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Major reality check the other night when I saw a news report on the drought in Melbourne, Australia. They showed a family in which each person could hop in the shower for only three minutes, then out. The shower curtain was hung over a bucket to catch every last drop. Water from the gutters on the house was recycled in a tank. And around the neighborhood, officials with vests sporting Water Patrol across the back checked to see that everyone followed strict curfew rules or slapped residents with a fine. In my city, they started a new campaign this year called, “Reduce, Refuse, Recycle.” As the words imply, the idea is to get you to reduce your consumption, refuse unnecessary waste, and to recycle where possible. So, here are 13 ways I’m trying to be “green”. 1…. I walk just about everywhere I can It’s not a bad list so far, but I know there are areas I could do better if I tried harder. 11…. Do better at conserving water and electricity. After seeing the situation in Melbourne, I’m sure I could do better. And if I could get my kids to remember to turn off the light when they leave a room (argh!) It’s like dieting. I need to slim down and stay slim. Hopefully, I can do a better job than I do with dieting. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! |
What about you? How are you trying to be green?The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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It’s that whole junk in and junk out that I have to work on. At least we have a good recycling program here and we do have a compost bin in the yard. Nice to see that there are people thinking about the 3-Rs again. Good list to share.
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I do everything I can to be greener. Our township instituted a great recycling program and now I feel guilty that I recycle boxes and stuff instead of saving it for the kids for art projects!
My angle on it is the asthma thing. I’ve got it, my son’s developing it, and I don’t want my daughter to wind up with it, either. If we took better care of our world, we’d have less pollutants to irritate our lungs..
Enough of my soap box. Have a great TT!
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Sorry, but I draw the line at the whole recycling the bath water thing. Yuck. That’s just gross. I don’t want to wash my clothes in dirty water. Uffda. It wouldn’t work here, anyway. We all shower. We have a bathtub and 2 showers. In the 4.5 years since I moved back into this house (where I grew up), the bathtub has never ever been used.
My list is posted.
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I live in the middle of nowhere, so many of these things are out for me. However, I do try to conserve. We do leftovers, and I think I am going to steal your bringing your own bag to the groc store idea!
I also donate to charity, and buy second hand when I can (there are limits I will have new undies!) LOL
Great job!!!
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Have to laugh about the bath water. I had an idea that would raise a few eyebrows so let me explain.
It’s a cultural difference. Bathing in Japan has a different tradition. In the past, people didn’t have baths in their houses. They went to public bath houses. You shower and get rid of all the dirt and then once you are clean you get in the bath.
Obviously, nowadays, people have baths in their homes. The bath is smaller and deeper than the western bath and is located in a room that has space beside it where the shower attachment is located. You shower, shampoo and soap your body and then you get in the bath to relax after and soak. The entire family uses the same bath water. It’s kept heated by gas coming in at regular intervals. When you get out of the bath you place a cover over it to maintain the heat for the next person.
The water shouldn’t be “dirty,” since supposedly you washed off all the dirt before you stepped into it. There’s a hose attachment that you can run from the washing machine, which sits just ouside the bath door (toilet is in separate room), and you choose to use the water for wash, rinse or both (or not if you don’t want to).
My clothes still smell Downey soft.
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Great list, and bravo on the bath water. Sounds like a much nicer way to bathe overall anyway. Unfortunately, in this house we’ve been in for six years, the only tub is a sort of sitting tub, that you can’t stretch out in and really relax, so I miss my baths as all I ever get is a shower. Having just paid my yearly water bill though, I could wish for a real bathtub for that reason as well!:sad:
Thanks for stopping in to my first TT list! Great TT to you!
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Compliments, that’s very good ! I go swimming every morning in my fitness club so I don’t use our shower. Garbadge “filing” exists here already since many years. If you don’t respect the different color, nothing is taken. In shops you don’t even get a bag anymore you have to bring your own. When there is smog alert, cars have to drive at limited speed. And leaving something on the plate, that is really impossible especially in my generation, there was so much hunger after the war, that it went into our blood to eat everything off !
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I think you’re doing a great job in being green! Okay, there’s room for improvement, but that’s not that strange. I try to do whatever I can. When I’m walking in nature I pick up all the stuff people left and throw it in a waste basket. The junk people leave behind…
Thanks for visiting my oracle TT. As for tarot, there are free courses online. The best way to get to know your deck: draw 1 card a day (or week), look at it and write down thoughts / feelings, etc. Only then take a book (or search online) for the “official” meaning. You’ll be surprised how much you know by instinct. It’s okay to use a book or other source, I still have my book within reach. As you do it more often, you’ll need it less.
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excellent post!!! i think we all could do more – i’m guilty of not always pausing long enough to make the wee bit of extra effort, but trying to do better!
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Great list! My mother did the same thing with the “eat everything on your plate or no dessert”. It taught me to take smaller servings of food, which is a good thing.
We put our lights out for an hour on Saturday night, just using candlelight. It was nice.
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Thanks everyone for all the great comments. It’s wonderful too to hear how all of you are doing. I think it’s one of those things that if each of us tries a little it should have some kind of impact.
Gattina–I think that is the issue with my husband. His parents were of the war generation and so they instilled a very strong ethic against wasting food in him.
Tink–that is wonderful advice. Going to try it.
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I don’t know that I could recycle bath water, but we definitely could do much better at our house!
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Great list. I know I can always use a reminder to incorporate a greener lifestyle.
Happy TT.
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Good job! I couldn’t take the spiders outside, though. I’m terribly afraid of them. I usually just throw stuff at them until I squish them. I know it’s irrational, but they really get to me.
My city does a good job of encouraging recycling. They provide free bins to anyone who wants them. I just got one last month and have been happy to fill it up with the stuff they allow. There are some things they won’t take like glass and styrofoam, but it’s better than nothing.
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Great post! Where I live we have very strick green rules, and if you don’t follow them you get fined. It took some getting used to, but now I can’t imagine not doing it. But you’re right, we could all do more.
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A very inspiring list…
I think that is so cool you recycle the bathwater…I have heard of this idea but didn’t know anyone who uses it…amazing…
What about having a garage sale for all the stuff you’ve collected that you don’t use? It’s a great way to make more space in the house and a few bucks.
I also find I try to avoid buying over packaged food, buy loosevegies instead of packaged ones…and it’s so hard with electrical products or tools they have so many security packages.
One thing I read…was to go to the hardware store or grocery manager…and tell them you will not buy those over packaged items. The store mamnager then will put pressure ont he manufactureres or suppliers.
Thanks for dropping by my blog this morning!!
Cheers,
Candy
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this is a great list and a great reminder.
I could do so much better in many areas. We do recycle.
We were watching Planet Earth and they had a thing at the end of one of them about saving the planet and I got all teary-eyed. That coupled w. PMS had my crying.
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In the summer we usually have water restrictions because of draught conditions. I use shower water to water the garden plants.
We recycle, buy organic from local farmers and dairies, use cloth shopping bags most of the time or ask for paper, compost leaves and yard waste, hang clothes outside in summer to dry and we have a solar water heater.
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We recycle and compost, and I just started hanging my laundry outside again this week. I nearly froze to do it, but I love line-dried sheets.
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Those are all really good ideas, but I’m just curious, how do you reuse bath water for your washing machine?
I’ve actually never heard of that.
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Excellent ideas…good list! I am celebrating my 300th post today on my blog…stop by and help me celebrate, won’t you?:lol:
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Starla–the washing machine sits outside the bath door. There is a hose with a shower type head at the end of it that runs from the washing machine and you plop it into the tub. Once you press the buttons (computerized) the machine automatically sucks up the water and pours it into the machine. That’s it. No laundry rooms here. No space.
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We used to follow the “never turn down hand-me-downs” rule until my packrat tendencies came out and we were burried under mountains of stuff. Now I keep a list of people I know who need things, and when I’m offered something a la hand-me-down nature, I connect the people up to make sure the item is being reused.
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We have installed a solar water heater at home and it is also as good as conventional water heaters.`-`
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Solar water heater is a very good technology because it helps conserve electrical energy for heating.*: