- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee boards
Wow, good quesion. I buy products from Seventh generation and Method at Target. They have the ingredients listed on the side but I dont know how you can know for sure. I think its just about doing the best you can. Do you recycle? That is a good place to start. I reuse pretty much every container that we get. If its a fast food container and is plastic - it becomes tupperware. Glass jars from salsa or pasta sauce - I wash them out, run them through the dishwasher and then use them to store leftovers later. Turn lights off when you are not in the room, make sure you turn your computer screen off, unplug electronics that you are not using. These are all good ways of saving energy! We are definitely not the most green people, but I think we do our part to try to use environmentally friendly products and save energy where we can.
Even though (I feel anyways) I live on one of the coldest places on earth, I have my heat on low. If I am cold, I grab a sweater and a blanket. We usually don't turn our heat on until it drops past -10, for the start of winter. I also only take 5 minute showers. And when we can SO and I shower together and take a 8 minute shower. Saves a little water.
I generally look for things that AREN'T made in China. I just recently threw out all our ziplock containers and rubbermaid containers and replaced them with glass ones. Our rubbermaid ones actually started melting in the microwave and how is it healthy for you to keep on microwaving plastic? Really?
We recycle and try to buy things used when we can. I also freecycle away stuff I don't want.
I am not perfect, hey, I do own a microwave, but I am trying to be a little more aware.
Oh I didnt even think of that - we dont own a microwave. We havent owned one in 2.5 years! Im sure that helps us save energy. We do turn the heat on in the winter but we try to keep it low when we can. In the summer we try to not have the AC on as much as possible.
We have no control over our heat and no AC whatsoever. We always turn the lights off, etc. when leaving. The thing is, I was looking through our cabinets the other day and we have WAY too much plastic everywhere. Every single personal care product we own is plastic. And I have no idea if it's 'good' plastic or how to find that out. Our super does our recycling and if he doesn't get to it quick enough the bums take everything. And we also reuse things like crazy.
We aren't doing enough though. I make no effort to find plastic alternative products. I don't even know where to start..
@moderndaisy:I dont know anything about finding plastic alternative products. Have you checked out YoungHouseLove? I think they might have some good suggestions. Or try to find other blogs about going green?
@PitBulLover: I do read YoungHouseLove, it's a great blog.
Anyone else have any websites to share?
I really like reading TreeHugger. It has a lot of general news, but they also have articles about going green (and a whole section if you look at the right on the top menu bar).
For food I just quickly found this site : http://www.upcfoodsearch.com where you can look up ingredients to see what they really are and where they come from.
If you're worried about eco-products and if they're really good, you can do a quick search online and usually find your answer. There are a lot of products out there that claim to be green, and I feel like most of them are at least slightly better than the conventional alternative. You can also read the labels to get more info. For example, I was buying this "green" toliet paper for a while, then I read the package and it was green because it had recycled paper, but only like 20% of the material was recycled- what a crock.
Anyway, good luck! If you have any other questions feel free to PM me, I really like learning about the different green alternatives, even if I don't use them all.
Not sure where you live, but any food you can grow yourself or buy locally is a huge ecologically minded step. Even growing fresh herbs out of your window in the summer instead of buying them! Buy local over organic, and organic over conventional to be the most "earth friendly." Shop at farmer's markets!
http://www.motherearthnews.com/
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/green-guide/
@elivt: Thanks for all the links I will check them out!
I guess this isn't really a popular topic.. I thought I'd get a lot more comments. Maybe this is why i've had such a hard time finding information and products..
@moderndaisy: I am so glad that you are making more of an effort. thank you! in addition to what the other bees said above:
1. recycling is good, but resuing is better. so, try to bring reusable bags shopping as much as possible. say no to a bag when you really don't need it. when you do get plastic or paper bags, reuse them as much as you can! recycle them when you're done. yogurt tubs make great tupperware.
2. organic food is good for the environment because they use less chemicals, and local food is good since it takes less fuel to ship them. it's good for you too!
3. eat vegetarian at least once a week. the carbon footprint of animals raised for food is over the top! if everyone ate veggie at least once a week, it would make such a big difference.
3. if you can afford it, buy efficient appliances and efficient cars. drive less, walk more (or carpool, etc). make sure your home is insulated well.
4. use biodegradable bags for your trash. if you can, compost your food (in some cities, you can throw the food into a yard waste bin and the city will pick it up along with trash & recycle)
5. this one is very important to me: use less water! shorter showers. get water efficient shower heads and toilets (if you can). learn how to water the lawn efficiently (such as: do it at night, and don't overdo it). don't run the water while you're brushing teeth or shaving.
6. properly recycle your computers and other electronics, and batteries. never throw them in the trash!!! computer stores in your town can give you advice on how to do this. the apple store takes back apple products for free to recycle.
hope this helps!!
oh yeah, one more thing -- compact flourscent bulbs! really important. they last forever and take something like 1/4 the energy! they've really improved them. a few years ago they really sucked, but they're getting better.
it will take some experimentation on which ones look best in your home (I like the "warm white" ones. the "cool white" ones are too blue-ish for me). they will take some getting used to, but after a while, you'll barely notice the difference. I do make an exception- I must use the old school bulbs in the bathroom so I don't hate how I look in the mirror! but everywhere else in the house there is a CF bulb.
if you buy and "reject" a few because it wasn't the right color for you, let those be your "outside" bulbs or you can take them to Home Depot for recycling (never throw them in the trash, they contain mercury).
You must log in to post.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| MrsOliveBird | 11 |
| ticatica | 11 |
| aussiebee | 10 |
| fivemonthsnotice | 9 |
| janetsnakehole | 8 |
| Scottish_lassie | 6 |
| GelaMac | 6 |
| j_jaye | 5 |
| MrsMSmith | 5 |
| Rivendeler | 5 |
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| momolove | 2 |
| MrsOliveBird | 1 |
| couawilou | 1 |
| ticatica | 1 |
| Cariad | 1 |
Beekeeper
Does anyone know a good website that offers eco friendly products and tips for going green? Also, for those of you who are already good about this - how do you know something that claims to be good for the environment actually is?
Please provide insight as to how you make an attempt to recycle or save energy!