What do you do.....

These are great.  I've used the darned funky light bulbs for so long that I forgot all about even having them!  I used the AC only a handful of times all summer....but do use the ceiling fans and the attic fan when needed.  And windows are open most of the time.  I love the fresh air.  My Mom has already had her furnace on several times....I guess I should turn ours on and see if it works!  I also forgot about the water miser shower heads and the low flow toilets.....and how the heck did I forget that I can and freeze a TON of produce every fall??  I just went through that manic period!

I don't think this one has been mentioned yet...we have a mulching lawn mower.  When I think about the bags of lawn clippings we used to leave out, I cringe.  Everybody did...and then they tried to sell us biodegradable lawn bags at a ridiculous price.  Now, leaves get run over by the lawn mower also.

I don't have freezer space enough to freeze, so I buy bagged frozen veggies when I need certain kinds and that saves too because some times the smallish can isn't enough and the large is to large.
 
If anyone cans and likes apple butter I have a recipe that can be made in the crock pot, free's you up from having to stand there all day watching it.
 
Dawn

Glenda, when the low flow toilets became mandatory years ago I just hunkered down and refused to buy them.  They were so awful - you had to flush the dang things about five times - and all your savings went down the toilet ... literally.  So I found the one place on the planet where I could still buy the old 5 gallon ones and got two of them. Then a year or so ago when I redid the bathrooms, I decided to be a *good girl* and get a couple of low flow ones.  They're much more efficient now. [] I got the ones at Home Depot that stand about 4" taller than the regular ones - much better for us gimpy kneed folks.

Joyce

Most of the stuff i do to save myself money is also helping the environment.We use the low usage lightbulbs,reuse grocery bags for poop and cat litter.We use low flow shower heads and only run the dish washer and washing machine when full and at night during low usage hours.Although with 5 kids and 12 dogs it isnt hard to fill these.We get our produce out of my sisters organic garden fresh in summer and the stuff she canned all winter.We also get our eggs from her free range chickens and our meat from her animals.Her husband also has a scrap metal business and recycles all of our metal (kids bikes,old BBQ grill ect) He also recycles our tires and oil from cars.( wow,my sister is very handy should write her a thank you note!) My kids clothes are handed down to the very last kid if they last that long.
Im sure there is more but i cant think of everything right now.I just thought i was cheap,see now im helping the environment!

I forgot all about the "curly lights" and our mulching lawn mower.  Geeze (smacks self upside the head).

My point exactly on low capacity toilets. In Texas, a plumber can lose his license if caught installing a large capacity toilet. Yet, you have to flush more with a smalller one. This was a case of the govt fixing something until it doesn't work anymore and then leaving it that way.
 

Ron, I thought I'd go nuts when I was visiting my sister in San Diego and had to spend an extra 10 minutes in the bathroom - just flushing.  She said she hated them too, but that was all she could get.  You'll be happy to hear that now the low capacity toilets are quite efficient.  One flush does it. I think they changed them from 1.5 gal. to 2 or 2.5 gal. and that made quite a difference.

Joyce

P.S. - the person that put me wise as to where I could get the 5 gal. toilet at the time WAS a plumber - and he came back to install it.  The ban, at least here, was on manufacturing them, not selling or installing them.

I ride my bike to work, usually from mid-April through the end of September.
 
I hang many of my clothes outside during that same time-frame.
 
I use re-usable containers for storage and lunches.
 
My heat is hardly ever over 65 degrees and I don't have a/c.  I don't turn excess lights on.  
 
I recycle whatever the city takes - newspaper, office paper, aluminum & steel cans, glass, plastics.  I also take some of the stuff home from work that can be recycled (envelopes, catalogues, old phone books) because the city doesn't pick up from businesses.
 
I re-use paper grocery bags til they fall apart.  Meijer credits .05 for every used paper bag that you bring back to re-use.  Plastic bags are good for litter box scooping or dog poop. 
 
I don't use cleaners, except dish soap, a little bleach for the bathroom, and baking soda as a laundry add-in and scouring agent.

While I'm totally in support of recycling, when we moved a few years ago and I found out there weren't separate cans for plastic, paper, etc., and then found out why, I felt ill.  Can you imagine having the job of hand-sorting thru people's garbage?  I have 2 large dogs we pick up after....[:-]
 
In Roseville, we do not have to worry about sorting those aluminum cans, plastic containers or glass bottles. Throw your recyclables in your regular trash can. We pick it up. Drop it off at the [linkMaterials>http://www.wpwma.com/mrf.htm]Materials Recovery Facility (MRF)[/link] where recyclables are hand sorted from your trash. Trash goes to the landfill and your recyclables are sent to manufacturers to be reused. Easy and convenient. Just one of the things that makes Roseville amazing.
 

Davis gave us huge 96 gal. trashcans, and separate containers for recycling.  I rinse everything clean before I toss it in - cans, plastic & glass all go in one side together and newspapers & cardboard go in the other side. I love those cans! It used to take me about 6 trips to the curb, now I can do everything in 2. A separate truck picks up the recycling, so I know it doesn't go into the trash.

Joyce

Instead of dumping fertilizer on our yard or our fields, we take a soil sample to Lesco for testing.  Everyone really should do this (not meaning to preach).  Not only is it environmentally sound, but you will find it makes economic sense too.

About low capacity toilets... when I was a kid I used to read a kids' magazine called Zillions - before that it was Penny something (an offshot of Consumer Reports). YES I was/am a nerd. Anyway, I read in that mag and never forgot that if you have a regular capacity toilet one way to save water is just fill plastic jugs/bottles with water, screw the lids on tight, and place them in the tank so it uses less to flush.