Saving- money, energy, etc

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

We use a PUR water filter on the sink and then run it through a Brita filter.  Overkill, I'm sure, but with my kidney transplant, I am cautious to not ingest anymore germs than necessary, due to my suppressed immune system.  I take two 32 oz. bottles filled with this water every day to work.

We began collecting pop and beer cans from our friends at church about 6 years ago.  Several areas around here, including us, do not have recycling yet (in the country), so we asked everyone at church to bring us their cans, and we separate them and turn them in.  The money we receive gets donated to different church events that we are raising money for.  It is surprising how much you can collect so easily.

We live on 4 1/2 acres and have a lot of trees.  This year, we are looking at a wood burning stove, because we have propane gas and it went up from 97 cents per gallon five years ago to $2.19 per gallon now.  The stoves we are looking at have very low carbon emissions, lower than what is federally required.

I keep a plate, mug, and silverware at work, so when we have potlucks, I use my stuff instead of styrofoam.  I have some cloth bags for groceries, but I have to admit, most of the time I forget them either in the car or leave them in the house from when I did remember to use them.

We have been using Chiquita, my VW bug, to travel wherever we go for the past 2 years, because the gas milage is better than using Steve's Concorde.

[gypsylakat]

how about some savin' tips for college kids?

Read the newspaper online, save some paper, this goes for many magazines and books as well. And speaking of books, buy used whenever possible, I'm currently at odds with Ebay's half dot com and use Amazon marketplace instead, Half sent me to the wrong book by isbn this year.

If you live on campus, investigate wether it is cheaper to live in a dorm that includes a kitchen (GMU has student apartments with a full kitchen and bath for 4-6 people in a suite) and buy/cook your own food than it is to buy a meal plan. (for me, it is) For a lot of places to eat on campus, it's also cheaper for my roomates and I to order in chinese or pizza than it is to buy on campus food!

Go online and use the grocery store sale papers to get some snazzy deals (yogurt is on sale at giant currently!)

Buy a fan, You'll save electricity by being able to keep the thermostat at a more energy concious setting (not to mention extremely handy when all of your roomates prefer it much warmer than you do, and sleeping naked is frowned upon!)

Plants- not only do they make your room homier, they add oxygen to the air and recycle CO2

Windows, open them if it's a better temperature outside than in!

Would love to hear some other college ideas!

[captmarga]

Today's "green" post is going to be questions that I have which some of y'all may be able to answer, or may know where I could look for an answer.

1- I'm looking for "green bags". I know they're for putting fruits and veggies in to extend their shelf life. My friend in Australia says they've had them there for years but it's only been in the last year or so that I've seen ads for them here, and those were all of the order-by-phone variety. Is there anywhere that you can just go and buy them?

Jumping in late, but saw the green bags at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  They have an entire wall of "as seen on TV" stuff.  If you have ever gotten on their mailing list, they send out coupons for 10% off about every 2 weeks.  I don't always used them, but I have a big recycle bin by the kitchen table.

I personally don't like many foods as leftovers, but I grew up cooking for 4.  It's hard for me to cook for just 2.  So when there are leftovers, I put them up in the freezer in individual portions for hubby's lunch.  He doesn't mind, esp if it's meatloaf, or chili, or smothered steak.

Capt. Marga

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

In case you want it, I'm here's the clean-up procedure for a broken CFL light bulb per the EPA (pretend the question marks are bullets, I'm doing a quick cut-n-paste job):

How should I clean up a broken fluorescent bulb?
Because CFLs contain a small amount of mercury, EPA recommends the following clean-up and disposal
guidelines:
1. Before Clean-up: Air Out the Room
? Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
? Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
? Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.
2. Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces
? Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with
metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
? Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass pieces and powder.
? Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place towels in the glass jar or plastic bag.
? Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
3. Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug:
? Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a
sealed plastic bag.
? Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
? If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
? Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic
bag.
4. Clean-up Steps for Clothing, Bedding, etc.:
? If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside
the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be thrown away. Do not wash such clothing or
bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.
? You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken
CFL, such as the clothing you are wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not
come into direct contact with the materials from the broken bulb.
? If shoes come into direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from the bulb, wipe them off
with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels or wipes in a glass jar or plastic bag for
disposal.
5. Disposal of Clean-up Materials
? Immediately place all clean-up materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash
pickup.
? Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
? Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states do not
allow such trash disposal. Instead, they require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a
local recycling center.
6. Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Air Out the Room During and After Vacuuming
? The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a
window before vacuuming.
? Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after
vacuuming is completed.

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

Thanks for the tip on the "green bags" CaptMarga.. I'm planning a trip to BB&B soon anyway to look for new stuff for the house with the mother-in-law, so I'll keep my eyes out for the bags while I'm there.

Gypsylakat: I'll work on finding some tips for college folks. I did all my college (didn't finish, but the first 56 hours at least) from home, so there weren't any special tips for me other than shopping around for my books instead of getting all of them through the campus store. You can usually find the books you need much cheaper from someone else that has taken the class (assuming the book version hasn't recently been changed). Craigslist.org is a WONDERFUL place to check for used books, and has a place where you can list specific items you are looking to buy.

While I'm on the website thought process, I want to mention FREECYCLE.ORG too. Check it out, find your local group (a lot of them are moderated through yahoo). It's a site where you can list things that you know longer have a use for so that people can contact you who may have a use for them. You can also list weird things that you are seeking which someone else may have earmarked for the trash pile. The goal of the site is to keep stuff out of landfills. If your local group is moderated decently and people don't act like greedy nincompoops just looking for handouts, it can be a very useful tool. I personally gave away a TON of stuff before we moved to Texas because we couldn't bring it with us and I couldn't bear to put it all in the dumpster. Even now, I'm giving away the leftover bits of construction materials from our not-quite-finished remodel (of the house the mother-in-law just bought). It's amazing how much stuff people can find a use for, even just bits of leftover wood/tiles/paint/etc.

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

Bumping this thread to see if anyone has any new green suggestions, thoughts, experiments, or comments.

We're about to start our gardening for the year, going to try to do tomatoes for sure, as well as some herbs, which should save us a bit of $ in the end (we are a tomato consuming house!).