I received a really nice letter from a friend and reader, Cheri. She shared with me some of the things her family does to decrease their daily impact on the environment.
All of the items on her list are easy to implement into our lives– there’s really no reason not to. But because I know, from experience, that unless green lifestyle changes are easy as pie to implement, we ain’t gonna follow through with them, folks!
So, I have decided to not only share her list of great ideas, but to also do the things on the list. Check back soon for a video series of me demonstrating the items on Cheri’s list, so that you can see how it’s all done, and hopefully also try it yourself. I will begin to post the videos next week!
- I don’t use the hair dryer until my hair is mostly dry – then use it just for a minute for a final style.
- I make my own laundry detergent
- Dry our clothes on our drying rack
- Make my own salad dressing {reduces plastic bottles coming into the house}
- Recycle plastics, glass, tin, paper {reduced our outgoing garbage to a bag a month}
- Grow our own veggies, and batch cook – for example I’ll cook a big batch of rice/beans and freeze separate portions for later meals….and cook from scratch as much as possible.
- Take my stainless steel mug with me – if I need to stop and get a cup of something I’ll have them put it in my mug
- Mend clothes – I’ve even gone so far as to turn frayed collars on my husband’s shirts
- My dad only uses recycled paper in his printer – he gave me his schedule the other day printed on the back of an old bill – made me smile
- After I bring the water to a boil for pasta, I put the lid on the pot, shut off the heat and let the pasta cook – it only takes a minute or so longer. If I am cooking something for a longer length of time (stew or soup) I put another lid on top of the lid that matches the pot. The extra insulation conserves energy.
- After I boil the water for my morning tea {I don’t like to microwave water – I know – weird}, I pour the remaining boiling water over my oatmeal and set it back on the burner {which has been turned off, but is still warm}. In ten minutes my oatmeal is cooked.
- We use shopping bags I made for grocery shopping. I plan to make some lunch bags too, out of fabric for those times we take a picnic lunch somewhere or travel.
- I wash and re-wash baggies. Haven’t bought any in years.
- We are a one car family
- Instead of buying cleaning products {even Seventh Generation} – baking soda and vinegar will clean just about anything.
- I use a shampoo bar made by a friend of mine instead of commercial shampoo {which has tons of chemicals in it and comes in those pesky plastic bottles}
- And…{I’m inordinately proud of this one….} I use the dashboard of my car as a food dehydrator. I bought a bushel of apples for $6 from a neighbor down the road and after I got tired of saucing and pie-ing them – I sliced them, dipped them in diluted lemon juice and put them on baking racks and spread them across the dash. We get plenty of full sun here and they were dry in a little over a day.
Thank you so much for the inspiration, Cheri! {Check out Cheri’s encouraging and refreshing blog…she writes about gardening, simple living, family, and faith.}
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tonia. Tonia said: New post! A reader wrote in with her list of simple things she does every day to reduce her impact!: Cheri’s List http://bit.ly/d4XBFw […]
You have been inspiring us for years, Cheri, and are still doing it from down south! I LOVE the dashboard solar dryer! And your raised bed garden is gorgeous. I would love to get your laundry detergent recipe. Maybe Tonia will post it here? Love to you and your family- Terry
Hi Tonia. I feel like I know you. We have mutual friends. The Belchers have been our friends for 35 years. Let’s just say I knew Barb before she was a Belcher. We were college roommates. And before that, bunk mates at a Young Life ranch. Back in the day doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Anyway, I came over to say hi from Cheri’s blog. I don’t know Cheri either, except through Barb through blogging. I love your green lifestyle and the challenges you are putting forth. Green is my passion as well. We were green when it was only a color
Maple syrup! I know the Belchers always love their maple syrup time with you guys. I wish we lived closer so we could help too.
Have a wonderful weekend new friend!
Hi Becky!
Thanks so much for your nice comment. Isn’t the internet great for connecting people? I have met so many inspiring folks via the blog and Twitter since I started it last year.
Your comment about being green when it was just a color really struck me….and it’s the reason Cheri impresses me so much as well. Terms like “green”, “minimalism”, “eco” and “sustainability” have finally hit the mainstream and seem to describe just about everything these days…even Walmart has jumped on the bandwagon (what!??). So it’s not unusual or impressive for a 20-something like me to be environmentally aware. But families like yours and Cheri’s, who have been practicing these principals in their lives for years, long before it was the cool thing to do…now that’s awesome.
Keep it up and thanks for sharing!
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jonathan D. Blundell and We Live Simply, Tonia. Tonia said: New post! A reader wrote in with her list of simple things she does every day to reduce her impact!: Cheri’s List http://bit.ly/d4XBFw […]
Hey Tonia!
Thanks so much for including me in your wonderful blog!
I can’t wait to see some of your pictures.
Terry, thank you for your kind words – I miss seeing you.
Here is the recipe:
Dry Powder Laundry Soap
1 Box Arm and Hammer washing soda (not baking soda)
you should be able to find this in the laundry detergent aisle (at Bonson’s or Trig’s :))
1/2 box 20 Mule Team borax
1 1/2 bars finely grated Fels Naptha (or Castille) soap
Mix together. I use 2 T. for heavily soiled loads; less for lighter loads.
And hey, Becky nice to ‘see’ you here!
[…] on 08. May, 2010 by Tonia in Itty Vids, Roost Last week Cheri shared with us a list of things she is doing to reduce her impact on the environment. I decided we would try each of […]
[…] on 11. May, 2010 by Tonia in Itty Vids, Roost We’re whittling away at Cheri’s list. Today we’re going to make our own earth friendly cleaning solution, because commercial […]
[…] on 17. May, 2010 by Tonia in Itty Bits We’re taking a little break from Cheri’s List in order to do some spring cleaning around our house and yard. The sun came out this past […]
*love* the idea of using the dash as a food dehydrator! 😀
This is awesome. Way to go Cheri.
The one thing I love doing is right at the end of cooking beans, I put my steamer basket in and get some veggies on. Greens, squash, carrots, etc.
I prep them while the beans are cooking and depending on what I’m steaming – I throw it on at just the right time.
That’s my energy saver.