How Green/Crunchy are you?

[grace_n_josie]

I considered myself pretty green using only organic foods (as long as we can afford it), natural cleaning supplies, cloth diaper, recycling paper, plastic and glass, using reusables wherever possible. I still quite get myself to use Family Cloth...anyone got any ideas on how to get over this one? I am wondering what you all do...maybe to help be a little bit more green because I feel as though there is something more that I can do! :lostit: :goodvibes:

[sahminaz]

Pretty darn cruchy myself. I'd say the only thing not so crunchy is my morning coffee. That is the ONLY caffeine i drink..one cup a day. It is free trade and organic if that makes a difference. :giggle:

[grace_n_josie]

I understand completly...Although I don't drink coffee mine is my ONE Diet DR.PEPPER in the morning...

[Terra]

I'm semi crunchy, but am trying to do more and more as money and time permit! And as I learn more!!

Currently this is what I do:

Cloth diaper
Cloth wipes
Sea sponges for my cycle
Mostly natural cleaning products...[DH still insists on using Bleach in the tub!:banghead: ]
Canvas Bags
Some organic food when we can. Organic Whole milk ALWAYS for DS.
VERY FEW plastic toys
I used recycled paper towels/toilet paper [Greenwise brand]...I may switch to cloth napkins though. I don't think I could ever convince DH to do family cloth.
Organic/biodegradable Dish Soap
We stopped using any paper plates/paper and plastic cups...We use our real dishes:giggle:

That's all I can think of right now.

[slaferriere@berklee.net]

[QUOTE=grace_n_josie;2001880]I still quite get myself to use Family Cloth...anyone got any ideas on how to get over this one? QUOTE]

I think you are talking about household cloth, like cloth instead of papertowels and napkins. This is a hard one for me too. I really want to make the transition but we have yet to fully convert to cloth in these areas. I feel like a hypocrite if we use cloth diapers and are still using papertowels!! Not to mention it is $$. Anyone have any ideas on this transition? I bought a bunch of fabric from the dollar section at walmart but have yet to sew up some napkins :giggle: Sorry to hijack!!

I use white vinegar for just about everything! That is my one favorite green tip. www.vinegartips.com I have posted this website on DS somewhere before but I love it! :mrgreen:

[frenchie]

On a scale of 1-10...I'm an 8...if I stopped shaving and driving my car, I'd give myself a 10 :laugh:

[urchin_grey]

Well every time I take that test I get super-hippy-crunchy-earth-granola-mama or whatever its called. :giggle:

I drive a car too but if I get to move in with my sister like I want then I get to be car free! :bliss:

[Deanner03]

Well...I'd say we're semi-crunchy. We cd, organic food when possible, homemade baby food (so no jars!!!) recycle, compost (or send fruit/veg scraps to my fil's farm for the domestic deer he keeps), I don't have AF so no mama cloth, we use cloth napkins, no paper plates/plastic utensils. I've even convinced dh to use rags instead of paper towels at work (he's a contractor). Mostly natural cleaning products (still gotta have the Tide!!!). We even heat our house with corn, and use biodiesel for DH's truck for work when possible (during cold months, it gels severely, and it's not always available). Going w/o a car isn't a possibility where we live...there's nothing for miles, and no public transit.

I still could not do family cloth. I'm a nurse and have a high ick factor, but that's too much for me!!!!!

However, I'm also very flexible on many of these things. I still go out to eat, even if organic is not available, and don't get too worked up over things. My sister uses sposies...I don't harp on it (I still think I'll convert her yet, though!). Live and let live!!!

[grace_n_josie]

I use white vinegar for just about everything! That is my one favorite green tip. www.vinegartips.com I have posted this website on DS somewhere before but I love it! :mrgreen:



Love the Website about vinegar! never knew there were so many uses!

[mom2rays]

We recently made the switch to cloth towels and napkins. It was a natural transition. I LOVE the microfiber towels sold for "shop" use. I had first bought a pack when I was early in cloth diapering as my stuffers for some of my fb's and hh's. I then started to realize they had other uses. I now use about 40 for our cloth towels and made cloth napkins by turning and topstitching flannel squares. The napkins are in a napkin holder on the table. I let our boys pic fabrics for theirs so they would want to use them
I keep the towels our 2nd pantry/broom closet in a rack on the door dh put there for me.
http://lh5.google.com/dorayme/RxzImvkGpYI/AAAAAAAABNw/T96OsHoFflc/s800/P1020412.JPG
The biggest help for us to make the switch was to put the cloth out where it was accessable and the paper away where it was inaccessable! We took a trip this weekend through 4 states and I didn't think twice about grabbing 5 of my towels to take to use for messes in the car, etc.
http://lh4.google.com/dorayme/RxzKEfkGpZI/AAAAAAAABPo/C4Qksznuo8Q/s800/P1020395.JPG Here's the changing table next to my mbr toilet. The top bin to the right shows our cloth wipes. Nice and accessable to use for #1 for me and for all changes for baby on our Shower Baby (http://www.showerbaby.net)! I haven't convinced my dh to switch over to personal cloth for himself or if assisting our boys though and I doubt I ever will.
I also use cloth shopping bags. I try to keep them near the car or in the car so they are easy to not forget. I've been doing this for 20+ years, since college, so it's pretty habitual now.

[slaferriere@berklee.net]

OOHH wait, family cloth. :blush: Duh.

Yes, microfiber towels! That makes sense for cleaning purposes and such. Why didn't I think of that. lol.

[crittercrazy3]

hmmm I don't know. would be interesting to take that quiz if someone could post the link :giggle:

well we have done the lightbulb thing, thermostat and water heater. we've planted some trees as well :goodvibes:

-cloth diaper
-some organic foods
-no paper towels, or dishes etc. we use dishtowels and cleaning cloths for everything! (to clean windows or mirrors we use newspaper...TRY IT!!!)
-I use mostly use vinegar to clean, and dilute my dishsoap to 1/4 soap 3/4 water. use that not only for dishes but to clean the toilets, and other stuff. i'm also using rubbing alcohol diluted in water to clean, i don't even know if that's ok or not, but heh.
-recycle
-reusable grocery bags (i need more though)
-we only have one car so i don't even drive! :blush:

[Krystyna]

We're pretty crunchy here!

I say we b/c DH has really come around! He actually approached me about the whole family going veggie which is really a huge turn for him. We also CD... I used to use mamma pads before I had my hyst & actually miss them (is that crazy? LOL)... we use cloth bags & when we forget them we forgo bags all together & just toss the items in the cart & put them in the trunk. DH even does this! Makes me so proud! Buy all organic produce & grow our own veggies. Any meats we do buy currently for the family or guests are all natural or are from DH's hunting ventures. We make our cleaning supplies or when we break down to buy they are natural products. We use cloth napkins and cloth rags to clean. We compost too. Hmm I know I am missing some things!

[jennifer.kite]

here's my list of what I do.

cloth diaper
cloth wipes
mama pads
natural cleaning(using EOs baking soda and vinegar for everything)
Use EO's for various ailments in place of over the counter drugs.
can't convince DH to do the family cloth, though I wouldn't have a problem with it.
mostly organic foods.

[Terra]

Oh yeah, a PP metioned making their own babyfood...I do that as well...I only used jars in the very beginning and then stopped about a week later....
Now he's eating pretty much what we do!

[velouria]

I'm pretty crunchy! The only thing I'm having a hard time getting my mind around is composting. We have a curbside bin for it but DH told me that if I decide to do it, it will be ALL me. He doesn't want any part of it. Funny considering how he is so gung-ho about recycling....

I just feel weird about throwing food in the trash. But I am all creeped out about my kitchen smelling, having to wash out the kitchen compost container, taking the icky food scraps to the bin in the garage every night, etc. If I do it, I think I'll have to invest in the specialty compost bags to line the kitchen container if I decide to do it... much less ick & mess factor.

And there is NO WAY I'll ever use family cloth. I personally don't see the point being that toilet paper falls apart as soon as it touches water.

[hippydippymama]

I'm kinda crunchy/green compared to some, but there's always someone more crunchy/greener than me. :dunno:

We do cloth diapers (obviously!), cloth pads, family cloth, cloth napkins/cleaning cloths, recycle, eat organic when we can (it's hard to come by and very expensive in our area), we don't have a car so we walk where we need to go, we have a family bed, and we don't do vaxes. I also breastfed, babywore, and made my own baby food when DS was little.

I've been thinking about using cloth grocery bags, but TBH we re-use the plastic bags for so many things that it would actually be more of a hassle. We use them for trash in the bedroom, bathroom, and by my sewing desk, to collect lint in the laundry closet, to sort DS's outgrown clothes, and for emergency wetbags when the one we have is dirty. We also use them for extra trash when the can is full and DH hasn't taken it out yet.

Basically, we do the green things that we do because they just work better for us, not necessarily so we can fill out some kind of "green checklist."

[mommysings3]

I never noticed this forum was here, I'm so glad I found it! What a great way to learn new ways to be "green."

Ok, our family has a long way to go but so far:
* cloth diapers
* recycling- still struggle with getting the items there that aren't picked up by the city.
* cloth wipes
* no plastic toys
* mostly organic food ($$$ makes this difficult)
* one car, ride bikes everywhere under 2 miles
* home veggie garden
* compost
* canvas shopping bags
* little AC use
* energy saving light bulbs
* limited flushing and water usage (re-use when we can such as shower water)
* wind energy through power company
* try to limit buying brand new
* natural cleaners (mostly baking soda and vinegar, some 7th gen.)

What we struggle with:
* family cloth- still use paper towels :blush:
* personal cloth- just too yucky for me for some reason
* working on cutting back excess still
* the city limits curbside recycling so it's easy to just trash the stuff they don't pick up.
* AND LOTS MORE!

I haven't ever used Mamma cloth, that's a new concept for me but after this baby is born I think I'm going to use the diva cup. I'm trying to decide if I want to buy some mamma cloth for the pp period but I doubt I'll use it regularly after that so I'm not sure. Any advice?

Thanks for this thread!

[bean3]

I'm borrowing most of these, as this was a pretty comprehensive list!

* buy used cloth diapers and resell
* recycling--free in our city!
* cloth wipes
* few plastic toys; currently purchasing alternatives
* homemade bread and converting to more raw/organic eating
* DH has "spare" vehicles with better gas mileage for short trips
* home veggie garden will be planted in the spring
* composting to start probably in the spring as well
* canvas shopping bags--haven't gotten there yet, but we are working on it.
* changing thermostat settings and low overnight setting
* energy saving light bulbs for years!
* considering cost benefit of solar power
* looking into natural cleaners, using Allen's for diapers
* bought house in March and planted well over 100 trees; fruit, nut, and pine trees
* Diva cup
* Pass on kids' clothing
* Recycle to Goodwill what we cannot use
* Set up business web-based, which avoids excess driving

We have not:
* No family cloth
* No mama cloth

[angel0123]

borrowing the list also:
* buy used cloth diapers and resell
* recycling--free in our city!
* cloth wipes
* few plastic toys; currently purchasing alternatives
* eat some raw/organic eating
* home veggie garden will be planted in the spring
* composting
* canvas shopping bags
* heat with corn
* energy saving light bulbs for years!
* Use natural cleaners and dets., using Allen's for diapers
* Diva cup
* Pass on kids' clothing
* Recycle to Goodwill what we cannot use
*mama cloth
* buy no paper towels, plates or plastic cups
*family cloth all but dh

[daisiesandmore]

I wanted to respond about what a pp said about composting. I do something that has worked very well for our family and it keeps the stink out of your kitchen. I have a side by side refrigerator. I use the bin in the bottom of the freezer for all of our food scraps. When it is full, I take it out to the compost pile. This works beautifully for us! HTH!:)

I also do this with meat scraps...so that my trash doesn't stink. I have a bag (left over from having frozen fish fillets in it, or something like that) in the freezer and any time I have food scraps that can't go on the compost pile, I put them in there. Then on Sat. when my husband disposes of our trash...he takes that with him. Just a suggestion!

[Jaimelynne04]

I'm not near as green as I want to be but working on it!

[sarahs1222]

well im working on being crunchier but i do:
cd
cloth wipe
recycle
use cloth bags
i have all the people at work bringing me their plastic bags and i use those for EVERYTHING they made fun of me at first, but now they have a corner that they pile them in for me... i was pumped
my dh uses his clothes for work until they fall off from all the wholes and then uses them for rags... including underwear :eek:
i feed ds organic 95% of the time and am working on doing the same for us
i use all kitchen cloth
working on 100% green cleaning
slowly would like to switch to mama cloth
energy saving bulbs
even little things like using the junk mail as grocery lists, and notepaper... its not much but i think it adds up

LOVE this no crunchy thread!!
keep up the good ideas!

[bean3]

I wanted to respond about what a pp said about composting. I do something that has worked very well for our family and it keeps the stink out of your kitchen. I have a side by side refrigerator. I use the bin in the bottom of the freezer for all of our food scraps. When it is full, I take it out to the compost pile. This works beautifully for us! HTH!:)

I also do this with meat scraps...so that my trash doesn't stink. I have a bag (left over from having frozen fish fillets in it, or something like that) in the freezer and any time I have food scraps that can't go on the compost pile, I put them in there. Then on Sat. when my husband disposes of our trash...he takes that with him. Just a suggestion!

Great ideas! I wondered how to do composting without trecking out with it every five minutes. These are great ideas!

I also will say that we are trying to watch the Energy Star ratings as we replace the appliances one by one. DH is BIG on keeping the vehicles in top running shape as well, so I'm sure that contributes at least a little to saving gas and emissions problems.

[cravnp99]

I wanted to respond about what a pp said about composting. I do something that has worked very well for our family and it keeps the stink out of your kitchen. I have a side by side refrigerator. I use the bin in the bottom of the freezer for all of our food scraps. When it is full, I take it out to the compost pile. This works beautifully for us! HTH!:)

I also do this with meat scraps...so that my trash doesn't stink. I have a bag (left over from having frozen fish fillets in it, or something like that) in the freezer and any time I have food scraps that can't go on the compost pile, I put them in there. Then on Sat. when my husband disposes of our trash...he takes that with him. Just a suggestion!

Great idea! I would love to compost, but don't know how to get started..... where do I put my compost food scraps? Do I have to buy a composter or can I just start a pile outside?

[foxymama]

On a scale of 1-10...I'm an 8...if I stopped shaving and driving my car, I'd give myself a 10 :laugh:

ditto!

[grace_n_josie]

Can anyone honestly give up shaving their legs! lol

[MacMama]

I haven't had time to shave my legs in 3 weeks...:yuck: gross, I know, but that is more lazy and less hippie than I'd like to think! We went from being a 1 last year..(basically just recycling) to maybe a 6 or 7, and trying to up our number! We do all of the basics; CD, low energy lightbulbs, hanging dry laundry, natural cleaners, canvas grocery bags, microfiber towels, etc. We're building a new house, and we are really excited to plan our "green-ness" ahead of time, as far as a fruit/vegetable garden, composting, water reusing, and my hubby is even inventing a solar water-heater to replace our electric water-heater (at least during the day) I'll never be a 10 though...even if we end up wiping our backsides with leaves from our backyard tree, I'll never give up coffee or the internet!

[Suzi]

On here I woudl say I'm barely green, my friends think I'm obsessed. All I do

cloth diapers
mama cloth but I still use tampons too
reusable shopping sacks
recylce whatever I can
Keep my temp set low (62) in the winter and high in the summer and really watch my electricity usage
Line dry all year
Stingy with watering my lawn
Try to avoid using my dishwasher
Keep water heater set low
Rewear clothes

Things I don't do
Still love bleach
Eat lots of non-organic stuff
use garbage bags
no compost
I still like long hot showers
drive a mini-van
water reuse

[dubulicious]

What I do:
*CD but not exclusively yet- working on it!
*babywear
*BF
*walk & take the subway or bus; rarely ever taxi
*recycle almost everything- we have awesome recycling where I am. We recycle all the regulars plus all plastic packaging & styrofoam (didn't even know it was recyclable till I moved here).
*put food trash into food trash recycling (I've heard it becomes pig feed)
*encourage others to recycle
*eat vegetarian (lacto-ovo)
*buy fresh when available; frozen if not
*don't eat any canned veggie except stringbeans in a cassarole once in a while
*we tried growing cucumbers indoors (in our apt), ended up with one cucumber full size but hey, we tried!
*use cloth bags at the store
*use cloth bags for lots of other stuff too
*buy used baby clothes, blankets, etc.
*reuse- reuse mailers of course & buy things that are reusable
*dust & clean with reusable cloths
*don't buy any mass produced art; buy things from the original traditional artists or villiages (we're in Asia)
*give away old things instead of tossing them

I can & want to do a lot more. This thread has given me great ideas. Thanks!!!

[dubulicious]

How do you do food trash recycling~
For the food trash, we have a type of tupperware-ish container, airtight with locking sides. We put all the food trash in that and keep it in the sink under the dish drying rack or on the counter next to the sink. It doesn't smell except when you open it and then it can get quite rancid. We used to put it in the fridge but then that got to be a pain because it wasn't convenient to get to with dirty hands when washing dishes. If something is especially rancid, we'll take it out right away. If not, we empty the container into the food recycling every few days. It's amazing how much the recycling and food trash cuts down on the amount of regular trash. We have hardly any actual trash. Ahh, tissues- if we used cloth tissues we wouldn't have much at all- maybe we should try!

[jennyb]

cloth diapers
cloth wipes
real dishes
EBF
NFP
part time mama cloth (would like to try a diva cup because i prefer tampons:yuck: )
cloth napkins
kitchen cloth (except for greasy stuff - that's what my paper towels are for)
natural cleaning products
microfiber towels for "swiffer cloths"
recycle glass, plastic, metal
walk when possible
keep temp at 64 in winter and 77 in summer
keep lights turned off when not needed - use compact flouresc. bulbs in majority of the house
organic when the budget permits
buy locally & support local business as much as possible
reusable bags
mulch - don't water the lawn - pull weeds by hand - no chemicals
...? probably more, so much of it is habit now

funny story: the last time my grandma was over for a family dinner, so noticed the big stack of cloth napkins on the buffet table and commented "My, this is so fancy - real napkins!" :giggle:

and my 3 year old has (on several occasions) asked for a real napkin when we're at some one's home for a meal!

[empress_embellishments]

Don't know where I fall on the scale, but this is what we are doing so far:

cloth diapering
cloth wipes with homemade wipes solution
cloth napkins (got them for $0.10 each at thrift stores)
very very very limited use (as in emergencies only) of papertowels, paper napkins, paper/plastic plates and cups, etc
thanks to Katrina, we replaced our roof with a more energy efficient one
thanks to Katrina, we replaced our A/C with a more energy efficient one
we are changing our lightbulbs to the energy efficient ones as the old ones go out
thanks to a recall, we replaced our dishwasher with a more energy efficient one.
natural laundry detergent that washes great in cold water
all laundry washed in cold water
no fabric softener - we use dryer balls
breastfeeding
organic as much as we can afford
cloth grocery bags
recycle, recycle, recycle
compost
freeuse/freecycle
thrift stores
limit our use of A/C and heat
still trying to find mama pads that I am comfortable with, contemplating a diva cup
cloth nursing pads
buy local produce if someone in my family hasn't already grown it
sold dh's old gas guzzling truck; bought a small diesel that gets 45mpg - looking into biodiesel.
turn off lights, tvs, etc when we leave the room

I am sure there is more but that is all I can think of right now.

[velouria]

Thanks so much for the composting ideas! I wish I had a side-by-side freezer/fridge. Freezing it isn't an option for us since we have a on-top freezer and there is barely any room for what we need to put in there as it is. :headscratch:

The Rubbermaid container w/ lid is a good idea. I have seen the specialty kitchen compost containers that have a built-in carbon filter for smells... but I feel as though I'd have to put the compostable liners in it. I don't want to be scrubbing it out each time I dump the compost. :yuck:

Stupid question, though: What do you do for moldy or rotten food from the refrigerator? :blush: I get lazy about removing the old stuff and then it turns into a science experiment... and then I procrastinate doing it even longer. :blush: Do you dump that stuff in with the compost?

[elah]

I love EarthLab's website (http://www.earthlab.com/). You can use their free carbon/lifestyle calculator to see where you fall on the green living scale. They also have member pledges which I love because I can go through them to find more ways I can be green. My score is 277 and my carbon tons is 11.4. I'm not sure how accurate it is since I don't think it includes as much as it should but it's the best I've found so far.

[velouria]

Ooooh, I love that Earthlab website!

I scored a 212 w/ a carbon score of 4.8. :goodvibes: I'm pretty shocked at how low my number is. I'm below even the San Francisco average! Average SF resident score is 298, which is much lower than the United States average AND the world average.

[viettasgirl]

Oooh, I love this forum! I love this thread! I love seeing how everyone's helping the earth in different ways. I'd say we're pretty green, very crunchy. In addition to all the other stuff, we joined a co-op to support local farmers and get fresh, local, organic fruits and veggies every other week. Local food, local eating, producing more of our own food, and supporting local businesses are my next steps in green living. And...we're working on getting the plastic toys gone.

We also compost. For more info on composting you can PM me or visit:
www.gardeners.com or www.gardenguides.com

Composting is an awesome way to recycle and save a ton of money. Plus a good, well rotted organic compost is way more nutritious for a garden than any synthetic fertilizer. You can buy fancy expensive compost bins, or you can recycle- we have two and we made them both, one from pallets from a local paint store and the other from an old plastic folding gate. Between recycling every darn thing and composting, we don't have much trash these days, and that's really nice.