Small and Simple Green Things to do Around the House

February 8, 2010 in Green Living

It can be hard to be green every moment of our lives. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to be conscience of all of the things you’re doing and their effect on the environment.

And sometimes your kids just want to have those plastic water bottles and plastic sandwich bags for their lunches. To make life easier on you, the responsible wanting-to-be-green parent, we put together a list of things to do around the house that can help reduce waste, reduce electricity (which saves money) and help the environment in small ways that aren’t stressful.

In the home…

• Make your refrigerator efficient. Cleaning the coils every six months will help you use less energy and save money, as will making the temperature in the fridge 38-40 degrees, and the freezer around 0.
• Unplug electronics when not in use. TVs, DVD players, computers, and other major electronics use thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide each year. If they’re all plugged into a power strip, it makes it easier to unplug because you only think of turning off the strip as opposed to unplugging 10 cords all around the house.
• Switch to fluorescent bulbs. It takes only 10 minutes to do, they’re cheap and hugely energy efficient. This could possibly be the easiest and most effective money and energy saver you can do in your house.
• Get a low-flow toilet. If those cost too much, a low-tech alternative is to put a brick or plastic milk jug filled with pebbles in the toilet tank. The space it takes up reduces the amount of water needed to fill the tank, so you’ll save gallons (and money) with each flush.
• Do what you can in the laundry room. The laundry room takes up more energy than any room in the house. To help reduce the amount, remember to wash all loads in cold water, and to clean the lint filter before each dry. This will decrease energy by up to 30%!

On the Road…

• Pump up your tires. If all American drivers kept their tires at the recommended pressure, we’d save about 4 million gallons of gas a day. It would make our tires last longer as well.
• Don’t keep the car idling. Idling ruins the air around you and is bad for your tires. Turning your car off will help the air around the area. This is especially a good idea if you always pick up your children from school or the playground; you want the air where they play to be healthy, right?
• Walk! I know it sounds simple but… wait, no, it is simple. Walk!

Out and About…

• Bring your own grocery bag. When shopping, bring cloth bags instead of using the plastic ones. You will save countless trees and they don’t break when they’re over packed.
• Recycle. The old ring is back; recycle, recycle, recycle. I know the message seems like a broken record, but when you consider that 69% of Americans still don’t do it, it needs to be repeated.
• Buy recycled paper. Kids need paper for school at the start of every year, and usually times in between. Purchase recycled paper. It’s good for the environment and is cheaper than regular paper.

Get your Kids Involved…

• Plant a garden. Even if you live in an urban area, kids enjoy planting seeds in a window sill and watching the plants grow. It gets them closer to nature and is a fun activity to do as a family. It helps with the quality of air around your home and brings the family closer together.
• Be heard! If your kids are curious about what they can do for the environment, write a letter with them to your local council member or congressman. A handwritten note is fun to write with the kids, and will make a bigger impact on the person receiving the letter.

Source: BabyCenter.com