How "green" are you?

[binny]

I'll be honest. I like the idea of going green but really the execution is not quite there.

I recycle, I normally grow as much of our produce as I can, I prefer to use low VOC paints, and I am phasing in all energy star appliances.

I dont have a compost pile, I sometimes buy bottled water, and I dont take public transportation. I am sure those are just the beginning of my "green failures"


So how about you?

 

[SwedishMeatball]

I would say that I'm a pale shade of sage.

 

[J3nn78]

I use cloth diapers on my DS
All energy saving bulbs inside the house and out
Energy star appliances including FL washer
Veggie garden
Stainless St reusable water bottle

 

[npmommie]

The biggest green thing in my house is we eat no animal flesh.
we are near vegan. except for hubby.
no meat chicken fish
that is the biggest thing anyone can do to be environmentally friendly.

more greenhouse gases come from the meat industry than transportation, oceans are being depleted of fish to raise pigs.........to raise farm fish.......it makes no sense.
you could feed a village with the amount of grain it takes to produce 1 pound of meat.
and i know everyone will not go meatless.
but if every one just cut back, to maybe even 1 completely meat free day a week, that can help, 2 would be better, and so on and so on.


other than that, we recycle, drive fuel efficient cars, use energy star applicance, and the energy saving light bulbs, we heat with a pellet stove, i bring my own bags to every store i shop in. i buy everything locally grown and produced as much as possible. i mentioned my hubby is not vegetarian, but he prob eats a 90% veg diet, when he eats any chicken or meat it comes from a local farm.

 

[Handbag Lady]

How do I stack up?

I carpool to work every day.

I recycle bottles and cans and batteries and boxes and paper at work. At home, we don't have room but our apartment complex has recycle bins and a homeless guy who comes and sorts our trash for profit.

We have energy lightbulbs where I can stand them. I don't like it for the living room, though. The light is strange.

On weekends, if we are going to the El Cap, Union Station, Long Beach, Chinatown, H&H, or Olvera Street, we take the train. They have yet to put in a train to Disneyland...

I recycle clothes. Once a year I go through my work clothes and I give them to either people who can use them or to Goodwill.

 

[luvmy3]

Anytime dh and I find we aren't doing something *green* we just say we're staying brown

 

[murcor]

Nova Scotia has a great recycling program.

Clear garbage bags only - Diapers, feminine hygiene products, syrofoam, coffecups, broken glass, ceramics, chip & candy bar wrappers, kittylitter & feces, latex gloves, toothpaste tubes, etc

Everything else is recycled:

Blue bags for recycling - Bag #1 Paper Waste, Bag #2 Glass, Plastic, metals

Green Cart for compostables - Food Waste, Yard Waste, Soild Boxboard, Soiled and Non-Recyclable Paper

***Enforcement is achieved through a blend of traditional investigations and compliance monitoring or you wil be paying a fine

 

[Chicago526]

I do try, but I could do better.

-I use resuable bags for shoping.
-I use washable cloths instead of paper towels.
-Run washer/dishwasher full when possible
-Run washer on cold for everthing except sheets/towels
-Combine errands to save gas
-drive gas friendly car (30 mph)
-work from home (actually I just got lucky with that)
-try to turn off stuff when not in use (DH is horrible about that)
-adding insualation to our uninsulated 1940's home as we remodel
-grow as much of our fruit and veggies as i can (not much, but it helps)
-buy produce locally (it's better quality and cheaper too)
-recycle as much as possible
-have a water filter on the facet instead of buying bottled (huge $ saver)
-use fans instead of a/c in the summer as much as possible
-keep thermstat at 62 in the winter
-have all CFL bulbs

I'd some day like to get a rain barel to water our garden and also start a compost heap.

 

[olena]

We only have one car and DH works from home almost exclusively. I carpool exclusively.... We combine shopping errands and keep lists and buy in bulk for many items. We go to the grocery store maybe twice a month doing that. (It saves money, too, since there's less chance of impulse buying.) We use hand-operated appliances like can-opener, tree saw, hedge-clippers. We use one drinking glass each per day to cut down on running the dishwasher. We use cloth napkins and towels and hankies instead of tissues. Our appliances and siding on the house has an energy star. We have blackout fabric over some windows to cut down on cooling costs. When we replaced the heat pump, we got an efficient model and added programmable thermostats and zoning in the duct work to force air/heat where it needs to go in extreme temperatures, which has saved us a LOT of money, too! It forces more cool air upstairs in summer and heat downstairs in winter. We have a Tivo, which means the TV is on when we watch something pre-recorded and without commercials. We knock out 30 minutes shows in 20 minutes and don't have that many shows anyway.

When the water heater gives out, it will be replaced with a tankless model. We've done so much to upgrade the house's energy efficiency, that it will be hard if we have to move if DH gets an out-of-state job offer. On the up side, the places we will likely move to actually have viable public transit, so I'll have that consolation.

Going green is nice and all, but I like saving green.

 

[Gina]

I guess I'm pretty un-green. I am definitely not composting/recycling/whatever. Composting is just eww, and the trucks that pick up recycling cost more to operate than the savings brought about by recycling, so I don't feel too bad about that one.

I do use re-usable grocery totes, but mostly because they hold so dang much and are easier to carry. I tried swapping out a couple light bulbs for the twisty ones, but it drove DS and I absolutely nuts waiting for the light to fully come on. When I flip the switch, I want light! So that didn't last long.

I do the basic stuff like don't run the dishwasher on heat-dry and whatnot, but really only because it saves me $$. I will definitely never, ever be switching to anything approaching a meat-free diet, unless they start making vegetables look and taste like a nicely cooked steak or hamburger. LOL

 

[debbi801]

We try but it is so much work. LOL

We both drive hybrid cars. We recycle (some, but not as much as we should), and we compost. I also finally switched to the re-usable shopping bags for at the grocery store.