Saving- money, energy, etc

[Noble Dreg]

I wash all my laundry on cold (except sheets). Saves on heating all that water!

A 10 foot x 4" piece of black ABS sewer pipe holds about 6 gallons of water. Connect 5 together on your roof and you've got free hotwater.

Maybe in Arizona, but in Minnesota we'd call that an 'ice maker' most of the year...

[knarlyknot]

Morgan Dreadlocke, we eventually hope to live in a yurt and go completely self-sufficient.  I have loved hearing your ideas on water conservation and would love to hear anymore ideas you have in this regard.

[Luciana]

I'm using the cloth shopping bags most of the time (I need plastic bags to pick up after my dog), I put the dishes in the dishwasher and run it when is full. I turn the light off as soon as I go out of the roomand use low voltage bulbsin my lamps. The thermostat is programable. In the winter I close the drapes over the windows. That will reduce any drafts and keep the temperature in the house higher hence ... no reason for the furnace to work. Also close the drapes and blinds in the summer when the sun hits the windows ... that will prevent overheating and keeps the temperature low. I have A/C that I use only 2 or 3 time a year, the rest of the time I open the doors int opposite sides of the house and cool down the rooms. I have the waterfilter and recycle pretty much everything, from scraps of paper to shampoo bottles.
I don't have space for a large garden but I grow my own tomatoes and cucumbers, and herbs. I try to limit the trips I do with the car and we use the bicycles a lot (hubby and kids go to work/school with the bicycle).
I use a travel mug at work because the policy requires to use a covered liquid container in the office.
We use a water filter in the kitchen and make my own fertilizer from table scraps.
Turn off the water when I brush my teeth ... and have plants specific for the are I live so they will not require to much water.
Back home I used to have a car running on natural gas but I could not find that here in US.

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

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?

2- Anyone know a good way to do compost for the garden on a small scale that doesn't require a huge chunk of space? My family did the throw-everything-in-a-pile-in-one-corner-of-the-yard method when I was a kid, but we aren't allowed to do that here.

3- Anyone know what exactly you do with kumquats? (hehe) I saw soooooo many of those things just get ignored this year that I think next year I'll have to offer to take some of them off the shop's hands (they grow all around the garage my SO works at, and the owner only picks a small portion of them).

4- Anybody have any questions?

[Kiss-me-Kate]

Gwen,
I have seen those bags at Target.  Over by the dishes, and small appliances.   It is like ten bucks for 20 or something like that.
They are on an endcap with other "As Seen on TV".

I have also seen them at Walgreens over by the laundry/household stuff.


Happy hunting.

[Morgan Dreadlocke]

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.


2- Anyone know a good way to do compost for the garden on a small scale that doesn't require a huge chunk of space? My family did the throw-everything-in-a-pile-in-one-corner-of-the-yard method when I was a kid, but we aren't allowed to do that here.

20 to 40 gallon garbage cans. The round kind with the locking top. Drill a bazillion 3/8" holes till it looks like swiss cheese around the outside. Fill 3/4 full with your chosen mulching stuff. Then keep it damp, hot and roll it around every couple of days to aerate and mix the stuff.

[Morgan Dreadlocke]

Morgan Dreadlocke, we eventually hope to live in a yurt and go completely self-sufficient.  I have loved hearing your ideas on water conservation and would love to hear anymore ideas you have in this regard.

The two biggest water savers we've found are the inexpensive (@$10) spring wound timers for watering, and replacing the toilet chain with a heavy steel rod. The timer keeps an eye on you if you forget the hose is running somewhere. The steel rod closes the toilet flapper when the handle is released. You have to hold the handle down but you only use as much water as you need instead of emptying the tank every flush. Good luck on the Yurt.

Don't be afraid to think and experiment  outside the box

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

Kiss-me-Kate: Thank you for the tip! I don't think we have a walgreens near here, but there's a target in town.. I'll check there next time I'm on that side of the city.

Morgan Dreadlocke: Thanks for the directions, although I have to admit I don't think I've ever seen round trashcans with locking tops (and I used to stock the hardware department at walmart sometimes). Do they sell them somewhere specific? A bigger hardware store maybe? maybe I could fake it with one of really big industrial sized plastic bottles that bulk foods come in... and the moist and hot isn't much of an issue here (it's Louisiana, after all).

I think replacing the toilet chain with a rod is a good idea too! I'd never have thought of it, but I bet that would save a ton of water. 

[Kruzar]

I have been following this topic with quite a bit of interest and I am really looking forward to additional ideas that come from here.

For myself, I have started looking at some of the things in my world that could be modified slightly that would not only help the environment, but help out the pocket book as well.

Small steps that I have made are:

1.  Started a patio garden full of Fresh veggies and fruits.  So far I have a little success with the garden project, but I am hopeful that it will be more productive as time goes on.

2.  Carpooling when able to work.  Trying to do my best to at least have 1 other person in the car with me to keep down the fuel costs.  Making sure that my trips go to more than one place, and use smart routes that get a lot done.

3.  Eating more at home than going out and finding local things to do other than spending huge amounts to travel all over the place.

4.  Started to do some recycling.  I know I can do more, but in my apartment it is hard to find space for everything.  Right now we are doing the bottle recycling, and have plans to do can recycling in the near future.  My house still utilizes plastic shopping bags, but we are looking into getting canvas shopping bags.  Those plastic bags we do use, we recycle as garbage bags.

Just a few things that I can think of that we are doing, and it is helping out quite a bit.  I do have one question, which I am seriously considering.  What water filters or systems do ya'll recommend?  We currently buy a lot of Dasani brand water for our house, and are always going through it.  I am seriously considering buying a system to install in my apartment just due to the waste volume we have with bottled water.  (My house goes through a flat of 24 bottles or more a week)

Also, any other suggestions of things that can be done in an apartment would be really helpful. 

[Trillium]

Have you considered a water cooler with a 3 or 5 gallon refillable bottle?

[SirRichardBear]

If you can find a metal can you can make a locking top with some gate hardware.  Just bolt them to the inside of the can and drill holes in the lid best to use four so the lid will stay secure.
This will also keep pest out of the compost.

Here is a good site with lots of information about organic living.  http://www.dirtdoctor.com/
 

[Kruzar]

Have you considered a water cooler with a 3 or 5 gallon refillable bottle?

I have thought about that... my biggest issue is space for the cooler and having to lug a 5 gallon bottle up 3 flights of stairs.    It can be done, but I would prefer something that didn't require so much heavy lifting.

[serenamoonsilver]

I also love re-usable shopping bags.  If you have meijers nearby, they have really nice ones for 99 cents each. 

Also, if you can't grow your own food (either lack of space or green thumb) buying produce at local farmers market is great way to get healthy food that's usually cheaper (and less carbon emissions since it usually doesn't travel as far).

Also, remember carpooling isn't just for work.  I actually carpool with two other families to do our grocery shopping.

[Morgan Dreadlocke]

Just checked the garbage cans, they are Rubbermaid "Brute" 44 gallon. Grey heavy duty plastic. Now about 10 years old, no splits, cracks or weak spots. They are expensive though. Got 'em at Home Depot.

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

Sir Richard Bear: All that construction sounded a bit complicated for me, but thanks for the link to the organic living website. I'll definitely check that out!

Kruzar: Welcome to the conversation! Thanks for mentioning eating at home. I've only noticed since I moved to Louisiana how often some folks pick up fast food. The stuff they eat is barely food, and it costs so much more than making similar grub at home! My family was pretty big, so we just could never afford the luxury of eating out, so I guess I never picked up that habit. As for the water, we use a Brita pitcher and buy the filters in three packs (we don't have to make a trip for new ones so often, AND they're a bit cheaper that way. Sometimes you can pick up the pitchers themselves really cheap at thrift stores because a lot of folks are too lazy to use them. I don't know about the filters that you install on the sink- maybe someone else here is familiar with them.

As for efficiency in an apartment, maybe we as a group can come up with some stuff.

I know when Tony and I had the apartment, we kept an extra trashcan (w/lid) to collect cans in. It was a big one (33gal, I think) because our best friend goes through a LOT of cans. We kept it in the utility closet with the vacuum cleaner and brooms and stuff.

We pay all the bills that we can online- no stamps or envelopes or checks to buy AND lower interest accumulation because the payments are processed faster.

We sat down one day and went through ALL our debts and prioritized them by interest rate (taking into account any annual/maintenance fees and such) to figure out which ones really should be paid off in what order. Then, after we'd paid all our minimums and regular household bills each month, we took what was left and sent it to the priority #1 debt (same thing for any extra money like tax refunds, the stimulus check, my 401k payout-- all goes to debt #1). Of course, if you were smart enough to not accumulate credit card debts and the like, don't change! The joy of the shiny new object is sooo not worth the agony of cleaning up the mess later

I've got some good advice that I've picked up on cleaning various things cheaply and in an environmentally friendly way. I'll try to sit down and type up a post on that soon. In the mean time, I'd love to see everyone else's ideas.