Friday, December 7, 2012

Let's Talk: Are you Green?

Welcome to the Let’s Talk weekly:
Originally hosted by Melissa from i swim for oceans, Smash & Kt took her original inspiration, and made it their own, expanding it to more than just books. Let’s get personal (but respectfully so) and learn more about one another!  Each week, a different question will be posted along with a place to link up your posts and visit other people’s responses. This meme is definitely meant to bring out conversation and meet new people. So, Let’s Talk!

today’s question:

Do you use “green” products? Do you recycle?  Please share your thoughts and resources on helping our planet live for future generations. 

I try my best to be as green as possible because I literally have nightmares about what our world is turning into and what we will be leaving to future generations. Some of the things that I do to be more green:
  • I've been a vegetarian for over 20 years
  • We recycle everything possible at home (plastics, aluminum, tin, glass, cardboard, etc.)
  • I do not buy bottled water except in cases of emergency (ie. hurricane preparedness). Hubby and I have water bottles that we refill and take on the road with us and I use a brita water pitcher at home.
  • We also try not to use paper cups for coffee etc....I try to remember to bring my own ceramic mugs to coffee shops and I am the rare one that uses a ceramic mug at work rather than the disposable cups provided
  • We also bring our own shopping bags to the supermarket & other stores. Or refuse shopping bags for one or two items! (We do have a pile of plastic shopping bags at home for the times we've forgotten but we reuse these for trash/cat litter etc.)
  • We also do our best to keep lights off that we are not using, turn off power strips when we are not home (gotta kill those energy vampires), and keep the heat on a timer so it's lower when we are not home or are in bed...and  wear robes/sweaters etc. so we can keep it lower while home
  • Donate to environmental and animal charities
  • When shopping I try to buy in bulk...more product...less packaging
  • I use tupperware for all leftovers...I don't even own saran wrap and very very rarely use tin foil or plastic baggies (usually when sending things to other homes)  I plan to start trying to remember to bring my own tupperware when eating out because it kills me to take home leftovers in styrofoam!!!!!
  • Encourage others wherever possible to be green as well
Only about 1/4 of the cleaning products in my home are green...I used to buy 100% green but it got costly and to be honest it was a hassle trying to find the ones that were really effective (not all are) but I know I should improve there if I can...and if I ever have kids I will 100% switch over! Same goes for shopping organic...I used to be 100% now I just focus on dairy products...

We'd love to eventually put solar panels on the roof...but that is pretty costly. I also hope to eventually replace my 15+ year old car with a hybrid...but for now I think that the most green option is to keep my car on the road as long as possible.  Cars are a lot of waste...not only in materials but in production...do we really need new ones every two years?

What do you do to try to help the environment? I'd love suggestions and support in my endeavours!!




7 comments:

  1. I'm very green when it comes to recycling, gardening and cleaning. I use reusable bags when shopping but the one area I need to improve on is the bottled water.

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  2. I'd say you are very green! Great job. My family and I are diligent about recycling, but we could do better in other areas.

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  3. You rock!!! I am a big bring my water bottle & own coffee mug person. I'm looking at my car the same way. They are a waste. Mine in 12 years old. I'd love to do hybrid, but will probably go cheapest with good gas mileage. I WANT solar panels.

    Keep up the good fight.

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  4. Sweet. I bought glass type Tupperware and use a ceramic travel coffee mug. We recycle, buy it bulk and have reusable water bottles. I make my own green cleaning products.

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  5. YES! I love everything that you do! I do most of it, as well, except the bulk! We don't have the space to store it, but once we do, I will definitely join a bulk store.

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  6. My list would be nearly identical to yours but I also use cloth diapers since I have a small child. I love that you highlighted being vegetarian as so many don't realize all the green house gases from raising all these animals for us to eat. I understand people want to eat meat and I'm not against it, just do it responsibly and know where it came from and that it was raised humanely and was fed the right foods, not shot up with antibiotics and all that junk.
    Anyway, I should have done this one since being green is very important to me.

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  7. I'm a a 20 years plus vegetarian, too! I need to be strict on the bag thing. I'm always forgetting to bring my bags into the store. Good post!

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