My "Green" List

I'm still behind in some areas, admittedly, but I'm doing more and more to help the environment every day. I find myself thinking "how will this affect the earth?" before just about everything I do now. Here's a few things I'm doing. Note that many of these will save money, too.

• I make my own laundry detergent. This saves plastic containers, money, and uses more environmentally friendly ingredients.
  
• I'm completely shampoo free (although I still use conditioner). Again, saves money, plastic, and no harsh detergents.
• We shower and bathe only when absolutely necessary - I shower every 3rd day, Tim showers every other day, Jett gets a bath about twice a week, and Dax, weekly. If we get really dirty, of course, we'll make exceptions. A lot of cleaning can be done with just a cloth and a sink full of soapy water, too.
  
• We use cloth grocery bags, although I still forget to use them from time to time. I remember when I get to the checkout line and see the store brand cloth bags sitting there and think "Doh!"
  
• I'm saving plastic grocery bags for either recycling or, one day, I may teach myself to crochet a tote bag out of them.
  
• We cloth diaper, although there's some debate about just how environmentally friendly cloth diapering is, once you consider the added water usage to launder them. We started using cloth mainly to save money. Jett is still in disposable diapers, since the one-size diapers I bought don't fit him. They still fit Dax, though, and I love them. I use cloth wipes and nursing pads, too.
  
• We use energy efficient fluorescent light bulbs in our home, and we turn them off when they're not needed.
• We have a high efficiency Energy Star washer, and our apartment is equipped with Energy Star appliances (which wasn't our choice, but I'm glad we chose this apartment because of that).
  
• Our apartment also has low flow toilets and shower heads.
  
• Breastfeeding - saves water, time, energy, money, and more.
• I use Freecycle.com whenever I can to recycle things I don't need instead of throwing them out, and I use them to find things I want, too.
  
• I make my own household cleaners. Baking soda, vinegar, tea tree oil and other essential oils, washing soda, original Dawn dishsoap, and Ivory bar soap can clean just about anything.
  
• I recycle as much garbage as I can by either taking it to my parents and adding it to their recycling, or taking it to the recycling center, which isn't very close, so I don't do that often.
• I save food leftovers where I can - for example, I'll save the crusts from Jett's sandwiches to make croûtons.
• We use towels more than once after we bath. As long as you're, um, careful with how you use it, you can use a towel several times.
• I'm planning to get an environmentally friendly form of birth control - the Paraguard IUC - no pill packs or condom wrappers to throw away (I'm in a long-term, monogamous relationship, so STDs aren't an issue) .
  
• I'll use my Diva Cup when my cycle returns. I used it before with good success.
  

Here's some things I'm still working on, many of which have to do with the drawbacks of apartment living.

• I can't have a garden because I don't have a lawn, so I don't compost, but I'm looking into ways I can give away certain food scraps for others to compost. We go through bananas like crazy, and I know someone else could use those peels.
• We still use paper towels, but this is mainly for certain dirty jobs. I can be very germaphobic, and there are some jobs that are just too dirty for me to feel comfortable washing a cloth afterwards. I know, I know, I wash cloth diapers. This is something I'm working on. It's mainly with dirty kitchen stuff. The kitchen sink is the dirtiest place in the home.
• We drive more than we should, although we have a fuel efficient car. We get 30+ MPG, but we live in an area that's not very "walkable".
  
• I dry as much as I can on the drying rack, but I don't have a balcony or patio to dry things outdoors, and we can't put up a clothesline.
  
• Like I said earlier, Jett is still in disposables, but we can't afford the upfront cost of larger cloth diapers to fit his gigantic behind. We're working on potty learning.
  
• We still buy a lot of processed foods and cheap produce. We have yet to find a more wallet-friendly method of eating green, and our budget just won't allow much more wiggle room for food. When I have a yard, I'm starting a garden.
• I use AC a lot more than many people, I'm willing to bet. I'm extremely hot natured, and I sweat like a pig. I get stinky when I get sweaty, too. This is something I'm working on, also, but it's one of my weaknesses. I live in the South, too, so it's hard not to.

So, what are you doing to go green? :)