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Check back often for new and innovative ways to make your lifestyle Green. Everything from eco-friendly product reviews and recommendations to common-sense tips and pointers for saving money and helping the environment.
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- Make sure your car is well-tuned and the tires are properly inflated. Both improve gas mileage and cut pollution.
- Walk or bicycle whenever possible. Not only will you save on gas, but you will improve your health, too.
- Carpool or take the bus to work or the store.
- Consider investing in an alternative-fueled car, a hybrid, or a more fuel-efficient model.
- Bundle errands together so that you make fewer car trips.
- Turn off lights, TVs, and computers when you leave a room or won’t be using them for a while.
- Unplug appliances when not in use—believe it or not, they sap “phantom” energy.
- Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents. They use ¼ the electricity and last 10 times longer!
- Make sure your home is properly insulated and sealed to reduce heat loss.
- Adjust thermostats to 72° F or higher in the summer, and 68° F or lower in the winter.
- Replace old appliances with ENERGY STAR® ones, or more efficient models.
- Turn the water heater down to between 120-125 degrees.
- Reduce, reuse, and recycle whenever possible. This cuts down on consumption, which leads to less production, causing a decrease in materials and energy use.
- Wash laundry in cold water when practical.
- Purchase LED string lights for the holidays this year. A Consumer Reports test found that a string of C7 incandescent lights, lit for 300 hours, would cost about $8 to light at an average electric utility rate. The same number of LED lights would cost only $0.14 for the same amount of time. The LEDs use 90% less energy. If you choose to stick with incandescents, use smaller bulbs since they use less energy and produce less heat.
- Save energy in the oven! Glass and ceramic cookware conducts and retains heat better than metal. If a recipe calls for a metal container, switch to glass or ceramic and lower the oven temperature by 25° F.
- Reduce, reuse, and recycle as much as possible.
- Utilize the Habitat ReStore in La Crosse for slightly used or new materials.
- Buy items with less packaging.
- DON’T LITTER EVER!! (Even those little cigarette butts are harmful…and gross!)
- Never use a burn barrel. Dispose of trash properly.
- If you receive catalogs you don’t want, contact the company and have them take you off their mailing list. You can also convert many of your bills and bank statements to paper-free online payments and updates.
- Bring a reusable tote to the grocery store instead of using plastic or paper bags every time. Reuse the plastic bags you already have for small trash bin liners.
- Buy in bulk—small portion sizes are good for dieters, but use a lot more resources and take up more landfill space.
- Bring a food storage container to restaurants for leftovers instead of getting a Styrofoam container. (Which won’t biodegrade for 100s of years!)
- Make a compost pile to collect organic wastes, and use it to fertilize your garden.
- Use rags or washable towels for spills and cleaning instead of paper towels.
- Use electric hand dryers over paper towels. Although the electric dryer uses electricity, its production and use (re-use, actually) produce a lot fewer greenhouse gas emissions and generate no waste.
- Purchase paper products with at least some post-consumer recycled content. (Compared to virgin wood, 100% recycled content paper uses 44% less energy, produces 38% less greenhouse gas emissions, 41% less particulate emissions, 50% less wastewater, 49% less solid waste, and 100% less wood. http://www.thedailygreen.com/2007/10/02/15-facts-about-paper-industry-and-theenvironment/7447/ ).
- Wrap presents in old magazine pages, the Sunday comics section of the newspaper, old wrapping paper from last year, used one-sided paper, etc.
- Save any bows, bags, or gift wrap you receive on a present this year and reuse it next year.
- If you want to be more of an eco-shopper, purchase gifts that friends and family will really use, such as a gift card. (Some cards are now made out of bioplastics, which are made from all plant sources and are biodegradable).
- Send E-cards to friends and family instead of snail mail cards. It not only saves paper, it saves money! (The number of holiday cards sent each year in the U.S. could fill a football field 10 stories high! Source: http://www.use-lessstuff.com/ULSDAY/42ways.html ).
- Buy local and/or as many natural and organic products as possible.
- Shop the local farmers markets.
- Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating.
- Purchase foods that are “antibiotic free”, “free-range”, “all natural”, and “organic.”
- Attempt to consume less meat and choose meats that most likely did not come from a factory farm (usually organic, free-range, or small local farm meats are best bets).
- For those of you who like to imbibe: Look for organic/eco-friendly beers. Some good companies: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., New Belgium Brewing Co., and Great Lakes Brewing Co. Good Wisconsin (but not necessarily organic) wineries: Door County, Wollersheim Winery, and Vernon Vineyards.
- If you have a party with too many left-overs, send some home with guests in reusable containers, or donate the food to a shelter or pantry.
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- Be respectful of all natural areas and animals.
- Teach your children the value of nature and engage them in the outdoors.
- Write to your lawmakers and urge them to keep habitat preservation a high priority.
- Shop smart: save forests by purchasing paper products with recycled content.
- Remember to “leave no trace” when at the park, on a picnic, or hiking—only leave footprints behind.
- Make sure to remove invasive species from your yard and your boat (i.e. purple loosestrife and zebra mussels). (http://dnr.wi.gov/invasives ).
- Instead of applying pesticides to your lawn, try attracting more insect-eating species, such as birds, frogs, and bats.
- Plant trees on your property. The average tree can sequester about 50 pounds of carbon a year! (Source: EPA).
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- If you plan to remodel, consider deconstructing and selling or donating reusable materials, and using recycled materials in the design yourself.
- When building a new house, choose a lot where the house can be south-facing to take advantage of passive solar heating (or to install solar paneling).
- For new projects, try to use materials that were harvested, extracted, or recovered in the region.
- Purchase wood products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. These originate from sustainable, well-managed forests.
- When planning to move to a new location, consider the factors listed in this article from the NRDC: http://www.nrdc.org/thisgreenlife/0705.asp
- Purchase furniture and home items made of natural or recycled materials.
- Purchase volatile organic compound (VOC)-free paints to reduce indoor air pollution and toxicity.
- Take shorter and cooler showers. Ladies, shut off the water when shaving your legs.
- Don’t let the tap run while you are brushing your teeth, shaving, etc.
- Install low-flow or dual-flush toilets. A family of four could save 14,000 gallons/year with a low-flow, and about 17,000 gallons/year with a dual-flush! (Source: http://www.twoflush.com/conservbody.htm ).
- Install low-flow aerators on faucets. They are cheap and can save on water and heating bills.
- Purchase a rain barrel. About 40% of household water is used for lawns and gardens per year. A rain barrel can save up to 1,300 gallons of water in a summer. (Source: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/ed/rainbarrel.html ).
- Fix all drain and pipe leaks in the home.
- To protect the rivers and lakes, don’t litter, don’t release foreign bait species, and check all boats for invasive plants and animals.
- Only water lawns during the cooler hours of the day and when it’s not windy to avoid evaporation.
- Defrost food in the refrigerator or microwave instead of running hot water.
- Try a soapless carwash to prevent suds from running into waterways. Just use a large bucket of water, a rag, and a little more elbow grease. If you need soap, try a no-phosphorous kind.
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- Replace more traditional products with more eco-friendly, biodegradable, nontoxic, and recycled products.
- Use cast-iron or stainless-steel pans to reduce the risk of adverse health effects from perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) found in some non-stick cookware.
- Create your own household cleaners with safer ingredients like soap, water, baking soda, lemon juice, vinegar, borax, etc.
- Try to purchase “certified organic” cotton clothing. It takes about ¼ pound pesticides to grow enough cotton for one T-Shirt! (Source: www.lacrossetribune.com/gogreen ).
- Instead of Plug-in air fresheners, try boiling cinnamon and cloves in a pan of water.
- Purchase electronic travel tickets whenever possible.
- Enjoy walking tours and walk to attractions when sensible.
- Use public transportation when available.
- Utilize the hotel van instead of a rental car.
- Participate in hotel linen programs and water conservation programs.
- Turn off the lights, heat, and air conditioning when you leave the guest room.
- Avoid room service and take out. Support the local economy and enjoy a neighborhood eatery.
- Carry a container for left-overs instead of getting a Styrofoam one.
- For car trips, make sure tires are properly inflated for better fuel-efficiency.
- Take only photographs when in the outdoors --not souvenirs.
- Use a digital camera instead of one that must be developed.
- Don’t purchase any endangered species products, or any animal product that seems questionable.
- Rent a hybrid car. (www.expedia.com offers hybrids through Fox Rent-a-Car).
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