Tiny Choices......... (that make a big impact)

[IntlMom]

Just what can one person do to help make an impact on the world?
I'd be fooling myself if I thought that my tiny choices really made a difference.....but what if everyone made tiny choices?

You don't have to drive a hybrid to "save the world" (although I'd love to!) - lots of small things make a difference. The oceans are filled with millions and millions of tiny drops.

I'm not talking recycling here, (I'm guessing we all know about that one), I'm talking TINY choices that make a difference.... here are a few of mine that come to mind:

This winter, when I used the oven, I left the oven door open when I was done (after I had turned it off) to let the heat come out and warm the room, rather than wasting all the heat from baking.

When it was time to buy pots for my new porch, I opted for terra cotta, rather than plastic.

I've become "the light and water nazi" in my home!

My biggie: becoming vegetarian and severly cutting my families meat consumption down as well.

What are your tiny choices? Your drops?

[akolb]

mine personally are:
~ALWAYS using reusable shopping bags and returning any plastic ones that find their way into our home to a recycling bin inside walmart etc.
~ Using green/homemade/chemical free products to clean our home. Traditional ones always triggered migraines for me anyway!
~ Not using disposable plates/cutlery/napkins or paper towels. Real/cloth works so much better anyway!
~Using our ceiling fans and opening opposing windows when there is a breeze instead of turning on the AC. Our elec bill has been under $80 the last 2 months...in South Louisiana!!
~ I'm also vegetarian (currently vegan). More for health reasons, but I do know and appreciate the impact it has on the environment.

[gapeach]

I try to have at least 1 "No Drive" day a week. Some weeks I have 2 or 3 and occasionally I'm not able to have any (thankfully those don't happen very often).

[pita1213]

I walk to drop off and pick my nephew up at school. We use the programmable thermostat to regulate the heat and A/C. I try to combine errands as much as possible so I'm not driving all over town everyday. Only wash full loads in washer and dish washer. If it wasn't restricted, I would have a clothes line. I want to get a drying rack for the summer for pool towels at least. I need to get back into the habit of using reusable bags for groceries, but I do refuse a lot of bags when I have only a few items or drop items into bags I already have if I'm at the mall. We recycle. I just wish our bin was bigger.
I try to give useful gifts that I know will be used or food gifts, instead of random stuff just to give a gift that everyone knows it just going to end up in the trash.
I'm growing my own veggies without any pesticides. Bamboo skewers go along way to deter smaller pests. I have several skewers in the garden that have lasted a few seasons.
I do have plastic pots because I can't lift even the smaller terra cotta pots, but they get reused year after year. if they get a crack in them, they can be sunk into the main garden to help contain some plants and protect others from moles.
We aren't vegetarians, but I do try to limit the meat we eat. The larger farmers market has organic beef for about the same price as regular beef, and it's from a local farmer so I try to get it there as much as possible.
Unplug stuff when not in use, Lights don't come on until we're banging around in the dark.
Use reusables whenever possible, but dog puke is still going to get a papertowel.

[mauimagic]

Love all the ideas of everything you all are doing!! Shall think about what I actually do - know it's more than I think!!

[Telephus44]

My small thing - I pick out the plastic bottles in the trash at work and put them in the recycling bin. It takes all of 30 seconds and I feel like I'm doing something helpful.

My other thing - also work related - is to avoid printing out anything I don't have to. I keep all my emails, so if I ever need backup documentation, I can look through my email. I have co-workers that use 20+ pieces of paper for one order, I use only 3.

[leighcat]

I bring a cloth bag with re-usable containers to work for lunch.
I make most of my own cleaning products and laundry soap.
I bought a bunch of (thrift store and garage sale) cloth napkins as well as serged some instead of paper napkins.
If I ever eat out and use plastic utensils, I bring them home and wash and re-use them.
I use all the energy saving lightbulbs except for the older tube (I think they are flourescent) bulbs that I haven't changed to newer lighting yet.
I keep the a/c around 80 most of the time, when it cools off I shut it off and open the windows. We also leave the oven door open after I shut it off in the winter to keep it warm. I keep the heat as low as we can stand and we wear sweaters and use extra blankets on the beds.
I was going to buy a funnel to use for pouring my homeade laundry soap in the empty bottle of detergent but instead I recycled a juice bottle by turning it into a funnel.
I use cloth pads most of the time and I got a divacup to try.
We use cloth shopping bags sometimes. Other times I get the store bags and use them instead of buying trash bags.
I wash large loads less often to conserve water and electricity. My washer has a super load so I wait until I have enough to do a super load. My ex-dh gave me his clothesline posts so hopefully this weekend I will put my clothesline up!!
I fill one side of the sink with soapy water and a basin with clear water for rinsing to do dishes. This conserves water.

[shoiji]

No more paper towels. I buy about 2 per year now.

Cut down on processed foods.

Got rid of car. More out of necessity.

Shop at thrift store.

Use utilities only when really needed.

[RaineyDaye]

The ones I can think of:
- use my car as little as possible
- getting much better at remembering to use cloth shopping bags
- discontinued the newspaper
- get most bills by electronic mail
- lacto vegetarian and am learning how to cook vegan to eliminate dairy
- in the summer, try not to use air conditioning
- in the winter, kept heat 50 at night and 63 during the day
- each year I try to grow more of my food
- trying to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible
- got an electric lawn mower to replace my gas-powered one (less pollution)
- rarely use dryer from April to September

[KeithBC]

We batch all our errands into one trip. We use cloth bags for groceries - in fact, I object in principle to anything disposable. We don't have air conditioning. We heat with wood in the winter - as a biofuel, it is less harmful than fossil fuels. We are vegan. DW hangs the laundry on the clothesline to dry in summertime. We walk as much as possible to meetings and events in the community.

I want to get an electric bike for local trips where I it's too far to walk, but where I don't want to arrive all hot and sweaty from riding a regular bike, such as meeting with a client. I also want to install solar hot water for the house, maybe next year.

[KentuckySaver]

We do most of the same things mintioned above but need to do them more often. Not everyone in the house is onboard you might say.

Just wondering, does anyone have solar power of any kind. Thinking about a small 45 watt system from amazon...about 200 bucks but still have to by some batteries. Anyone have a small solar setup that they might want to brag about ?? Love to hear details.

[KeithBC]

I put together a really small solar system for irrigating the garden. I have a 15-watt panel, a marine battery and a pump. They say that 15 watts is the maximum that you can safely run without a charge controller. So, for 45 watts, you would need one.

I have some pictures of my system on this link - scroll down about 3/4 of the page.

[Palooka]

Dang Keith, you are talented! Awesome!

[Libby]

I second what Palooka said - Keith's handy!

What our lil drops are (in this house)
* try to re-purpose everything if not recycle. I actually give baked goods in margarine tubs to people
* use the cloth bags whenever possible
* energy efficient bulbs are used wherever possible, timers too
* stopped buying things with excess packaging, buying in bulk to repack ourselves
* just stopped buying stuff in general...only buy whats truly needed 90% of the time = less to throw away later
* barely use the dryer (only 1 load/wk unless doing bed linens)
* try to have more stay at home days vs out and about, carpool and try to main stream errand running day
* I too leave the lights off until I can't see where I'm walking down here and the lights are on a dimmer, sometimes I just light a candle (soy)
* one pot cooking if possible - less dishes to wash, less water & soap used

One thing I'd love to be able to switch to is a stronger powered hm 'eco' cleaning solution. I might have my dosages incorrect but its not cleaning as well as I'd like.

[nuisance26]

~A few water things I do:

*I fill up a clean, recycled milk jug with tap water and leave it uncovered in the fridge overnight to let the chlorine escape. Then I cap it. Keeping it cold in the fridge eliminates the need to run the tap cold every time I want a glass of water and the energy to make ice to cool it down further.
*I also keep jugs of water in my freezer to improve efficiency when it's not quite full.
*It's an obvious thing but re-usable water bottles. I washed out a stash of grocery store plastic water bottles for a couple of years before investing in our aluminum ones.
*When I run my washing machine I adjust the setting down a notch for the rinse cycle. I figure the laundry is compressed down when it's wet and less rinse water should be needed to "cover" the laundry. If those HE washers can do it with so little water so can a standard washer.