What do you do that is frugal AND green?

[peanut]

This thread developed out of the 'frugal and green' thread. I think it would be neat to see what you all do that you would consider both frugal AND green?

I'll start us off...

~ I recycle fence boards into furniture (or rather, DH does! lol),
~ I buy or accept secondhand furniture,
~ I compost, so there is less waste and I have good garden soil,
~ I recycle grocery bags to garbage bags, but mostly use hm cloth bags (recycled blue jeans) for grocery bags,

What about you? What do you do that is both frugal and green?

Jean

[Shoshana]

Use a gold coffee filter instead of paper filters
Do not use paper tissues, but handkerchiefs (I'm an allergy queen so this saves lots, and my nose is happier).
Do not use paper towels, but wash rags
Make my own laundry soap.
Do not use commercial cleaning products
Buy most of my clothing and linens at second hand stores
Use a rotary lawn mower
Planted ground cover for three quarters of my yard instead of grass
Keep the heat set at an uncomfortable 58-60
Use a hot water insulator
Do not use plastic!

[Contrary Housewife]

Compost, mostly. Try to grow some vegetables (without pesticide) for our own use.

I keep the car in good shape. It is cheaper to get oil changes than engine repair, and I don't waste gas on a badly running engine. Our last car was 21 years old when it went to the landfill. I'll keep this one as long as I can, too.

[Grayce]

I compost, line dry my clothes, use rain barrels for watering the garden, drive a fuel efficient car, grow vegetables in my backyard, keep my heat at a minimal temp, use a programmable thermostat, I recycle whatever I can (this saves money because we have to pay $3 for a bag of garbage).

[Patty A]

I recycle and reuse everything I can. I truly believe waste not want not. I gather old pallets to use to stack my hay on, ( they are free at one place here, you just have to beat other people to them!) and build animal pens with. We try hard to never buy new, we get old furniture and if it up. We also gather wild fruit to make jam, and pick where ever any ones offers free fruit. We compost, it is a real saver when it comes trash time. We save cardboard and line our animal pens with it to help insulate from the cold weather. We also buy many of our clothes second hand or yard sale. Fix what others think is trash and it becomes a treasure to us.

[Marie78]

I car pool to work with my husband and combine errands when we are out.
I make my own homemade cleaner.
I reuse grocery bags as garbage bags and haven't bought garbage bags in well over a year or more.
I bring my lunch to work in reusable containers.
I shop thrift stores.
We turn off lights/appliances/power strips when not in use.
I use a cloth shower liner that I wash weekly.
Using less of products to make sure they last longer.

[janelane]

This might sound a little weird, but it's green and frugal, so I'll say it

I work from home. Honestly there are times when days go by and I don't have to go out and about anywhere. And we don't have kids yet. So, I'm usually just wearing pjs, or a cami and yoga pants, or, well, just *nothing*, or pretty much next to it, especially in the summer. (I also have fibro, and I get the whole skin burning thing, so sometimes it just downright hurts to be clothed.)

This accomplishes several things: I can keep the ac off most of the time in the summer when DH isn't home, I have far less laundry than I used to, and because I'm not constantly wearing out my normal clothes I've hardly bought anything in the last five years and everything is in really good shape for when I do actually wear it. And DH likes the entertainment factor, lol

Yep, nudity: green, frugal, and fun. lol.

[MoonMommy]

I use my own hm grocery bags made from dh's old t-shirts. I have also made the bags for my mom and my hubby's Aunt.

I recycle zip loc bags unless they were used for meat.

I use any plastic shopping bags or empty plastic bread bags to clean the cat box.

In the summer, I hang the clothes on the line.

I keep the heat at 62 degrees

All of our lights are the new flourescent ones.

We don't use AC in the summer

We have only one car and hubby walks to work

I recycle just about everything that I can.

[TheRootedNomad]

~ I occassionally hang dry my clothes. (I should do this LOTS more often than I do)
~ I use cloth grocery bags made from stained table cloths.
~ We use cloth napkins and rags. The only disposable paper product I've been unable to clear from the house is TP.
~ We scrap metal for cash including stripping down old wires and AC's for the copper.
~ Clothes are passed around. The first place we shop when we need something is in each others closets'. I'm not talking just here in our house either. My sister, my mother, and I are always flip-flopping our weight. We just pass them around. Halloween we raided long johns from my dad, boots from my sister, and an old turtleneck of mine as the basis for DS#2's costume. He's kept the boots. As he'll out grow them quickly enough my sister is sure she'll eventually get them back.
~ We also shop thrift stores.
~ I use old newspaper to wash windows and mirrors.
~ The few plastic bags that come onto the house are reused for garbage or litter.
~ I reuse baggies
~ We keep used/scrap pieces of wood and so forth in the garage and use them for things like building shelves, science projects, ect.
~ Leftovers are eaten by us or our dogs. Food VERY rarely hits the trash can.
~ We use the library or used bookstore almost every time for our books and then we pass them along. We haven't had a book or magazine hit the trash since my 12yo niece was in when she was 3 and tore one up.
~ We have bricks in our toilet tanks
~ We keep my freezer stocked. This means we use less energy to keep it cold and that I can go longer without shopping if the deals aren't there.
~ We use vinegar and baking soda for lots of my cleaning
~ We use homemade laundry detergent
~ The computer gets shut down and unplugged every night.

I need more coffee.... I'll probably add more here later. All in all though frugal and green generally go hand in hand.

[The Muse]

I'm a vegetarian.
I drive a very fuel efficient car & bike where I can.
I garden, compost, and use a rain barrel.
Produce more than half our electricity with solar panels.
Use a house fan insead of a/c.
Live in a smaller house than I could.
Use a clothesline.
Make my own cleaning products.
Buy second hand when I can.
Bring canvas bags to the store (get .05 - .10 back per bag)

I'm sure there's more, but that's the quick list!

[sunshine]

- compost

- grow my own organic vegetables, herbs and fruits

- line dry my clothes, year round

- drive a Hyundai Accent GS - manual transmission. Gets 42 MPG city, 48 MPG highway. It's a 1999, and running great!

- recycle all our metal, cardboard, newspaper and plastics

- reuse old clothes to make new items (other clothing,potholders, quilts, etc.)

- cut our meat consumption to less than 1/2 of what is was 2 years ago, and less than 1/4 of what is was 10 years ago.

- switched to CFS light bulbs in the house

[rainbowgc]

Do not use commercial cleaning products I make my own homemade cleaner.
I line dry my clothes
I shop thrift stores
We keep the cars in good shape and the tires properly inflated
I keep the heat at 62 degrees
We use insulated drapes in the summer to keep in the cool (Florida)
We replaced all lights to the new fluorescent ones
We use cloth napkins and rags
Pass around back and forth with magazines with neighbors and then off to the Dr's office when through

[sunshine]

ok -- need to add a few things I forgot.

- thermostat set at 62 degrees most days (unless someone is sick or we have a baby here)

- use a solar heat grabber in several rooms

- put insulation board in the north facing windows for year round use - has handles for easy removal if we want more light in the rooms, but it keeps out the cold in the winter, and the heat in the summer

[AspiringToBeFrugal]

I think I'm a bit more committed to living "green" than DH but I know he tries!

~ We use cloth/reuseable bags for grocery shopping--we get a $.05 credit for each bag we bring in!
~ The plastic bags we have gotten from stores are used in luggage for dirty clothes bags or they're used in the trash cans for garbage bags
~ We recycle as much paper and plastic as we can--It's great because our city has free recycling!
~ We've accepted a ton of used items for our first child (to be born in January)--a bassinette, a cradle, a baby bed, changing table, toys, a baby bathtub, two playpens (one's at my mom's house), baby clothes, maternity clothes, etc.
~ I don't drink coffee since I'm pregnant but in my pre-pregnancy days, I would reuse the coffee grounds
~ Reuse tea bags
~ Use old t-shirts and yes, even old underwear (CLEAN of course!) for dust rags
~ DH uses old towels for car cleaning
~ Lights are generally off during the day w/ window shades/blinds open
~ We've switched to CFL bulbs as our old regular-type bulbs have been used up
~ Use a drying rack for much of our laundry (we have two racks and they are fabulous investments!)
~ I frequent the library a lot!
~ I reuse envelopes I get in the mail or that come with bills--I usually use them for scratch paper, grocery lists, etc. then recycle them when I'm done with them!
~ Try to limit showers to 10 minutes or less
~ Thermostat is set at 62 or lower during the winter and 72-ish during the summer. In spring and fall we can often turn off our heat/AC completely.
~ Use reusable dishes as often as possible so as to limit waste and use of foil, plastic wrap, etc.

[madhen]

I eat mostly organic and locally (as in my backyard) grown fruits and veggies.

I have chickens ("grow" my own eggs).

I keep the weeds and brush down on my property with goats, rather than by grading or chemicals.

I vermi-compost.

I recycle and Freecycle.