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Going Green

July 12th, 2008 at 07:09 pm

I'm motivated to make changes for the better in our household after seeing our electric bill go down. I've been turning off the switch of our surge protectors for both TVs before we leave the house. I usually keep them off until the little one wakes up, and even then, I only need to turn on one, if that. I'm also working on a few other things that are goals for us to turn into habit:

1) use cloth napkins (I bought 12 at Bed Bath and Beyond with a 20% off coupon that cost us $2.40--that's 12 cents per napkin!)

2) stop buying paper towels

3) recycle anything that can be recycled and drop off at our nearest recycling center (we do not have pick-up service here in Chicago yet)

4) start composting

5) stop buying products with phlalates

6) start using only natural substances (i.e. baking soda, lemons, vinegar, etc.) for cleaning

7) continue to unplug/turn off electronics not in use

8) start air drying laundry

This is a start. Perhaps a little lofty, but good none the less.
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I want to have a garage sale this summer. I need to work on accumulating things to be sold. That's a goal for this week!

Today, I'm going to grill salmon on a cedar plank, grill corn on the cob and am making a blueberry cobbler. Woo hoo! Thank you fruit store! Gotta love summer...

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Going Green”

  1. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    July 13th, 2008 at 06:49 pm 1215974999
    1215974999

    How will you know whether you are buying a product (plastic, I suppose) with phlalates?

  2. aevans1206 Says:
    July 14th, 2008 at 12:21 am 1215994888
    1215994888

    I know that they are generally found in shampoos and detergents. We already use Ecos for our laundry detergent, so it'll be an easy switch for our dish soap as well. As to other products, that will take some investigating. Thanks for bringing that up.

  3. Amber Says:
    July 14th, 2008 at 03:24 am 1216005894
    1216005894

    Thanks for the tips, I think I am going to stop buying paper plates. I already line dry so that is a plus in addition I will start turning off unplug my electronics not in use

  4. ceejay74 Says:
    July 14th, 2008 at 09:24 pm 1216070694
    1216070694

    Thanks for the tips! We don't really have a direct financial incentive to save energy since our utilities are part of a big lump-sum payment to our condo, but we've been watching the new Green Channel on TV and thinking we should start unplugging appliances for the environment. I have been trying to use a cloth or sponge more instead of paper towels, but I don't know if I could give them up completely! And I just don't think I could air-dry or compost, given my living space. But I love using baking soda or vinegar for cleaning--will have to try lemons!

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