collecting data on them, coming up with a computer model that cities can use to determine where they should put rain gardens in their city to minimize the amount of stormwater runoff they get.
other than that, i try to do all the basics mentioned here already, although being a poor college student most of the organic or locally grown food is a bit outof my price range
"Ah, life is a gate, a way, a path to Paradise anyway, why not live for fun and joy and love or some sort of girl by a fireside, why not go to your desire and LAUGH..."
many of these ideas are simply recession busters :oops: I do several of these things but only for financial necessity. I'm sorry but I really don't care about the environment any more... I don't have time to even think about a lot of this stuff.
The Astoria??? Orgazmic!
Verona??? it's all surmountable
Dublin 23.08.06 "The beauty of Ireland, right there!"
Wembley? We all believe!
Copenhagen?? your light made us stars
Chicago 07? And love
What a different life
Had I not found this love with you
I consolidate my trips to town. I'm 10 miles from any store so I try to schedule my shopping trips or errands around when I go to work.
I wash my clothes on cold and dry them on the clothes line.
I wash all my dishes in one of my two dishwashers - it uses less water than hand-washing.
My water heater is tankless, on demand.
My windows are all new, dual-pane to help conserve energy.
I have an organic chicken egg farm and I put all my eggs in used egg cartons and when I deliver them to the organic restaurant next to my work I take them on a day when I'm working, on my way to my shift.
I leave most of the lights off and I use those curly-cue lights.
I do all of this to save money, not for the environment...
I consolidate my trips to town. I'm 10 miles from any store so I try to schedule my shopping trips or errands around when I go to work. I wash my clothes on cold and dry them on the clothes line.
I wash all my dishes in one of my two dishwashers - it uses less water than hand-washing.
My water heater is tankless, on demand.
My windows are all new, dual-pane to help conserve energy.
I have an organic chicken egg farm and I put all my eggs in used egg cartons and when I deliver them to the organic restaurant next to my work I take them on a day when I'm working, on my way to my shift.
I leave most of the lights off and I use those curly-cue lights.
I do all of this to save money, not for the environment...
theres another way???? cause in my house this is the only way clothes ever get washed and dried.
hear my name
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
my eco-friendliness takes a bit of a different form. I'm currently a senior in college, in an environmentally-focused major. Right now, I'm working on a couple projects to help the environment. The first is a stream restoration project. The stream is failing to meet EPA standards and erosion is also starting to threaten a few houses' foundations. Throughout the course of a few months I'll come up with computer models of flow in the stream, and based on that, make a recommendation to the city, probably to increase the undeveloped area around the stream, and design a restoration that increases bank stability and improves the water quality
The second project focuses on designing and installing a series of rain gardens, and then after collecting data on them, coming up with a computer model that cities can use to determine where they should put rain gardens in their city to minimize the amount of stormwater runoff they get.
other than that, i try to do all the basics mentioned here already, although being a poor college student most of the organic or locally grown food is a bit outof my price range
That is super cool! I wish they had programs like that when I went to college
I do pretty much what everyone's mentioned so far: I'm a recycling fanatic, energy star high efficiency appliances, shutting electronics off, buying recycled, eco-friendly products and now recently trying to encompass more local products and produce. I'm also trying to find ways to repurpose a lot of building materials, odds-n-ends and furniture.
With a kid and Chicago winters, I'm not giving up my car, but I definitely want to get a hybrid or fuel efficient car when I get my new one next year. Keeping your tires at their proper level and getting frequent oil changes also makes your car more fuel efficient which is better for the environment and your wallet too.
My biggest impact besides my psychotic recycling is what I'm doing in my garden. I've planted a lot of native grasses and plants in my garden to help with weeds, but mostly to attract local birds, butterflies and pollinating bees. I've established two butterfly and humming bird gardens and I'm installing 4 large capacity rain barrels in the spring. I'm also dedicating the rear section of my backyard to composting and fertilization that will supplement the vegetable garden. I've got a butterfly house and a bat house on its way and we have crysalis on order for spring
My goal is to certify my yards as a wildlife habitat. Which is a bizarre concept in itself. I have to *make* my outdoors a safe place for wildlife. Irony sucks sometimes.
Actually now that I think about it, my biggest impact is raising my daughter to think eco-friendly, consider human's impact on the environment, to be charitable and an activist/advocate for what she believes in. It just comes naturally for her now.
I swear this is not a compensated endorsement at all....
I just recently heard about power strips that have a master control outlet (not switch) which determines whether or not power is actively going to the other outlets in the strip. They're referred to as "smart strips." (I'm not sure if that's a brand name like "Kleenex," or if that's the industry term like "facial tissue.")
The gist is that if you have a dvd/blu-ray player, stereo receiver, video game system, subwoofer, or any other device which you don't use unless it's in conjunction with a television, you can virtually eliminate off-use power consumption by allowing the devices to only draw power when the tv is on.
I did some looking around this past week and found the best prices on NewEgg, but Amazon has them too.
The bottom line with this is that the bigger your AV setup (or the greater number of vampire devices you have), the faster the payback is for purchasing one of these. Beyond that, you're just plain significantly reducing unnecessary energy consumption.
"A lot more people are capable of being big out there that just don't give themselves a chance." -Stone Gossard
Comments
It wouldn't be efficient for two people unless you only run it full every few days and no one wants stinky dishes around for that long. Washing up after a home cooked meal for 6 people might need three sinks full of hot water depending on what I've cooked, or I can run the dishwasher through once and it's all done in one wash.
Wembley 18/06/07
If there was a reason, it was you.
O2 Arena 18/09/09
Recycle boxes,bottles,etc.
Regularly tidy out old clothes,books etc and take to charity shops
Use energy saving lightbulbs
Only wash when have a full load
Air dry clothes
Walk or use the bus .... don't have a car
Use eco-friendly cleaning products
Use essential oils,water and candles in an oil burner to fragrance the house
Re-use envelopes,paper etc,use full page of paper,both sides
Shower together under candle light
Drink water from the TAP
Have a bee hive and make our own honey and use recycled bottles etc to store it
Only buy enough food as needed and try to use local produce
Have fresh flowers and plants in the house
Wooden furniture is well made,that has been ethically sourced and an investment
Do not buy/eat drink from McDonalds,Starbucks etc
Do not shop in Primark,Matalan etc
i'm like - so, you are basically telling me this product sux and that it will break ... then she backtracks and says no ...
anyhoo - it bugs me people build things to intentionally break or at the very least have a real short life ...
Wembley 18/06/07
If there was a reason, it was you.
O2 Arena 18/09/09
Well, at first I pointed out that we had printed approximately 9,500,000 pages for our mailpacks in 2008 and if each piece of paper was put end-to-end, it would stretch almost 20,000 miles ( stretching almost 80% around the world), blah, blah, blah. But because the bottom line to those that have deciding power is cost savings and not eco-friendliness, I did a business review of the hundreds of thousands of dollars the company could save by avoiding the expenses to ship all these documents, paying for the paper, toner cartridges and the labor to copy, sort, and stuff. The conservation of energy for turning off company computers at night was nice and all, but again it came down to the amount of money we could save by adopting these new policies and procedures.
If you're interested in starting a similar program at your work, just research the potential financial benefits and that should get the right people listening.
Yep have a water filter too ... water is amazingly fresh,clean,sparkles ... also have plans to have a few chickens soon and have spoke about getting a goat .... ulitmately would love a wee self sufficient small holding
I help myself the the 5 cent and 10 cent refunds I can get by cashing in the recylables my neighbours leave in the basement's recycle bins. I learned enough about recycling to know that the benefit is negligible- the key is to not consume in the first place. So I never buy single-serve packages of anything (can't afford it anyway.) I never consume fast food or restaurant food. I never buy prepared beverages. I drink only water, tea, and coffee.
I use baking soda to brush my teeth. It works much better than every commercial, natural, cheap, expensive brand-name toothpaste I've tried. A one-pound box costs 43 cents and lasts months.
I rarely buy clothes. I own one pair of all-purpose shoes.
I shut off the power strip to my Computer/TV monitor when not in use so that no electricity is used to keep them in 'standby' mode. I only plug in the coffee maker, toaster, etc. for the few minutes that I need them.
With the exception of a small table lamp, all of the lightbulbs in my flat are modern compact fluorescents. They are great for not using energy, but they contain mercury in gaseous form. Here in earthquake country, that can lead to nasty poisoning.
I couldn't do without my dryer :? And I do have a dishwasher though we usually use it when we have guests and the washing up is massive!
Sian... a friend makes the orange spray... I'll ask her.
The second project focuses on designing and installing a series of rain gardens, and then after collecting data on them, coming up with a computer model that cities can use to determine where they should put rain gardens in their city to minimize the amount of stormwater runoff they get.
other than that, i try to do all the basics mentioned here already, although being a poor college student most of the organic or locally grown food is a bit outof my price range
Verona??? it's all surmountable
Dublin 23.08.06 "The beauty of Ireland, right there!"
Wembley? We all believe!
Copenhagen?? your light made us stars
Chicago 07? And love
What a different life
Had I not found this love with you
I wash my clothes on cold and dry them on the clothes line.
I wash all my dishes in one of my two dishwashers - it uses less water than hand-washing.
My water heater is tankless, on demand.
My windows are all new, dual-pane to help conserve energy.
I have an organic chicken egg farm and I put all my eggs in used egg cartons and when I deliver them to the organic restaurant next to my work I take them on a day when I'm working, on my way to my shift.
I leave most of the lights off and I use those curly-cue lights.
I do all of this to save money, not for the environment...
theres another way???? cause in my house this is the only way clothes ever get washed and dried.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
beat that...........
That is super cool! I wish they had programs like that when I went to college
I do pretty much what everyone's mentioned so far: I'm a recycling fanatic, energy star high efficiency appliances, shutting electronics off, buying recycled, eco-friendly products and now recently trying to encompass more local products and produce. I'm also trying to find ways to repurpose a lot of building materials, odds-n-ends and furniture.
With a kid and Chicago winters, I'm not giving up my car, but I definitely want to get a hybrid or fuel efficient car when I get my new one next year. Keeping your tires at their proper level and getting frequent oil changes also makes your car more fuel efficient which is better for the environment and your wallet too.
My biggest impact besides my psychotic recycling is what I'm doing in my garden. I've planted a lot of native grasses and plants in my garden to help with weeds, but mostly to attract local birds, butterflies and pollinating bees. I've established two butterfly and humming bird gardens and I'm installing 4 large capacity rain barrels in the spring. I'm also dedicating the rear section of my backyard to composting and fertilization that will supplement the vegetable garden. I've got a butterfly house and a bat house on its way and we have crysalis on order for spring
My goal is to certify my yards as a wildlife habitat. Which is a bizarre concept in itself. I have to *make* my outdoors a safe place for wildlife. Irony sucks sometimes.
Actually now that I think about it, my biggest impact is raising my daughter to think eco-friendly, consider human's impact on the environment, to be charitable and an activist/advocate for what she believes in. It just comes naturally for her now.
This is my kind of love...
♥♥♥
I just recently heard about power strips that have a master control outlet (not switch) which determines whether or not power is actively going to the other outlets in the strip. They're referred to as "smart strips." (I'm not sure if that's a brand name like "Kleenex," or if that's the industry term like "facial tissue.")
The gist is that if you have a dvd/blu-ray player, stereo receiver, video game system, subwoofer, or any other device which you don't use unless it's in conjunction with a television, you can virtually eliminate off-use power consumption by allowing the devices to only draw power when the tv is on.
I did some looking around this past week and found the best prices on NewEgg, but Amazon has them too.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=smart+strip&x=0&y=0
It looks like there are a few variations on the market now. I can't vouch for this website, but it provides a quick summary of some of the different products available. http://www.evo.com/content/2321/energy_saving_power_strips
The bottom line with this is that the bigger your AV setup (or the greater number of vampire devices you have), the faster the payback is for purchasing one of these. Beyond that, you're just plain significantly reducing unnecessary energy consumption.