Going Green At Home
Keeping on our theme of easy ways to be more green, we wanted to focus on some simple steps you can take of going green in your home. While much of the attention of going green seems to focus on the car we drive, the food we eat, or chemicals we use to grow our food, one of the largest impacts on our environment is often overlooked…. the place where we live. In fact, 20% of the energy used every year in the U.S. comes from home heating and cooling (we really seem to like our air conditioning and heating).
Therefore, it makes sense to begin our journey of going green right in our own homes. The issue with going green at home is the same as most other areas, folks just get overwhelmed when they start thinking about it. “Does this mean I have to throw away my TV and start churning my own butter?” Ahhhh… No.
While we are going to have many more articles about going green at home, including some pretty radical changes you can make when you are ready, we wanted to start with a few simple, easy ideas to get the ball rolling.
Avoid Harsh cleaning supplies
over the counter commercial cleaners are full of harsh chemicals and toxins (a mini Three Mile Island really). These cleaners can cause a multitude of issues with your eyes, lungs, skin and of course are even worse on small children and pets.
What most folks don’t realize is that there are many excellent alternatives to these poisonous cleaners. There are a bunch of new companies providing green cleaning choices like Seventh Generation and Dr. Myers, but even better than those is something you probably have right there in your pantry…. vinegar. No I am not talking about making a quick salad, vinegar is actually an excellent cleaner.
Mix vinegar with water to replace that toxic blue window cleaner, and vinegar and baking soda makes an excellent natural abrasive for those tougher stains. I know it sounds too good to be true, but give it a try and see how it works for you!
Get some Fresh Air
The next time its about 74 degrees outside, turn off the lights, open the windows and blinds, and turn off the A/C unit. You will save money on electricity and your hone energy costs. A side benefit is that you will also lower the toxicity in your home.
Many homes, especially new construction homes, are built so air tight that they do not allow fresh air or outside circulation. This can cause an unnatural build up of toxins in the home, especially if you are still using the commercial cleaning supplies mentioned above.
Focus on Recycling
This is one of the easiest things you can do to go green, and an added benefit is less trash to drag to the street every week for pick up. I will be the first to admit that I am a lazy man… if I can avoid hard labor I will. So when we started recycling, I thought ” oh, this is great for the environment”.
What I did not realize is that the more we recycled the less we put in our garbage. Our family has become so good at recycling that I only have to drag the garbage can to the street about once a month now! That’s what I call “Think Global, Act Local”.. or “Think Global, sit on your butt local” as I like to think of it.
Native Plants – Xeriscaping
Xeriscaping… sounds like an alien invasion or some sort of horrible skin rash if you as me. Actually, xeriscaping simply means using trees and plants that are native or indigenous to the region you live as to lower water usage and maintenance (again, I am lazy at heart so anything that can lower maintenance is great in my book).
The great thing about xeriscaping is that your local plant store will most likely have plenty of these plants (they are local to your region after all), and they are usaully much cheaper than the more exotic fancy plants. Just try keeping a tropical fern alive in the harsh Texas summer and ask me if I think xeriscaping is a good idea.
We have actually become so militant on xeriscaping that if a plant can’t survive the summer with limited water the we don’t want it in our yard…. tough love. The great thing about this method is that the plants that survive end up growing very deep root structures and are become very stable and self sufficient over time, saving us time and money in up keep.
As you can see above, there are many ways to start going green at home. Just pick a few and start doing them. Soon you will find you are ready to try some new ideas.. and then you can read the more in depth articles we have to take it to the next level.
Have more ideas about going green at home? Let us know your ideas below in the comments, we just might end up writing an article about it.
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Another great use of vinegar is to use it to rinse your hair about once a month. Use one part vinegar to two parts water and just pour it over. Okay, so you smell like a salad but it really takes all the gunk that’s built up over the month from shampoo, conditioners and other hair products out of your hair…and man does it shine!
Maureen,
Great tip on the vinegar in the hair. I am simply amazed at how versatile something as simple as vinegar is… and its supper cheap in comparison to the alternatives.
Thanks for the great tip.. just may have to steal that for a future article.
Great ideas! Do you know of a “green” way to get rid of ants?
Thanks
Hey Reynic,
Interesting you should ask about ants. We are planning on writing an article soon about natural or green ways to combat pests, just have not done it yet. In the meantime, I did come across this article talking about how aspartame kills ants. Seems to be focused on fire ants but may be worth a try.
Makes you think twice about eating anything with Nutrasweet that’s for sure!
Didn’t know that we can use a mixture of vinegar and water to replace regular window cleaner. Great tips that I can try at home.
Excellent article have made a copy for my wife
, Think globally, Act Locally (I designated all responsibility to the wife.
Another vinegar use: fabric softener – it really works – it eliminates static cling, removes soap residue from your cloths and softens your laundry – add a few drops of essential oil to the vinegar for a fresh sent. Now if you could come up with a way to get rid of slugs without using all those chemicals my garden would love you!
Fresh air is such a vital component to living a healthy life… Turn off the air con and open the windows and doors, and if you really need some assistance with cooling down then turn on an old fashioned over head fan – they have actually found that this is the best method for energizing the air. Breathe in deep and enjoy!
I like this article. Action and accountability start at home. It is great to see a hands on “How can I make difference” perspective followed with easy to implement suggestions!
“20% of the energy used every year in the U.S. comes from home heating and cooling”
If you have to run the AC open the window that is the farthest from the AC about 1 inch. This will help create a flow of air and will also let some of the warm air escape. Your AC won’t have to work as hard to change that warm air into cool air.
A skylight that opens in the best (since heat rises) if you don’t have a skylight then an upstairs window is the second best bet. The higher the window the better, in a lot of houses the shower/tub have a small windows that will open, since they are near the ceiling, they are good for this.
That’s a great tip Ron! I will try it out as soon as we have to start using the A/C.
We do a lot of Xeriscaping here in the desert. It is great! No loan to mow every weekend Ha!
RE: Slugs in the garden…a friend suggests putting beer in a shallow dish or bowl and placing it in the garden. It either drowns them or kills them later….not sure which. But it works.
Oops…also, to get rid of carpenter ants: equal parts baking soda and powdered sugar. The sugar attracts them, they take it back to their lair (which in our case was the insulation/lining of our hot tub!) and all of them eat what they think is food, and the baking soda kills them.