Green... What, How, When???

Put the dryer lint where birds can find it. They love it for building nests.

thanks for this

We have curbside pick up for most recycling. I compost food waste during the warmer months. It is nearly impossible in the winter! We live in a 200 year-old house and I consider that recycling. We use no chemicals or fertizers in our yard and only biodegradable detergent products. I hand down my kid's clothing and donate old toys to Salvation Army.

recycling is picked up free here

Just when you think you're doing good there is always something more you can contribute to the earth. I've been trying to go more make-up free.

I just have one bin for curbside recycling that everything goes into. Sometimes I will break down boxes to set next to it because they take up so much room. Sometimes we have so many bottles and jars, that I set them in a separate sack or box next to the bin. Otherwise they take up too much room in the bin and then I don't have enough room for the newspapers. I should be recycling a lot more - like all the junk mail we get!

Any paper we use around the house goes to the kids for them to use to color on the back of it or use in crafting...

Dryer lint is an excellent fire starter, though many think it releases bad toxins...

We go to parks and on "can walks" to get aluminum cans to recycle... Yes we even go through the trash cans at the parks...
Every other week we take scrap metal and aluminum cans to the metal yard and that's how the kids earn money towards vacations, which are always geared toward learning and nature...

I recycle jokes. My other contribution is tossing paper, glass and cans in the recycle bin. Waste World or whatever they are called picks it up.

dryer lint can be combined with parafin wax and put into egg cartons as "fire starters" for campers and helps people to get campfires or woodburning stoves lit easier

as for old jeans some people sew change purses out of the pockets. things like that

I think i heard of a project that collected old shoes, tires etc and melted down the rubber and used it to make playgrounds, google and see there is probably somewhere green friendly to donate

as for containers to hold recyclables we use cardboard boxes we are recycling too from larger items we had bought and/or we just stack it in bundles, we use grocery bags to hold our cans/bottles

and another way to go green is to use a barrel to collect rain water then use that water later to water your flower beds/ veggie gardens

Kimber, great idea for the rainwater. Funny how the sewer department in our county is charging us for roof and concrete "run off." I think I'm in on this one.

Dryer lint makes great stuffing for quilts and cushions that you make. Potholders, etc. You paid for that lint, when you bought the item...recycle it!
You can also spin it, but that's a whole article in and of itself.

Save the planet!
Wilka

I think the biggest thing that you can do is simply reduce the amount of stuff you use. Pay attention to the packaging. Avoid buying unnecessary things. etc..... :)

There is weekly recycling pick in my town. I also use the green bags for grocery shopping.

I am starting to get better and watch some of the things I can do to make a difference. I bought the bags to carry my groceries in so I don't have to have the plastic ones piling up. I just have to remember to take them in the store from the car now.
I throw my coffee grinds and egg shells etc in my garden. Thanks for the dryer lint tip. Never heard that one.
We also recycle.
Great article.

To really go green have your husband build your daughter a clothe-line. There will be no BBF less energy as you won't be running the dryer and less ironing and it will give your daughter more opportunity to enjoy all that fresh air she's helping to preserve.

Look at your garbage. Do you really need to eat the food that comes in the packages you see? It would take me a year to fill a recycle bin with cans and boxes as I don't buy them that often. If you drink soda buy it locally as the bottles are reused and not "recycled" which is less energy. They are cheaper taste better, have more flavors and come in a handy rack.

Try to reduce excess food waste as much as possible by portioning your food better buy in bulk and use reusable containers for pastas and the like. Unless your buying small vegetables and the like that actually require a bag don't get one. They've already been fondled, groped, squeezed and sneezed on already anyway. What you do have for excess waste can be composted.

For clothing and the like that are still wearable pass it along donate etc..

For your husbands old shoes... well you may have to contact the EPA on that. We wouldn't want to be stinking up the land fills.

As for yard waste.. If your talking about grass clippings and leaves you should not be collecting them. Raise your mower height to the natural height of the grass and let the clippings stay. As long as you don't let the grass get knee high all the time or cut it when it's too wet it should not clump and be visible. Leaves should be mowed and not raked or blown. If you mow your yard for the last time in the fall when the leaves are all off the trees they become smaller peaces yet still protect and insulate the ground and break down in the spring providing the nutrients your lawn, trees and shrubs needs.

dryer lint....well, you can use it, believe me! Melt down the remainders of your candles...pour this over the dryer lint in a tuna can. Use it as a fire starter for your grill. No more spending extra money for the lighter fluid. You can also make these with rolled up newspaper in the tuna can as well.

As for recycling, we separate everything as we go in to the blue bags except the cardboard goes in to a box. The items are then put out front every other week and the recycle truck picks them up. Aluminum, both cans and foil I do save and cash in myself for extra money.

oh...clothing.....usually we try a yard sale first and what doesn't sell goes to the local clothing closet. Other than any t-shirts, I cut those in to round strips and crochet rugs out of them.

1) Closeline.
2) Reuseable bag.
3) Weatherize (weather stripping, outside door floorsweeps, insulate hot water pipes, etc).
4) Inflate tires/clean car air filter.
5) Put a brick/water bottle in the toilet resovior.
6) CFLs (I suggest GE bulbs--by far the best color).

I've also started to recycle anything in sight--stripping copper wire out of things being thrown out, crushing and keeping aluminum cans, anything steel, etc. That started after me and 2 of my friends made $128 in just under an hour scrapping assorted metal (legally, I might add) that was lying around his house after we threw out all the crap they left in their house after they moved. Once I have enough collected I'm going to bring it all to a scrap yard. Also, if you like seltzer but hate using all that plastic from the bottles, check out the Soda Club. My family hardly uses the bottles anymore (we used to go through about 2 cases a month).

We just moved to an area that does not have curbside recycling and it is killing me. But luckily the city drop off is close to my daughters dance class so we stop by once a week.

Reducing should be the first priority. Reusing should be next. Only then, after these first two options have been covered, should one turn to recycling.

Placing the emphasis lulls people into the idea that it is okay to still be a voracious consumer, as long as they recycle afterward.

dryer lint -- good for making homemade craft paper!