Saving- money, energy, etc

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

Thanks Morgan! I'll add that info to my virtual notebook. Makes sense that I never saw them at wal-mart.. not much call for anything over 33gal there.

Other than table scraps, anything special you put in your compost bucket? I saw a clip somewhere about yard trimmings and some bag of some kind of something that helps break stuff down, but I have no idea what it was. I know coffee grounds are supposed to be good, right? I remember we used to dump our filters out the window right into the garden at one place we lived when I was little.

[volans]

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).

...you eat them. lol. they're actually really good. Pick them, wash them, pop the whole thing in your mouth. you eat them, peel and all, and they're really good. Citrus. Take care, though, because they have seeds, so just chew around them and spit them out. My grandma has a tree outside her house and we eat them all the time.

[LadyStitch]

After living over seas my hubby and I had to learn how to conserve energy real fast.(poor broke students, you learn fast)

We learned that if you set your thermastat in the winter to 65 you don't use as much energy.  If you are cold, put on a sweater, grab a throw blanket, put on slippers. We also use a draft blocker on our doors (I know it is ugly but it works.) During the summer we set the thermastart to 76-78. We would have it at 80-82, but we have ferrets who can't take temps over 80 degrees.

We heard that as long as you only have the same number of lights on in the house as there are people,  you are not wasting energy.  My hubby and I have made it work so we only have max 2, but usually only 1 light on at any time.  We replaced with the energy efficent light bulbs.  We checked with our apartment before doing so, and as long as we replace them with normal one's when we leave, they don't care.

Like other's we don't run our dish washer unless it is full.  The same goes for laundry.

Our apartment doesn't do the recylcling thing, but we are trying. We live in a yuppy enough area it is trendy enough for people to do it.  The problem we run into is that will people walk that far to put stuff in the right bins. Suggestion the hubby and I are trying is designating certain trash bins as glass/paper/plastic/Garbage.  Then once a month we will make the trip to the recycling center for the paper, plastic and glass.

We use the canvas bags when ever we go shopping.  They hold alot more than the plastic and work much better.  We still get funny looks at walmarts and stuff, but hey we like being odd. 

The hubby and I bought scooters 3 months ago.  At 100mpg they have been wonderful.  We have put 800 miles on them since then and have only had to put $20 in gas on them.  We only use the car if we are going over 10 miles, have multiple stops, or picking up things that can not fit in the trunks on the scooters.

Oh, if you don't want to do the 'lung jug up 2 flights of stairs' thing (been there done it, do not want to do it again)  there are britta filters that are like 3-5 gallon jugs, that go in the fridge.  They use the same filters as the small one's but hold more water.  You just have to remember to refill them when empty (small problem i have).

I just remembered,  some offices give their bags of shreaded paper to local animal shelters to use as bedding for the animals.   It's a thought if you have alot of it /shrug

[SirRichardBear]

If you get a newspaper you can shread them and put them in the composter they make good compost but don't do that with mag or the glossy adds the ink on those is pretty toxic.  If you have an aquarium and change the water use that to water plants its great fertizer. You can use lawn clips but its best to just let the clippings lie on the yard.  Also don't put bones in the composter you can put meat scraps though you have to be carefull because they will draw rats and other pest, be use your composter has a good locking lid.  If you have dogs put there droppings in the composter and be sure to add a bucket of water ever week.  Coffee and tea are both good for the composter.

Instead of using chemical to keep away bugs use oringe oil and dry garlic.  Mix the oringe oil with water and just stray around the yard.  A big jar of dry garlic throw on the yard will keep misketos(sp) away.

[Trillium]

Instead of using chemical to keep away bugs use oringe oil and dry garlic.  Mix the oringe oil with water and just stray around the yard.  A big jar of dry garlic throw on the yard will keep misketos(sp) away.

I'm gonna have to try that!!!  Even though the city sprays for mosquitos, they are still horrible.

[SirRichardBear]

Mosquito Repellents 

DEET products are too toxic and should never be used, epecially around children and more especially on their skin. What is effective, non-toxic and recommended is explained below.

Vanilla home remedy for personal use:
8 oz water
2 tsp vanilla extract 
1 tsp. orange oil 
Spray on liberally.

Garlic to chase away Mosquitoes

For site use:
Spray garlic tea over the entire problem area and for even more control broadcast dry minced garlic at 2 - 5 lbs per 1000 sq ft. 


http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_question.php?id=2344

Hope this helps

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

The only reason I've heard of the garlic thing is because my favorite thrift store back home recently used their profits to build a big dog park, and one of the major attractions is that they have a contract with a local company who installed a system that mists the grass with garlic oil at regular intervals. It keeps the mosquitoes away, and makes the whole place kind of smell like a pizzeria

I just learned how to make orange oil from scratch-- Did you know that pure undiluted orange oil can melt through some plastics? I'm glad my friend warned me ahead of time, or I could have been in big trouble- I'd set out plastic bottles to store it in!

[PurpleDragon]

Okay, so I can't stand to waste Garlic so I consume large quantities of it, it seems to work the same, although sometimes it can be a bit harsh when the garlic aroma begins seeping from my pores.  (then again, the garlic itself is good for my heart).

[tigerlilly]

I'm gonna have to try the vanilla and orange oil mosquito repellent.  I know it's healthy for the kids to play outside, but what about the chemicals from sunscreen and bug spray?

We recycle everything we can (no glass recycling in this area for some reason), set the thermostat at 65 in the winter and 80 in the summer, combine errands to save gas, and my husband drives a high MPG commuter car.  We usually take the little car on long-distance family trips, camping trips being the major exception, and I use the mini SUV (Egad! I drive an SUV!) mostly for shorter trips to the grocery store, etc.  Yes, it is a *pain* to stuff two big car seats into the back of a Civic and then crouch down to wrestle the children into them.  That's why we have the bigger "family" car.

I breastfed and cloth diapered both my kids, and mostly use little washcloths instead of baby wipes (I just wash them with the diapers).  I do use disposables occasionally, like if I'm going to be out of the house all day and don't want to carry wet diapers around in the diaper bag.  Figuring a year on formula and two and a half years in diapers, I figure that's saved a couple thousand dollars per child, and kept about nine thousand diapers and 104 formula cans (Maybe.  I think.  I've never actually bought formula.) out of the landfill.

We wash and reuse some things that are meant to be disposable, like plastic cups, plates, and silverware for camping or parties.  I mostly use rags instead of paper towels.  I also use plastic grocery bags as trash can liners.  The rest get recycled or donated to a thrift store that reuses them for their customers.

Strictly in the money-saving category, I practice black-belt grocery shopping.  I've found that I don't really save that much money with coupons so they aren't worth it to me, but I do keep track of the best prices for what I buy (comparing at a few different stores and watching the ads) and stock up when things are on sale.  Meat, bread, cheese, and even milk can be frozen until you need them. The gallon jugs can just go right in the freezer, only one has ever leaked on me and it didn't really make that much of a mess.  I buy mostly store brands.  With a few exceptions (mac and cheese comes to mind) they're usually comparable to the name brands.  We don't use much convenience food and very rarely eat out.

My husband brown-bags his lunch, and I cut his and our son's hair myself.  A crew cut isn't that hard to do.  Most of what I buy new is on sale, and I usually shop for it second hand before I buy it new.  Come to think of it, that's recycling too! 

[Lady_Claira]

Here are some of the things that my family has done. (I'd say that I have done, but I still live with them. LOL)

My mom and grandma tend to not buy the batches of tupperware. Instead, when she goes to the deli, she'll sometimes buy the fresh mozerella or whatever else and then save the tupperware containers that those come in. My grandma also saves the yogurt containers so that if there is only a really small bit of the meal left, she'll store it in that.

My grandma also reuses syran wrap and tin foil till it is falling apart. She also has a tendency to save the bags that bread or chips will come in and use them again when packing lunches for trips or camping or such.

I personally do not use a cloth shopping bag and neither does my mom. But we do save all the plastic bags and reuse them until they completely fall apart. I personally use them in packing to move back and forth from school so that I can keep things organized or if I need to worry about it breaking, I can protect it by wrapping it in a few of the bags. I have been doing this for awhile.

We tend to keep buckets under our drain pipes outside. We'll use that to water plants or if we know there's a storm with a potential for a power outage that will last awhile, we'll use that water for things like flushing the toilet.

My grandmother has a bucket next to her sink. All waste that is pretty much all natural (coffee grinds, used tea leaves, banana peels, egg shells, watermellon remains, you get the idea) go into the bucket. And then, when it's full, she has a pile outside by the edge of the woods she dumps it all in. Every month or so, she'll go out with a shovel and mix up everything that is decomposing there and then when it's really decomposed she'll start mixing the dirt from that spot into her gardens.

Um... OH YEAH! We don't have air conditioning at all in my house. So when we know it's going to be really hot out, we'll have the windows open all night and in the morning when the temp inside equals the temp outside, we'll shut every window and door and we'll only use one door the entire day for coming and going in and out of the house. This keeps the house cooler than outside (noticably) all day long, which is nice. And if it still bugs me about being too warm, I'll grab a book and a chair and head into the basement which is the coolest part of the house in the summer and the warmest in the winter.

Um, anything else i can think of?

When I do craft projects or anything with construction paper, if there is enough paper left to even get a small detail out of, I'll save it. And when I'm sharpening crayons (because when I colour, which I do alot of, I am a stickler about having the crayons sharp) I save all the crayon shavings for future art projects. Actually with me, things I can save for projects I do. Like soda bottle tops, or sometimes the bottle or paper bags, or newspapers. I like to save alot of that for projects, since I love doing things like paper mache and other crafty things.

I don't know... That's everything I can think of and most of it is probably pointless, but some of it has to be doing something, you know? Idk, we'll see.

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

Claira! I'm a saver-for-future-craft-projects too! You should see the MASSIVE pile of fabric and leather remnants I sorted through yesterday. I picked out what I absolutely couldn't part with and the rest is going into a garage sale where hopefully some other crafters will find it (and yes, I give away lots of stuff for free at my garage sales if it means it will stay out of the landfill and possibly get used-- saves me from hauling stuff that doesn't sell to goodwill where'd I'd be giving it away anyway).

I like the idea of seeking refuge in the basement.. I wouldn't have thought of that (lived in Texas for 27 years and then Louisiana for half a year and we don't have basements down here, ya know). I could see planning to make your basement the communal recreation area of the house to be a wise choice energy wise, since it has the best insulation possible.

[Lady_Claira]

I like the idea of seeking refuge in the basement.. I wouldn't have thought of that (lived in Texas for 27 years and then Louisiana for half a year and we don't have basements down here, ya know). I could see planning to make your basement the communal recreation area of the house to be a wise choice energy wise, since it has the best insulation possible.

I would love to make that the common recreation area. Only problem is my dad is into carpentry and that's his workshop so it's filled with tools and table saws and such. (On the other hand there are only two plugs so almost everything remains unplugged until he needs it)

But on the plus side he's going to build me my own bench and cabinets down there so that I can move the sewing machine and all of my beads and other craft stuff down there so that I can spread it out and such.

[Kiss-me-Kate]

Another thing I do during the summer is I use my toaster oven, instead of my regular one.  It doesn't heat up the house so much and put a strain on the AC.

[renfairephotog]

We have one of these Pyramid Composters. But we've haven't done much gardening this year.
We have some herbs and peppers in the garden. Plus crab grass that won't  die.

[Ojy]

I have one of the PUR filters that screws on to the sink faucet. I can't use it where I live now because of the type of faucet here, but at my apartment it was a lifesaver. They work really well, don't take up space in your fridge, and don't take power to run like a water cooler does. The one I have is the kind that you can put the flavor cartridges in, which was like a little bonus. My daughter could get a good flavored drink without having all the sweetner of fruit juice.

If you use the "energy efficient" light bulbs, be very cautious. If you accidentally break one, they are very difficult to dispose of. They have extremely dangerous levels of toxins, such as mercury, in them. I personally just use regular light bulbs but keep the lights off and use natural light until very late in the evening. Any bulb can be energy efficient if you do not leave them on all day when not needed.