Greening up Things in My Life

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Since moving to Tennessee my environmental awareness has been quite challenged. While living in California it was so easy. Everyone was so eager to recycle, reuse. I even made my own grocery bags then! But, oh how I have slipped into such land-filling ways....

It is like starting over again, thirty years ago. I've begun again to try to become more green in the things that I do every day. Every little bit helps and here are some of things I do now:

*I've hung a clothes line in my attic and dry everything there except the towels (I just like them fluffy)

*I really think that all the stash busting that I've been doing is helping too, I am not buying new fabric.
*I will even dry my yardage on the clothes line too.
*I like to buy vintage and antiques, so I did not buy new furniture or dishes.
*And I am using my grandparent's mid-century modern furniture too.
*I don't use the dry function on the dish washer. Because it is just me I only have to run it once a week.
*I keep my AC on a timer so it only cools when I am here then I don't go below 72, usually I keep it around 76.
*I use my ceiling fans in the room I am in and portables elsewhere so I don't have to cool the whole house more.

*Winter; the same thing just the heater almost never goes above 72. Lots and Lots of sweaters and slippers.
*I will use a space heater in the room I am in so I don't have to heat the whole house.
*I have switched out just about every light bulb I have to a Compact Florescent Light-bulb (CFL)

*I don't use any pesticides in my yard and use fertilizers sparingly. Though I do treat for termites and fire ants, just can't have those little buggers.
*Most of the year I will use the mulching function on my lawn mower so that the cut grass will help to fertilize the living.
*My appliances are all new so they were constructed with the latest energy efficient technology.
*My car is new to for the same reason and for safety. I would have bought a hybrid, but it was more than I could afford at the time and they weren't quite available yet. Once this one is used up in 2016 I hope to get that hover craft.
*Half of my appliances use gas (I am not sure if that is better, but I really like to cook with gas, and I believe that my clothes get dryer with gas heat. Same thing with the house, I feel warmer with gas heat. The cost seems to be the same)
*The garbage company has begun collecting recyclables I have my bin full and ready for them most every week.

***Water, water, water... boy have I been conscious of it this summer.
*I've been collecting rain water for my plants in buckets, especially since we have been in the first stages of a drought.

*I don't run the water while brushing my teeth, until I rinse. I could switch to a glass to save more.
*I collect my shower water while I wait for it to get hot, that goes on my plants.
*Same thing in the sink in the kitchen.
*I would like to purchase a water barrel for the yard, but have been procrastinating.

and lastly
*The toilet is suppose to be low flow, yeah!
*I flush when it is essential, you know "if it is yellow, let it mellow, if it is brown, flush it down"

Okay so now you have that visual burned into your brain, go out and do something green...
Each bit will help the big picture no matter how small.