What are You Doing to Improve the Environment?

[kshe95girl]

more self-righteousness
organic garden, grow all my own herbs, veggies, and fruit
compost
solar-powered h2o pump
recycle, recycle,recycle
I live within the watershed of the largest spring in Fl, so nothing anywhere on our property that might leach into the aquifer
no lawnmower, goats! they make the most delicious cheese, and short work on our 10 acres.
are ya annoyed yet?

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by Georgia to Northeast PA

Good TakeAhike,

I think these are all good things to do for the environment. I have tried to reuse or repurpose what I have, buy organic and local, recycle, I am transitioning all my household cleansers to biodegradable and my beauty products, as well as my lawn care/flower care and use my reusable bags. I live in Georgia and we are still in a dought so I don't flush every time and I take 11 min showers (I can't get lower than that). When I have to replace a appliance if I can't fix it, I buy the best energy star I can. I did not do all these things one day just a bit at a time. Also since I don't use bad cleansers I can use my dish water, to water my plants. I little bit at a time

You might be my neighbor. LOL. I'm in GA.
As I said, my grandparents farmed the red clay and my family learned conservation long ago.
<sigh> Yes, if you overdevelop an area and 'Waste' resources there will be frightening consequences.

Wondering if anything has been resolved about redefining the state border with Tennessee? The last I heard the federal government was asked to arbitrate the conflict GA v bordering states. Give me strength.

I don't know that it helps the soil but I dump the coffee grounds in different spots every day. We have good blueberries and I put a lot of grounds in that area.

[sgresident]

we recycle as much as we can. have started replacing regular bulbs with cfl's. stopped having newspapers delivered and read them online! what a savings in cash and paper. we compost! grow some vegetables each summer, shop the local farmers market. we have no public transportation here, so we try to combine driving trips as much as possible. we have also lowered our thermostat this winter. i use my own tote bags at one of the grocery stores, and use the plastic ones for our kitchen waste basket instead of buying the "garbage bags" at the store.

[SkiChick]

Coming from a proud tree hugging Earth kissing nature loving gal! My Earth saving strategy:

*Teach the children of tomorrow how to respect Earth
*Buy locally and support Am. economy ... anti-big box!!!
*Recycle more than I throw away
*Compost
*Use those Earth saving bulbs throughout house when there is no natural light
*Biodegradable cleaners & actually use the regular biodegradable dish soap for almost all of my cleaning
*Energy Star appliances and lights
*Canvas bags
*Have never been on a plane
*Buy recycled paper for home office
*Recycled TP & paper towels
*No magazine subscriptions
*Use cloth napkins
*Use rags instead of paper towels whenever possible
*Organic garden
*Bike whenever possible
*House cold in winter and throw open the doors and windows in summer ... I end up sleeping outside a lot
*Wash clothing only when needed
*Shower only when needed
*And the largest carbon footprint saver is being vegetarian

It's great to hear so many people doing such great things for our children's future! Keep up the good work everyone!

[groove1]

If it's yellow let it mellow; if it's brown flush it down.

Mercury is 1000000 x worse than the energy you save with the CFL's, so we don't use them.

Registered to be taken off the junk mail and credit card solicitations list. Use one giant canvas bag for groceries (easier to carry to). If I need more bags, I get paper (they are 100% recycled where I shop) and I use them to recycle all of my chipboard and newspaper, but I use the same bags over and over again for these purposes. I use synthetic oil in my car and make sure the tires are properly inflated. Due to the drought in the SE, we have to conserve water, so right now I use paper towel more (plus it's much more sanitary). We only run our dishwahser when full, but it uses only 7 gallons on a normal wash. We do the same with our clothes washer, though we are looking at top loaders since water is expensive where I live. I don't print anything I don't need to. I also use the library for books (it's on my way home). We use the sun during the day to warm the house and keep the blinds closed in the summer to keep it cool. We don't have much public trasnportation very close to me, but Charlotte has a light rail train now which we use whenever possible.

[brightdoglover]

Drive a 34 mpg. car
Incorporated the 1/4 acre of trees that I aquired adjacent to my property into the deed so no one can subdivide it if town sewer ever comes in
Recycle- the town dump has all sorts of recycling, and you have to drive your stuff there anyway, so why not separate it...
No fertilizer- the lawn is a Darwinian jungle on its own
Compost- why have garbage sitting in the mudroom waiting to be thrown away at the dump, so I have a compost heap although don't garden
Canvas bags all the time or no bags at all for small purchases

I've never liked having "stuff," so don't tend to buy much of anything. Not into gadgets or new electronics or clothes, etc. My house is 1250 sq.ft., more than I need, and the storage is all empty.

No kids, but that's by choice, not environmental issues.

[in_newengland]

I'm in an apartment now but I am still environmentally conscious.

When we bought our house in 1989 the lawn, garden, trees, all were cared for organically and it was easy. I raked up the pine needles which neighbors would take to the dump and used them as mulch for the rhododendrons and azaleas, we used lime and a natural fertilizer for the lawn.

I had a compost pile. I enriched the soil with manure (and bonemeal for flowers and other plants that like a sweet soil). I used nematodes for a problem (can't remember what it was but BOY DID IT WORK!!) with the rhododendrons. I used Japanese beetle traps -- and they worked great.

Some things that I am still able to do in an apartment are the recycling -- towns require it anyway -- the non toxic household products that end up being good for MY HEALTH too, never using things like fabric softeners, washing clothes in cold water, re-using plastic bags when you get stuck with them, driving a small car, not buying more than I need. I love to buy things second hand on Craig's List or at yard sales. I'll buy things in antique shops too or even in a thrift store. You usually get better quality for the money buying second hand and if it's old enough you don't have to contend with plastic, particle board and such.

Keep the comments coming. It's not bragging and it is helpful to see the suggestions of others.

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by irwin

It is a simple fact that everything we do has an effect on the environment and I believe it is our responsibility to attempt to lesson our impact. I believe that the biggest positive impact we can have is on the individual level; people making changes in their lifestyle to improve the planet. For example our environmental laws are targeted at large industrial sources of pollution but now some of the greatest threats to our rivers and streams come from storm drain runoff, often from fertilizer used in people's yards. There is a similar problem with air; i.e. most of the pollution is now caused by individuals in their cars.

I wanted to start this thread to see what people are doing to improve our environment. What changes to policy should occur to encourage people to lead more sustainable lives? What technologies should we encourage and what technologies should we avoid?

Oh....to answer my own question, I am selling my car and going to walk everyday to work!

For me and my family, we bring our own bags to grocery store so we don't use plastic or paper for that matter. We have older cars that get better gas mileage than many of today's cars. We are also looking to move out of suburbia and into a more high density city with excellent mass transit. The cities we are looking in also MUST have long term green plan. NYC is high on our list to say the least.

If we end up in a place that we MUST drive our own vehicles then I will be buying a motorcycle because of gas efficiency.