reuse glass jars for storage. we wash out our spaghetti sauce jars and store pasta, oats, and other dry goods. it makes things v accessible in our cabinets and a little prettier than typical packaging.
composting. i know, i was scared at first too... but it's super easy and you won't have to take the garbage out as much! h and i separate all of our vegetable and fruit scraps and he puts in into our compost bin (mixed with leaves and dirt, we don't do worms) and stirs it up. in a few weeks the scraps disappear and you have great dirt for your garden (he is going to donate our dirt to his brother who has a proper back yard).
reusable napkins and tea towels. instead of spending a ton of money on paper towels and napkins buy some pretty napkins and tea towels and reuse/wash as necessary.
reusable bags. take them everywhere you shop, not just the grocery store. plastic shopping bags drive me insane.
turn down the heat/ac when you're not home.. this ones a no-brainer but it really saves on energy consumption and costs.
go paperless. sign up for electronic bill pay and cancel your catalogue subscriptions (less magazines to recycle and less shopping temptation!)
water collection and reuse. another seemingly drastic step but it's SO easy to put a bucket in the shower to collect all that water before you get in. h uses his shower water to take care of our plants :)
shop local. visit your local farmers market to get fresh and local produce and avoid buying produce at the grocery store from far away countries (it takes a lot of oil to have them shipped to the US).
reduce your online shopping. packaging and shipping eat up a lot of oil too! double that when you return an item.
do you have any more easy green-living tips?
have a fantastic weekend!!
xoxo,
jillian
37 comments:
Those are all so great! I will try the re-use pasta sauce jars. I'm thinking I'll put rice or quimoa in them.
My tip is to use reusable containers when packing snacks in your lunch instead of using baggies or aluminum foil. Put your sandwich, carrot sticks, chips, ect in containers instead!
This is such a fantastic list. Balazs and I try to reuse all the glass jars and bottles (usually for storage or flowers) and I always have a market bag for shopping. Also, local fresh food makes me happy! Have a fantastic Easter weekend, sunshine
Kisses
yesss! i am a HUGE tuperware lady. i never buy those little plastic sandwich baggies anymore! great tip mandee :) xoxo jillian
Wow what great tips, I am really impressed!
Hadn't thought of the impact of online shopping! Good point.
Love that Baggu bag!! My favorite way to carry lunch and groceries. These are great tips! I love the use of glass jars, they store all of my craft items and add some character to interior spaces! Who says you can't be Eco-Friendly in style? :)
Happy weekend!
This is a great list of easy ways to be more environmentally conscious without really changing much! I need a cute reusable bag that folds up small enough to take to the mall on shopping excursions.
I love green tips, so much that I blogged about this, too, today! My biggest green living staple is recycling! We recycle everything in our house: glass jars, tins, cans, papers, cardboard... the pacific northwest is BIG on recycling! :)
@holly-- we both LOVED that in portland.. there are recylcing cans all over the city AND the option to compost food scraps in restaurants. SO SMART!
Yay for going green!! Love it. Have a wonderful weekend :) xo.
i would LOVE to cancel my catalogs - even worse are those pre-approved credit card offers we get DAILY! such a waste. anyone have a tip on where to do this??
@bailey-- whenever i get catalogues i dont want i go onto the company's website to the "contact us" link and send an email telling them to take me off their mailing list (include your customer ID # and address-- usually on the back of the zine). OR if you have a customer profile on the site you can edit your profile to say you dont want catalogues.
as for the credit card mail try to call the company directly and tell them that you dont want anymore mailings.
What great tips! I never thought of reusing glass containers and it seems so obvious now. Thank you! I intend on starting a compost pile soon.
Awesome tips, Jill. Love them. Have a great Easter weekend! :)
fun to look at & great green tips - Happy Earth Day!! xo
Great ideas! We recycle glass jars by using them as vases and to make homemade salad dressing. They are great to shake the dressing in and store it in the fridge!
Great tips!
These are great tips! I swear by composting! It's about the best thing ever! And every year it makes my garden taste that much better!
I'm new to your blog! I found you through FTLOB and can't wait to read more! Feel free to check out my blog as well!
Simply Kate
Awesome tips Jillian!! have a great w/e!
mm love all of those fresh veggies!
xoxo emily
These are some great tips. I am so going to start saving big jars for storage. Never thought about the impact of online shopping - next time I'll think twice before ordering.
Great green tips! I need to start collecting shower water to use for watering plants. I've also considered a rain barrel for my plants but haven't bought/made one yet.
I need to go paperless... (hanging head in shame). I know, I haven't done it yet... silly right? Thanks for the reminder. xo
Love this post ~ so timely with Earth Day. I definitely think conciously about my decisions and try to be green whenever possible ~ public transportation (or better yet, walking or biking!), bringing my water bottle into the office rather than using the styrofoam cups, etc, etc. Great post!
awesome post Jillian! So many great tips! xoxo
I love these tips! We're always trying to be greener, and are big fans of using a car sharing service rather than using a car in the city. It forces you to be more considerate about what really requires a car, and what you can do without one!
I love re-using glass jars. And it looks good too!
We carpool a lot, and turn off the AC completely - windows down and it's all the cool we need, recycle and have been really loving the farmer's markets lately.
dude GREAT tips. thank you very very much for sharing them!
enter my GIVEAWAY ay-sap!♥
I love the jars tip!! I will absolutely be doing that rather than ziplocks from now on. Thanks!
Wonderful tips Jillian! - We also do the reusable jar thing!
One thing I def think I can take away from this is the bowl in the shower thing... this is the first I've heard of it and it's such a great ideas!
xoxo
Jenna
Great tips! I hadn't even thought about taking my cloth bags while doing other shopping besides the grocery store.
Found you through FTLOB!!
Carrigan's Joy
http://carrigansjoy.blogspot.com/
Hey yeah, thanks for the tips on how to get better at being green! Have an absolutely wonderful holiday weekend!
Hugs!
We all have to do something to change the way we treat our planet.
Maybe we can follow each ohter?
http://fashionmechic.blogspot.com/
hi friend!! sooo glad to have found your blog, it's adorable : ) love these tips! i do most of them, except composting, but i'd love to start!! happy earth day and happy easter! xo
I think I'm going to try composting!
Ah. You're one of many blogs reminding me today about the importance of using reusable bags. I so badly need to start. Another blogger had a good recommendation for bags that should be easy to remember to carry. I'm going to start today.
It is so important that we all do as much as we can to reduce the waste! Love your blog and the atmosphere in here. Your posts and collages are always so cute! Thumbs up all the way from Norway :)
Post a Comment