I'm holding onto my 12-year-old Saturn. It's not pretty, but it gets 40 MPG
Always combine at least 3 errands together.
Burn wood. Have woodstove in the basement with clean-burning recirculating smoke system. Fireplace insert in main floor.
Grow/hunt for most of our meat, veggies and much of our fruit. Forage for berries, asparagus and mushrooms. Cuts WAY down on fossil fuels used to feed us. Try to reuse things in the garden (rotten hay and newspapers for mulch, milk jugs for mini greenhouses to protect tender plants, starting seedlings in eggshells...)
Chickens and eggs raised right here. Chickens free ranging. Very little water and fuel used to maintain them.
Almost all fluorescent bulbs. Energy bill continues to lower!
Thinking about solar water heater--has anybody done this?
Making own laundry detergent, soon dishwasher detergent--thanks for the recipes, everyone! So--minimal packaging, fossil fuels or chemicals.
Try to reuse water used for cleaning eggs and veggies and water from dehumidifier (water houseplants, plants under eaves trough, etc.)
Energy Star everything. Hang laundry yearround (near wood stove in basement in winter).
Used and hand-me-down clothing for majority of adult and children's clothing. Mostly library books instead of new, radio instead of CDs and cassettes, scrap paper for kids' art work and our notepads.
Eat out rarely. Imagine the energy and chemicals that go into one meal! Plus, no gas required to get to my kitchen table
Got a steam canner instead of the huge water-bath canners. This cuts water usage to about 1/10th and stovetop time by about the same amount. Whoo hooo!
Got (expensive, but I think it will pay for itself in time) waterless, airless cooking set. Only need water from rinsing veggies to steam them. No water left to drain out. Very little heat needed to steam veggies. I keep heat on lowest range of low that I can and they are done quickly.
Thanks for starting this thread--how fun to see what everyone is doing!
Burn wood. Have woodstove in the basement with clean-burning recirculating smoke system. Fireplace insert in main floor.
Grow/hunt for most of our meat, veggies and much of our fruit. Forage for berries, asparagus and mushrooms. Cuts WAY down on fossil fuels used to feed us. Try to reuse things in the garden (rotten hay and newspapers for mulch, milk jugs for mini greenhouses to protect tender plants, starting seedlings in eggshells...)
Chickens and eggs raised right here. Chickens free ranging. Very little water and fuel used to maintain them.
Almost all fluorescent bulbs. Energy bill continues to lower!
Thinking about solar water heater--has anybody done this?
Making own laundry detergent, soon dishwasher detergent--thanks for the recipes, everyone! So--minimal packaging, fossil fuels or chemicals.
Try to reuse water used for cleaning eggs and veggies and water from dehumidifier (water houseplants, plants under eaves trough, etc.)
Energy Star everything. Hang laundry yearround (near wood stove in basement in winter).
Used and hand-me-down clothing for majority of adult and children's clothing. Mostly library books instead of new, radio instead of CDs and cassettes, scrap paper for kids' art work and our notepads.
Eat out rarely. Imagine the energy and chemicals that go into one meal! Plus, no gas required to get to my kitchen table
Got a steam canner instead of the huge water-bath canners. This cuts water usage to about 1/10th and stovetop time by about the same amount. Whoo hooo!
Got (expensive, but I think it will pay for itself in time) waterless, airless cooking set. Only need water from rinsing veggies to steam them. No water left to drain out. Very little heat needed to steam veggies. I keep heat on lowest range of low that I can and they are done quickly.
Thanks for starting this thread--how fun to see what everyone is doing!
