Anyone Going Green? Ideas please...

[loveabargin]

Quote:
Originally Posted by loveabargin
I bought some off of ebay and I LOVE them...I keep them in the back of the mini van. Here's the one's I bought (I'm not connected to this seller in any way, just telling you what worked for me);

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...romot_wi dget

Thanks so much!! I just ordered 10 of them, great investment. My DD13 is a little skeptical but she'll come around. Do you get any hassles from store clerks when you use them?

My DD9 (going on 13 ) is very supportive, she's too young yet to get embarrassed by me I guess. I honestly just bought the bags a few weeks ago and I'm trying to get into the habit of taking them in the store. So far, I've taken them to Aldi (which you pay for and bag your own anyways) and to Walmart. I did put two in my purse to go into Walmart b/c I was a little afraid the clerk would think that I took them if I just had them in the cart (I'm paranoid I guess), anyways, I took them out when I got to the register right in front of the clerk. I started asking the clerk for the items and bagging myself b/c they have those spinning things with the bags. I got a look from the lady at first, until I explained that I'm a hippy freak ...just kidding, I told her that I was trying to cut down on using soo many plastic bags and I'd just put them in my own bags. I do feel a little weird sometimes, but I think it's just because it's new.

I was sooo proud today...I put the trash out by the road this morning and we only had two bags! TWO BAGS!! That's wonderful for us. Every little victory. My kids now ask everytime they throw something away..."can we use this for an art project?" I'm happy to say I have them both thinking of how to recycle EVERYTHING!!

THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL THE GREAT TIPS! I'm so glad to see so many people going green (even those of us who are going just a little green at a time!)

 

[grlpwrd]

Cloth diapers and menstrual pads...personally, I think they are disgusting now that we have the technology to avoid using them.

The Keeper is just plain weird (and gross IMO).

The "Family Cloth" tops it all though...that is just NAAAAAAAAAAAASTY!!!! What about your houseguests? Do you expect them to wipe with your dirty rags too?

There are some modern conveniences that are just worth the price to our wallets and the environment!

Is this really necessary? You do know that disposable anything is made with harsh chemicals that are bad for us and our environment and that the old ways are new again, right? There is a whole movement for trying to be as natural as possible. For someone like you who professes to be frugal, I am surprised by your reaction because people will do different things to save money and natural items are good for the pocketbook and for the environment. I believe in the 7th generation philosophy, too.

Anyway, I am very "green" and that's how I got my tag... I really am part treehugger. We really try to live simply, frugally, and naturally as much as we can.

I belong to the boards at mothering.com and amitymama.com and I have learned a lot from the ladies there. I am also a member of the Simple Living forums at http://www.simpleliving.net/main/custom.asp?recid=3 .

In addition to what has been mentioned and the usual ways:

* I reconstruct old clothes and make new one's. For example, old wool sweaters are made into diaper covers and old blankets can be made into pads.

* I don't use any Teflon. I only use cast iron, steel, or copper pans.

* I stay away from plastic containers and microwaving in general. I very rarely use plastic or disposable items and reserve them for the rare time we need to, such as for trips or emergencies.

* I use natural cleansers and my kids know how to use them, too.

* We garden organically and naturally which is unlike 99% of our neighborhood who do have Chemlawn and their gas blowers.

* We try to use natural toiletries. Some people are believers of 'no-poo' which means no shampoo or they very rarely use it. I am not that diehard. lol j/k. We do use Dr Wood's or Bronner's natural soap.

* We use rain barrels for garden water. We have a compost bin and it's worked out well. We used to vermipost, too.

* We use Craigslist to recycle what we don't need and either sell or give items away.

* I buy organics from a co-op and I use pickyourown.org for produce.

 

[limace]

This is a fabulous thread-so nice to see a discussion like this on this board. I live in a very "crunchy" community-but it seems like my crunchy friends are not big fans....such a bummer.

Let's see, we:
-Buy very little convenience food, both to save money, have better food, and reduce food packaging. We buy all of our spices in bulk-way cheaper and no jars.
-Try to buy local food whenever possible. We buy a lot of local produce and are sharing a CSA share w/a friend this year.
-Replacing bulbs w/CFs as it comes up.
-Primarily cloth diapered both children for their first year. I also found my girls' skin was better in cloth than in disposables.
-Compost some
-Recycle tons-we live in a community with comingled recycling so it's incredibly easy. We also can put our yard debris out for pick up and they turn it into compost

We need to do so much more. It's hard, because we still have a huge carbon footprint because we both commute-I drive 100 miles RT 4 days a week, and DH drives about 75 miles RT daily. I get 30 mpg so it could be worse, but I struggle with this issue. I looked at a Prius when I bought my last car but the safety ratings weren't nearly as good as my Forester and, since I commute w/my baby, it just made me too nervous.

DH lived off the grid for 3 years before we met, and so has a lot of interest in some of the cool new technologies about low or no energy use. We did just buy a tankless water heater to use at the off-the-grid property and, when we rebuild up there, we want to put a Tulikivi soapstone stove in-they are expensive (about like a furnace) but are very energy efficient and will heat the whole house

 

[graygables]

We did just buy a tankless water heater to use at the off-the-grid property and, when we rebuild up there, we want to put a Tulikivi soapstone stove in-they are expensive (about like a furnace) but are very energy efficient and will heat the whole house

I have a German ex-boyfriend who built his house with a Tulikivi! His heats their whole house through radiant piping in the floor with the heat from the stove, as well as having a bread oven in the kitchen. I visited him after it was all done and it was NICE. I want one!!!

 

[kelma]

Look into that carefully before you do it...I did and read too many horror stories of fabrics getting holes in them, even brand new from various brands. We opted to stay with our top loader for now."

I haven't finished reading all the posts, but just want to say that we have a front loader and although it sometimes irritates me, it is VERY gentle on our clothes. As an example, my SIL and I bought the same pajamas for our kids in the same size. Both kids wore them lots this winter and when she came to visit this Spring, her pajamas were so worn, out of shape and faded, while my DS's still looked great. I've never had any problems with how it has treated my clothes Not sure if it's worth it environmentally to throw out a working appliance to get a new one (even one that uses SOOO much less water), but just wanted to put my experience out there!

Good for you for becoming greener

 

[solgent]

I learned about the DivaCup on the DISboards. I went to their website and read the testimonials. They convinced me to give it a try. I've been using one for about 10 months. I feel good about not paying for pads or tampons and not generating waste. It is convenient not to have to carry those products with me. But what I really love about the DC is how comfortable it is. I can't tell that it's there, which is not true of pads or tampons.

 

[las3888]

I am sorry that I just skimmed this thread (sorry - very limited time with a 2 y/o running around). At any rate, I didn't see much about buying products that are not tested on animals. It kills me to think about the animals that are tortured endlessly. Just a thought to buy animal friendly products.

 

[formernyer]

I learned about the DivaCup on the DISboards. I went to their website and read the testimonials. They convinced me to give it a try. I've been using one for about 10 months. I feel good about not paying for pads or tampons and not generating waste. It is convenient not to have to carry those products with me. But what I really love about the DC is how comfortable it is. I can't tell that it's there, which is not true of pads or tampons.

I still have the same box of pads that I *had* to buy after childbirth (my youngest kid is 10 and a half now), so I think they are pretty gross too...just not as gross as something reusable. I personally never know that tampons are there.

I do have a question about this diva cup/keeper thing though. What exactly do you do when you're in a public place and it needs to be changed (cleaned)? Do you wash it in the sink in front of everyone?


To the people in this thread who have responded to my comments...

You can all continue to flame me as much as you want, but I still feel that toilet paper and tampons are areas where 99% of the population won't budge, even if they're "green" in most other ways. This particular thread is filled with tree-huggers, so most of you don't see anything unusual about this behavior, but I can assure you that the general population would agree with me that reusable tampons and "family cloths" are a bit overboard and, yes, gross. They might not post it here because most people don't always say what's on their mind the way that I do, but that doesn't mean that they're not thinking it.

Flame on...

 

[formernyer]

I am sorry that I just skimmed this thread (sorry - very limited time with a 2 y/o running around). At any rate, I didn't see much about buying products that are not tested on animals. It kills me to think about the animals that are tortured endlessly. Just a thought to buy animal friendly products.

Here's some more fuel for flaming...

I've been saying for years that I'd like to see product testing performed on life-sentence inmates. It would save our animals and occasionally even have the side-benefit of torturing and/or killing the rapists and mass murderers that our tax dollars currently support.

 

[loveabargin]

FORMERNYER, I can appreciate your frankness, it seems to be your nature to just say what's on your mind. This is an open forum, everything is open for discussion, is it not? I, too, even after reading up on the Diva Cup (on their website) have to say I draw the line there. I will do what I can (I've said I'm making small steps) to help the enviroment, but I cannot do without tampons. Pads, you can have them all, but give me my tampons. (Oh God, don't let that be my first tag!)

Thanks again to everyone for sharing your ideas, I take a look several times a day just to see if something new catches my eye. Maybe this closet treehugger is coming out. Who knows?

 

[limace]

To the people in this thread who have responded to my comments...

You can all continue to flame me as much as you want, but I still feel that toilet paper and tampons are areas where 99% of the population won't budge, even if they're "green" in most other ways. This particular thread is filled with tree-huggers, so most of you don't see anything unusual about this behavior, but I can assure you that the general population would agree with me that reusable tampons and "family cloths" are a bit overboard and, yes, gross. They might not post it here because most people don't always say what's on their mind the way that I do, but that doesn't mean that they're not thinking it.

Flame on...

I'm not sure if it counts as "flaming" when what people are doing are responding to what I would say was a pretty unpleasantly worded statement of yours. I don't think it's fair to call what you said "saying what's on your mind" but what other people said in response "flaming".

Reusable tampons and family cloths aren't things we'd probably do in my house, but the poster wasn't asking me to change my life, just telling me what she does. If she feels comfortable with it and it works for her family, more power to them. Lots and lots of people still use cloth diapers (and most of us were raised in them and didn't die of any horrible infection of the butt or anything LOL) and I don't think these other items are really any different.

 

[loveabargin]

Does anyone know how to make your own compost pile without buying the expensive container thing? Can't I just make an area, contain it, cover it up (lid) and add egg shells, coffee, mulch, etc. and churn it up? Isn't that all a compost pile is...or am I missing something?

 

[graygables]

Does anyone know how to make your own compost pile without buying the expensive container thing? Can't I just make an area, contain it, cover it up (lid) and add egg shells, coffee, mulch, etc. and churn it up? Isn't that all a compost pile is...or am I missing something?

When we had one (need to start it again), our big compost pile was a square of hay bales (if you can picture that) and a tarp. Dump in the waste, give it a stir (that Garden Claw was good for *something* ) and cover it back again. I've also seen them done in round garbage cans. Drill a few holes here and there, and run some bungie cords across the top to hold it down. After you toss in the scraps, you roll it back and forth a few times to stir. My dad did this for awhile, kept 2 going, 1 for adding fresh waste, and the 2nd was "cooking".

Seriously, if you have kids, the worm bin thing is GREAT. It's easy, FAST (those wormies can really eat!), and the kids LOVED it. It was the perfect way to teach them to be involved.

 

[Zoesmama03]

I still have the same box of pads that I *had* to buy after childbirth (my youngest kid is 10 and a half now), so I think they are pretty gross too...just not as gross as something reusable. I personally never know that tampons are there.

I do have a question about this diva cup/keeper thing though. What exactly do you do when you're in a public place and it needs to be changed (cleaned)? Do you wash it in the sink in front of everyone?


To the people in this thread who have responded to my comments...

You can all continue to flame me as much as you want, but I still feel that toilet paper and tampons are areas where 99% of the population won't budge, even if they're "green" in most other ways. This particular thread is filled with tree-huggers, so most of you don't see anything unusual about this behavior, but I can assure you that the general population would agree with me that reusable tampons and "family cloths" are a bit overboard and, yes, gross. They might not post it here because most people don't always say what's on their mind the way that I do, but that doesn't mean that they're not thinking it.

Flame on...

They hold a lot and I rarely need to dump it in public but the directions say to wipe the rim and reinsert. But like I said I've RARELY had to dump in public. Only on my heavy day have I found it required and I try to schedule my outings on days that will not fall on that. But quite seriously unless you have very heavy flow the entire time you will only need to dump it once or twice a day. It quite literally doesn't really even need dumped persay they just recommend 12 hours max at once. The cup hold almost half of the ozs you'll lose through the ENTIRE period.


Sometimes when I go out on heavy days I will have the "spare" tampon available or samples or something.

There is nothing wrong with your opinions I just think you are pretty much telling people their decisions and what works for them is disgusting.

You know what your right at first it seems that but when you see first hand how much better it can be it really starts to seem trivial in the run of things. I don't like the chemicals in sposie items but sometimes convienence does matter and if your lifestyle isn't in that "place" go with what works. I've found a way to make Diva cup work for me but I can see how it might not for some.

 

[ZPT1022]

You're welcome. I used cloth diapers with my first DD & got many comments about it, so I know the feeling.

I prefer not to judge anyone that makes a different choice than I do. I'll do what is right for me & they can do what is right for them.

Live and let live. Seems so simple, but it doesn't always happen that way

Cleaning cloth diapers:
~Prewash in cold/cold with 1/4 cup baking soda
~Wash in hot/cold with 1/4 cup phosphate free detergent and 1/4 cup baking soda. Put vinegar in the rinse cycle.
~Second cold rinse
~Dry in the dryer or line dry and then fluff in dryer for 10 minutes.

Reuseable swiffer pads can be easily made by cutting microfiber cleaning cloths into the correct size and serging or zigzag stitching the edges. Cloths can be bought in a pack at Walmart or sometimes even the dollar store.

Yes, I use NC bleach too.

We do the baking soda in the prewash but haven't tried it in the same cycle as the detergent. I'll give that a whirl. Have you ever tried tea tree oil with yours? we do it with the second rinse cycle and it smells nice

thanks for the info on the swiffers, I will have to try that!

andiepie has the link in her post- same one I used. http://www.privacyrights.org/ click on financial privacy and you will find it. They give a link to fill out information to opt out of credit card and insurance offers for 5 years; if you request permanently they mail you a form to sign and date. You also can opt back in later (but who would?). It will take a few months to get all the offers out of the system. I truly don't remember the link to stopping excess junkmail but was that a great option or what?!

were you required to put in your SSN? I was going to do one of those opt outs but I was leery of having to use my SSN

DH lived off the grid for 3 years before we met,

that is my DH's ultimate goal. He wants to produce enough of his own energy that he sells it back to the power co.

I am sorry that I just skimmed this thread (sorry - very limited time with a 2 y/o running around). At any rate, I didn't see much about buying products that are not tested on animals. It kills me to think about the animals that are tortured endlessly. Just a thought to buy animal friendly products.

a lot of the natural products I buy do have that guarantee on them

To the people in this thread who have responded to my comments...

You can all continue to flame me as much as you want, but I still feel that toilet paper and tampons are areas where 99% of the population won't budge, even if they're "green" in most other ways. This particular thread is filled with tree-huggers, so most of you don't see anything unusual about this behavior, but I can assure you that the general population would agree with me that reusable tampons and "family cloths" are a bit overboard and, yes, gross. They might not post it here because most people don't always say what's on their mind the way that I do, but that doesn't mean that they're not thinking it.

Flame on...

There's a difference between a respectful disagreement and telling someone that their personal choice, WHICH DOES NOT AFFECT YOU IN ANY WAY, is wrong/bad/awful/nasty/whatever other words you've used.

Personally, the diva cup is not for me, but you can buy non bleached, biodegradable tampons. Nothing wrong with that and it's better for me and the planet

 

[graygables]

As far as the cloth diapers/wipes/pads go...I *HAD* to cloth dipe my younger 2. They both had skin conditions and the disposable diapers were awful, it makes me cringe even now to remember how bad it got. Once we switched to cloth, their rashes were gone within a few days. By using polarfleece liners, we never had to deal with major messes. Toss them in the washer, and they were done. We travelled with them a LOT, and took them to the church nursery where the ladies were always tickled to see which dipes they had with them (I had ones made to match their clothes...) I naturally used cloth wipes, since I was washing anyway, and that progressed to using cloth in our bathroom. No, we did not ask our guests to use our "dirty rags" All of this naturally progressed to cloth pads for me. I cannot use tampons and am also incredibly allergic to the materials used in traditional pads, so I had no choice. It really is much more comfortable, cheaper, and better for the environment (and no, I'm not a tree hugger... )

The gross-out factor, I promise you, is purely an American state of mind. We are hyper clean as a nation and other cultures think WE are the weird ones. The nose-in-the-air attitude is what is getting this country into all kinds of trouble with the rest of the world. "Our" way is not the only way and belittling others b/c they are different is, well, unAmerican.

 

[ZPT1022]

Does anyone know how to make your own compost pile without buying the expensive container thing? Can't I just make an area, contain it, cover it up (lid) and add egg shells, coffee, mulch, etc. and churn it up? Isn't that all a compost pile is...or am I missing something?

ours isn't anything special. DH took some chicken wire and fenced off an area at the back of the yard. He put the leaves in it, called it a compost heap, and it took off from there. I put tons of stuff in there. When we want compost he can just pull it out from the bottom

As far as the cloth diapers/wipes/pads go...I *HAD* to cloth dipe my younger 2. They both had skin conditions and the disposable diapers were awful, it makes me cringe even now to remember how bad it got. Once we switched to cloth, their rashes were gone within a few days. By using polarfleece liners, we never had to deal with major messes. Toss them in the washer, and they were done. We travelled with them a LOT, and took them to the church nursery where the ladies were always tickled to see which dipes they had with them (I had ones made to match their clothes...) I naturally used cloth wipes, since I was washing anyway, and that progressed to using cloth in our bathroom. No, we did not ask our guests to use our "dirty rags" All of this naturally progressed to cloth pads for me. I cannot use tampons and am also incredibly allergic to the materials used in traditional pads, so I had no choice. It really is much more comfortable, cheaper, and better for the environment (and no, I'm not a tree hugger... )

The gross-out factor, I promise you, is purely an American state of mind. We are hyper clean as a nation and other cultures think WE are the weird ones. The nose-in-the-air attitude is what is getting this country into all kinds of trouble with the rest of the world. "Our" way is not the only way and belittling others b/c they are different is, well, unAmerican.

My kids had a lot of the same problems with disposable diapers. It has gotten a bit better and we do keep some on hand for going out and stuff, but when your child has rashes to the point of having open sores no matter what expensive prescription ointment you use, I think a lot of people would find that cloth seems reasonable at that point. If they're not willing to do that for their babies, well, that's another thread entirely

 

[solgent]

I still have the same box of pads that I *had* to buy after childbirth (my youngest kid is 10 and a half now), so I think they are pretty gross too...just not as gross as something reusable. I personally never know that tampons are there.

You're clearly happy with tampons and I am not trying to persuade you to switch to the Diva Cup. I just want to make a comment about "not as gross as something reusable." Imagine if everyone used paper plates all the time. All the food scraps would just be tossed out with the plates. And then someone came along and said, "We use plates made out of plastic or ceramic and you just wash them and use them again." People might think, that is disgusting! You have to handle the smeary sauces and the bones (if you eat meat)! Instead of bundling them up directly and neatly into the trash. And then the next night you're going to eat from the same plate???? But we'll all fine with that because it's what we're used to.

I do have a question about this diva cup/keeper thing though. What exactly do you do when you're in a public place and it needs to be changed (cleaned)? Do you wash it in the sink in front of everyone?

I'm not the ideal DC user because I have a very heavy flow. I have to change it several times a day for a couple days of my period. (I had to change tampons every hour sometimes.) If you have a light flow you can probably just change it morning and night. I have to change it away from home. If there's not a single user bathroom available, and there are other people, then I just wipe it off thoroughly and reinsert. Otherwise I will wash it in the sink. Someone might come in and see this, but I figure that public restrooms often have changing tables, and I don't think it's any worse than seeing or being in proximity to a poopy diaper.

To the people in this thread who have responded to my comments...

You can all continue to flame me as much as you want, but I still feel that toilet paper and tampons are areas where 99% of the population won't budge, even if they're "green" in most other ways. This particular thread is filled with tree-huggers, so most of you don't see anything unusual about this behavior, but I can assure you that the general population would agree with me that reusable tampons and "family cloths" are a bit overboard and, yes, gross. They might not post it here because most people don't always say what's on their mind the way that I do, but that doesn't mean that they're not thinking it.

I had never heard of the "family cloth" thing before this thread, and I don't want to try it myself, but I don't think it's overboard. I think it's great that some people are doing that.

I know that people in other parts of the world enjoy eating bugs, and although my emotional reaction is "That's gross!" at the same time I'm aware that it isn't actually disgusting. I have the feelings I do because of the society in which I was raised, but if I were born there I'd be happily munching grasshoppers.

We can't control our initial internal reactions. (Although as adults we've learned it's good manners sometimes not to express these reactions.) And often we don't need to question them. We can live with them and there's no internal conflict. But sometimes there might be some other pressure that would cause us to rethink. If I were starving or if I could win $1,000,000, maybe I could get over that reaction to eating bugs. After all, I know that other people like them and they are nutritious. Similarly, if a person really wanted to save money and/or use less resources, she might want to learn more about some of these practices even if her initial reaction was negative.

So, yes, people might have that reaction initially. And they might simply remain with that thinking. But some people might be motivated to at least find out more and see if it might work for them.

 

[LindaBabe]

Re compost

Any loose container will do - hay bales is great, chicken wire, hardware cloth, or a 'boughten' composter.

The key to keep it sweet smelling is air, so you don't want a closed solid container with a tight fitting lid. Keep the contents about as damp as a wrung out sponge. Stir or toss regularly - I use a garden fork.

You can make 'hot' compost or cold compost. Cold is easier but does not kill weed seeds or plant viruses, so I use it for leaves and household green garbage only. If you pick a few earthworms from your garden and toss them in, they will multiply exceedingly. less complex than proper vermiculture.

In the winter, I have a large metal garbage can in the garage. Inside it, is a smaller plastic garbage can drilled with lots of large holes. (The purpose of the outer can is to catch spillage) I put a few inches of shredded leaves in the bottom of the inner can and then mix in my green garbage all winter. In spring, when my outside composter thaws, I dump in the contents of the can which has already started to compost, and it finishes off in a couple weeks.

In the summer, I grow potatoes in shreded leaves in the inner can.

 

[twinklingstars4u]

Some really good information can be found at:

http://www.motherearthnews.com

I loved the website so much I subscribe to the magazine! You will find all kinds of information on going green and homesteading (which is what we plan to do in the far future).