Taking Paperless One Step Further
This post is part of the Moms’ 30-Minute Blog Challenge over at Steady Mom.
As I stumbled downstairs this morning to make a pot of coffee in hopes of getting my brain to begin functioning properly, I realized that there was one paperless aspect of our kitchen that I failed to mention in my last post (an amazing thought considering that I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet).
Behold! The reuseable coffee filter!
Your coffee maker may have actually come with one of these, which you immediately ignored and went out to purchase the traditional paper filters. In case you threw yours out, you can buy one of these in the grocery store for less than $10. It is easy to care for- just dump the used grounds in the compost and give the filter a quick rinse. You will save money and the planet before you’ve even had your first cuppa joe each morning.
Once you’ve used it, you’ll wonder why you ever used paper in the first place.
Filed under Cleaning and Organization, Easy Being Green, Saving Green | Comments (8)Being Green; Saving Green
Hmmmm….I’m not sure if you noticed or not, but my last post was sometime in June. I’ve decided not to beat myself up about it - I’ve been enjoying my summer thoroughly and keeping my computer time to the minimal essentials (barely). I’d rather call my time away from My Web of Life a sabbatical of sorts. It sounds so much more important and intellectual than just saying that I’ve been playing hooky.
However, when I saw what the topic was for this month’s APLS Carnival, my spidey senses started tingling and my fingers began to twitch for the feel of the keyboard. I knew that I needed to write. What would bring me back to my little corner of the house with the glowing screen? Two of my favorite topics merged into one great title: Green on the Cheap.
How could I resist that? I love to talk green and baby am I ever cheap!
I must confess that one of my biggest peeves as I struggle through my journey of going green (and it IS a journey and a definite struggle at times) is greenwashing. What is greenwashing? I have two definitions for it:
1. To pass off something that is not really ‘green’ as being ‘green’.
2. To charge WAY too much money for something that is ‘green’, whether it is or not.
Green does not need to be costly and shouldn’t be viewed as some fad that warrents jacked-up prices. I’m not talking about the genuine cost of an organic, fair-trade item. I am talking about gouging by greedy hypocrits. Make sure you do your homework before assuming that a costly product really is the green miracle that it says it is.
Although every once in awhile I come across a product that I just fall in love with and must have despite its hefty pricetag, for the most part I have been working to simplify and pare down to the basics. This has been my biggest source of money savings. I thought I would list out some of my favourite ways of doing this.
Thrift Stores. I have no qualms about purchasing previously worn/used items. I stick with basic thrift stores and avoid consignment boutiques like the plague. Paying more than $20 for something already worn is just absurd to me. I could give a rip about the label name. Although it often takes some sifting, I can usually find good quality clothing for everyone in my family. I still have some items in my closet that I bought 12 years ago. They are classic and I still get comments on them as if they were new.
Cleaning Supplies. This is simple really. I use borax, washing soda, vinegar, baking soda, peppermint soap and essential oils for scent and disinfection. I have also splurged on a few precious microfibre cloths that clean without the use of soap. The 3 brands that I have tried and like are Enjo, Norwex and E-Cloth. I am not dedicated to any particular brand and they all have very different price tags. My favourites are the window cloth and the toilet brush that can go in the washer. Because of my cloths, I really only use the other cleaning supplies for laundry, dishwashing and toilet freshening. Basically, I spend next to nothing to keep my house clean. Now if only I could get somebody to clean it…
Food. This one is really interesting. I spend more money on things like organic produce, but I notice that my grocery bill has remained the same or has even dropped on occasion. My only explanation is that I have been buying less packaged items and have begun to make more from scratch. I will admit that food is my weakest green link. I don’t enjoy spending huge amounts of time in the kitchen and I take a lot of shortcuts (like pre-made pie crust). But for the most part my family is eating healthful, nutritious meals that didn’t come out of a box. My kids go to school with lunches packed in reuseable containers. Paper towels have ceased to exist in our home (much to my parents’ dismay during their last visit)! It is an adjustment at first, but I’ve stopped missing the paper towels and excess cling wrap.
Utilities. I love the days of spring, summer and fall when I can hang the clothes out on the line. We have particularly old appliances in our home so I know the cost savings are significant when I can avoid using the dryer or oven. I have also gotten wiley and have begun using the water from our basement dehumidifier to help fill our washing machine. We also bought a rainbarrel this year and have been able to use that exclusively for any of our plant watering. This is the point where I should be honest and mention that this year I failed to plant any flower baskets and my tomato plants are barely living. However, this is not due to a lack of water on the part of my rainbarrel. Just a smidge of laziness on my part.
Shopping. What is my biggest way to stay green on the cheap? I’ve stopped shopping recreationally. After watching the Story of Stuff, I’ve become more conscious of where products are originating and what their true cost is. I will admit that I have lapses. My recent purchase of a backpack for my daughter was not a green choice. But it was a necessity at the moment. However, part of being green is being honest and conscious of the choices I am making. Basically, I am always working to improve. This year I plan to keep my eyes peeled in the thrift stores for some decent backpacks that I can keep stored in the closet. Hopefully I can avoid a similar purchase in the future and my daughter’s next backback will be both greener and cheaper.
Filed under Blog Carnivals, Cleaning and Organization, Easy Being Green, Saving Green | Comments (5)Searching for Ways to Cut Back
I received a question from a good friend this week that I thought was worth re-posting to everyone for comment…
“I have a question to anyone out there reading this- I am desperately trying to get myself into ‘frugal’ mode this week! I have reset the thermostats, hung clothes line in my basement, set a grocery list that is under $200 a week, and run around unplugging things we are not using….WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO NOT ONLY SAVE MONEY BUT SAVE ENERGY TOO!?? HELP MOMS!” -Bec
I think we all struggle with this -whether it is due to a floundering economy, our need to build a stronger ’safety net’ in our bank accounts, or adding to our children’s college funds. Unless you count yourself among the super-rich, you are probably always searching for ways to be frugal.
The thing that we have done recently that has reaped huge results is switching out our most-used bulbs to compact fluorescent. I was shocked to see that this already saved us 17% on our next hydro-electric bill and 34% on our latest bill. That’s just plain crazy. And we didn’t even switch out all of our bulbs! We’re using our old regular bulbs that are stockpiled in the basement for lights that are rarely used, such as lamps in the guestroom. When we eventually use up those archaic style bulbs, we’ll replace them with the more energy-efficient, although pricier bulbs.
Another tip that my mom always taught me is to use windows smartly. Let the sun beam in on cold winter days to help warm a room. Close curtains at night to conserve heat loss. On hot summer days, keep curtains closed so that your air-conditioning doesn’t have to work extra hard. Make sure that windows and doors are nicely weather-sealed.
Which reminds me- I need to stop typing this and go get our storm windows out of the basement…
Add a comment and let me know if you have any frugal ideas up your sleeve.
Filed under Saving Green | Comments (2)Saving Green
We recently got our elecric bill in the mail and let me tell you, it was a day for celebration.
I kid you not.
We saved 17 freaking percent compared to the same time period last year! This was the proof that we needed. We are making a difference with a few simple changes that now feel like second nature to us.
What did we do, you ask? We changed our most often used lights to CFL bulbs (we will eventually switch them all as the older bulbs sputter and die). We hung our clothes out to dry. Admittedly this will become more difficult in the winter months, but I do have a drying rack that I plan to use inside to at least reduce the amount of dryer usage. Finally, we became the Electricity Gestapo - eliciting fear into the hearts of our children if they so dared to leave on a light if they left the room. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but we did keep a closer eye on things and the kids are beginning to ’see the light’. Ha!
What was so exciting about our electric bill is that it showed us that being green really can save green. I HATE spending more money than I have to. This has been ground into me since childhood by my mother. We shopped thrift stores. We drove across town to buy sale produce. We get verklemmt at rollback prices and usually have to call each other to brag about our deals. So to begin paying more money in order to shop ‘consciously’ almost causes me to have a physical reaction. I grit my teeth when I walk past sale produce in order to buy the pricier organic variety. I get sweaty when I spend more than double for CFL lightbulbs.
BUT IT WORKS!!!! We saved money!!!! And it gets better. I won’t have to buy lightbulbs for years. We are improving our energy habits daily. So I’m predicting our bills will only go down despite rising rates. And in the meantime, I can feel good that I am making a difference in my own small way. And really, isn’t that priceless???
Filed under Saving Green | Comments (2)
