61 replies to this topic

[Hayden]

Updated. Less than 300 to go

[hatteubanal]

mariaandrea, on 03 December 2011 - 02:07 PM, said:

Grow houseplants that are known to clean indoor air
Grow an organic indoor herb garden

Can you give me specific names of plants that I can have indoors? The idea of having an indoor herb garden sounds very appealing to me. I'm really interested. Please give me tips on the best possible way to start one. Thanks!

zararina, on 06 December 2011 - 07:49 AM, said:

- Reuse rain water just like for cleaning the garage, washing door mats, flushing the toilet and watering the plants.
- Hand wash clothes

I've always reused rain water specially for watering plants and flushing the toilet. It's a habit I acquired from my mother. I also hand wash my clothes since my machine broke. I stuck to hand washing not only for money-saving and energy conservation purposes. Now, I have cleaner clothes!

cjw518, on 12 December 2011 - 02:45 PM, said:

I'm particularly interested in greening up my health/beauty products. For example, I love coconut oil as a moisturizer and (believe or not) in place of toothpaste. I also absolutely adore having replaced traditional shampoo with baking soda. Both changes have made me feel better about the environment *and* my health. (I've got a recipe for the baking soda shampoo, if anyone wants it!)

ETA: Oh! And apple cider vinegar in place of conditioner! :)

cjw518, you deserve thanks for letting us know about this...

cjw518, on 12 December 2011 - 03:30 PM, said:

Hi, mariaandrea! Here's the link to the recipe, there's a recipe for both a wet shampoo and a dry one. Let me know what you think!

...and providing the link to the recipes too!

Pushhyarag2000, on 14 December 2011 - 10:31 AM, said:

# Mandate rain water harvesting in all buildings, especially large public & commercial buidlings

Pushhyarag2000, I hope you will allow me to post your suggestion to our local government's website. This is a brilliant idea and I'm sure you would want a lot of people to benefit from it. :)

[mariaandrea]

hatteubanal, on 18 January 2012 - 10:38 AM, said:

Can you give me specific names of plants that I can have indoors? The idea of having an indoor herb garden sounds very appealing to me. I'm really interested. Please give me tips on the best possible way to start one. Thanks!

Read this blog post I did back in October for the best plants to grow indoors to help keep the air clean.
http://www.altenergy...air-quality-r28

And for and indoor herb garden, your best bet if you're just beginning might be to purchase a kit that comes with instructions and everything you need. Something like this: http://www.amazon.co...s/dp/B0012YKCU6

[hatteubanal]

mariaandrea, on 18 January 2012 - 12:12 PM, said:

Read this blog post I did back in October for the best plants to grow indoors to help keep the air clean. And for and indoor herb garden, your best bet if you're just beginning might be to purchase a kit that comes with instructions and everything you need. Something like this:

I'm going for the spider plants since they are the most common here. I love the purple lilies but I don't know where I can get hold of them.

Thanks for the tip for starting an indoor herb garden! I didn't even know that they are selling stuff like those online.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

hatteubanal, on 19 January 2012 - 01:14 PM, said:

I'm going for the spider plants since they are the most common here. I love the purple lilies but I don't know where I can get hold of them.

I love spider plants. I told my friend I was growing baby spiders, and she almost wet herself from laughing.
She thought I was talking about real spiders.
(when the little shoots sprout-clip off the branch about an inch or so above the "little bundle" part and
start a new plant.) Pathos too-super easy. Clip off a runner, stick in water til they sprout "hair" roots, and replant.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Also, in the shift to living greener.........

instead of using "man made" oil product for your hair or skin, try some cold pressed Castor oil.
Made from the seeds of the Castor bean; good quality oils have no other ingredients.
Too often, oils and lotions/hair products/makeup has crude oil in it.
Vaseline "petroleum" jelly, among others.

[Green Thumb]

• Buy and use recycled products.
  
  I came from a bookstore yesterday to buy a gift for a friend. She loves sketching so I got her a sketch pad, colored and black pencils. All of which is from this aisle in this local bookstore which products are made from recycled materials. And I got myself a recycled pen (carton shell).

[hatteubanal]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 19 January 2012 - 04:24 PM, said:

Also, in the shift to living greener.........

instead of using "man made" oil product for your hair or skin, try some cold pressed Castor oil.
Made from the seeds of the Castor bean; good quality oils have no other ingredients.
Too often, oils and lotions/hair products/makeup has crude oil in it.
Vaseline "petroleum" jelly, among others.

Holy smokes!  I didn't know that! I use petroleum jelly a lot specially when my lips are dry. I also use it on my son. Thanks for sharing this. I will relay this information to my sister. She also uses petroleum jelly and Vaseline.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

hatteubanal, on 22 January 2012 - 10:00 AM, said:

Holy smokes!  I didn't know that! I use petroleum jelly a lot specially when my lips are dry. I also use it on my son. Thanks for sharing this. I will relay this information to my sister. She also uses petroleum jelly and Vaseline.

You're welcome.
Here's an ingredients list.

Active Ingredients: Petrolatum. Other Ingredients: Water, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, C12-15 Alkyl Lactate, Myreth-3 Myristate, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Microcrystalline Wax, Tocopheryl Acetate Ceteareth-20, Carbomer, Tea, Ethylene Brassylate, Methylparaben, DMDM Hydantoin, Disodium EDTA, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate.

http://wiki.answers....petroleum_jelly
You know the old saying? If you can't pronouce it, it isn't good for us.
http://www.articlesb...kin-726426.html

[Hayden]

updated

[E3 wise]

Wow these are great ideas and if we alll can do just a few we can make a huge differance in our lives and to our planet, great job guys and keep it up.  These kind of ideas make me proud to be a part of this site.

[brihooter]

I don't currently have anything to add to the list but just wanted to say it has some wonderful information on it!  I have learned so much from joining this site.  I am currently switching to making homemade household cleaners as well.  I even found a link on Pinterest to make homemade laundry detergent!

[greenking]

Cool! I have some ideas but i think it's already in the list... LOL

[Sidneeblogs]

Take turns commuting neighborhood kids to school.  You live in the same neighborhood and the kids attend the same school, so it should be an easy, gas-saving, green energy thing to do!

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Sidneeblogs, on 07 March 2012 - 05:11 PM, said:

Take turns commuting neighborhood kids to school.  You live in the same neighborhood and the kids attend the same school, so it should be an easy, gas-saving, green energy thing to do!

They could walk or bike to school. Better exercise too.
(You know the old gag about- "when I was a kid, we always walked to school. Tough too, walking up hill. Both ways.)

[rbaker_59]

I learned growing up that as long as the rain water is caught in clean tubs, you can use is for cooking also.  We loved pinto beans cooked with rain water.  It gives it a fresh taste.

[CryoMage]

The sun is your best friend. We installed very(very) big windows with a thick air layer in between the two window panes, so when the sun shines trough them it really heats up a lot. Makes for great isolation from the cold air, and for a great heat source. Of course it might not be just the air, my brother installed them and he actually studies the ways you can make your home self-sufficient so there might be more to it. This winter we only had to turn up the heating on those cloudy days. The only 'problem' with this solution the fact you need to open the windows during the summer months because it really gets hot.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but an easy way to save water is this tip.

Install a wand on your shower head that has a built in on/off switch.
The water is still there at the correct temperature, only it's not flowing; being wasted down the drain.

This is especially helpful for us ladies as we shave. We can turn if off without turning it off and having
to reset the hot/cold to the right temps.  

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Organize a neighborhood car pool day for shopping/going to the farmers market. Saves gas, and let's
you chat up with friends (stress reliever.)
If you have an elderly or disabled neighbor or a veteran that needs your help with picking up some items,
volunteer to add the items. "Many hands make light work."

Green blood pumping in our hearts is a good thing.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Come on folks! We can do better than that.

Donate clothes/household items to shelter stores that help woman and their kids get back on their
feet from an abusive situation. Or just a regular second hand store.

Shopping there, is reusing those items verses buying new and using more resources. It takes a bit
longer to shop sometimes, but I have often found little used items that look like new. Many second
hand stores employ handicapped individuals, giving them the opportunity to be more self reliant.