Save the Earth-Event round up -Part I

Pic Courtsey--Internet

 Hello Sweeties!! If you recall, the event Save the earth which was initiated by me, had  response from two of my good friends. Manasi and Radhika. They each had  their 2-3 cents to share with us.

This input has been from my dear friend, a Cook@Heart. 
So over to you Manasi;

I also want to send this post to Ashwini and her event Save the Earth, which focuses on reducing wastage, reusing material around the house and recycling stuff and lead a greener life.
 
While I am no expert or even any authority on this matter, I do some things in my day to day life and take a small step to lead a greener life.
 
I am sure you all do the same, but if you do things differently ( I am sure many of you do) Please feel free to share your ideas in the comment section.

I make it a point to switch off the lights and fan when exiting the room. This is an old idea and we all know about it, but consider this, the next time you forget to switch off the lights, there are people today who do not have any or regular electricity. Look no further than New York, Sandy has disrupted their life! It is Fall and the temperature dips to low, on such cold days and colder nights, people are without power, no heat, no hot water! Old folks and young children are suffering.

Use water carefully. I do not mean be stingy, but little things help. Do not leave the faucet running when you are brushing your teeth or when cleaning up in the kitchen after a cooking session.
 
My Father always reminded me when brushing my teeth. He told me of the hardships he had faced when young and living in Bijapur, Karnataka. Of the times when summer was intolerable and water scarce. 
 
I am thankful that I never had to face these hardships but that does not mean I misuse the privileges either.

When out shopping use your own cloth shopping bag. This is not a new fad. I have seen my Grandmother following this rule since my childhood and so has my Mother! On my last visit to India, I got back my old bag, stuffed with goodies ( it can take a lot of weight!)

 

These are very convenient and fold up too! Such a small pouch in your purse! You can buy one, like this, tough I am not sure if they have the fold-away-pouch, for $1 at the grocery store. Every store carries them!

The other thing I used to do ( sadly, in the past tense) was use yogurt containers to store my beans, sugar, tea etc in the pantry. but after a while it became a problem- Out of sight, out of mind! Since these containers are not transparent, I could not see the contents and many a times, I would neglect some containers and have also ended up buying extra beans thinking I had none. So now, I use these containers as seed starters!

When I go out, I carry my own bottle of water, the reusable one I have at home.

We have, in the past, moved a lot. new apartments, new city, new state. I save my U-Haul boxes and re-use them. These are very sturdy and last up to 4 uses! Open them and lay them flat and store, they do not take up any space!

I store my comforters, woolens in Space Bags saving space and clothes also remain fresh. This is no big deal and many of you may not consider it going green, but IMHO, once I remove these woolens from the bag, they are fresh, do not smell at all and no need to wash them!

We use space heaters instead of using the furnace during fall, as and when needed. Dallas is not a cold place and small space heaters work well, saving electricity and heating the required space instead of an entire apartment when we use just 1 or 2 rooms at most. Of course as winter sets in, we do not hold back, we switch on the heat.

I try to use household items in cleaning as much as I can, for example baking soda, lemon, vinegar are efficient cleansers, not to mention pure and green! Google to find a cleaning solution that suits your purpose.

Carpool when possible.

On a lighter note, I do not iron my clothes until absolutely necessary! The husband calls it being lazy to boot, I call it energy conservation!

Some more steps I plan on taking:

We have a lot of old clothes, the good ones go into the donation box. The ones which are not good or torn and frayed will be used as cleaning cloths, in the kitchen. To wipe down counter-tops, appliances.

Compost (a dear friend has recently installed a small composter in her yard and I plan on contributing to it.

Wow, I am impressed Manasi at all the things you do. Hope all of us will be just as efficient in taking this small step ahead!!!