Are you green?

JessesGirl05
JessesGirl05 Posts: 253
edited September 2024 in Chit-Chat
Are you living "green"?
What are some ways you are cutting back, saving money, and "saving the world"?

Tonight I learned how to make homemade laundry soap! To make a years supply (assuming you did 1load/day) it would cost around $10 (or less). I'm also learning how to make my own body wash.

these things really interest me! Does anyone have any other "make it yourself" suggestions for everyday household items?!

Replies

  • cheshirequeen
    cheshirequeen Posts: 1,324 Member
    i buy things that are made from recycled products, i constantly recycle, instead of using paper towels I use(this is weird) baby wipes that are pretty much biodegradable, i make sure when i grocery shop i bring my own bags and donate the dimes(i work at whole foods market) to charity, if i forget i stuff all of my products in as less bags as possible. I dont really know how to make things like that, but im also using less heat, water, time etc, by making all my meals for 2 weeks until next pay day. great post
  • teedizzle
    teedizzle Posts: 2
    Please could you share your laundry powder recipe?
  • TeenaMarina
    TeenaMarina Posts: 420 Member
    Yes, share the laundry detergent recipe!!!
  • shesnotthere
    shesnotthere Posts: 117
    I'm trying. I recycle and I use as little plastic as I can. I am not composting because of where I am living, but I will start next month. I am not great with the making my own products, I have to admit. I am good about walking/biking/busing instead of driving. I want to get some of those net bags for my veggies at the grocery store next.
  • oxavecamourxo
    oxavecamourxo Posts: 270 Member
    In our house, we use reusable bags instead of plastic or paper grocery bags.
    We compost our food scraps.
    We buy most of our foods from bulk bins to avoid packaging.
    We ride our bikes a lot.
    We keep our lights off when we aren't in the room.
    We also make our own laundry soap.
    We don't eat meat.
    We eat as much local organic foods as possible.
    We basically try to eliminate all packaging in everything we buy. We buy a lot of things used.
    We also don't buy anything unless we absolutely need it.

    Here's a few uses for hydrogen peroxide:
    http://1greengeneration.elementsintime.com/?p=1325

    :happy:
  • shesnotthere
    shesnotthere Posts: 117
    If hunger is not the problem, then eating is not the solution. ~Author Unknown

    off topic, but I like this quote a lot !
  • JessesGirl05
    JessesGirl05 Posts: 253
    Please could you share your laundry powder recipe?
    The one I came across is a liquid (just because that is what we always have used) but here is the link.
    https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/&h=01100
    it's long (because the poster walks you through his experiment of store detergent vs his homemade), but a great read!!

    If you're on mobile and cant click the link let me know and I'll break it down for you!
  • oxavecamourxo
    oxavecamourxo Posts: 270 Member
    I'm trying. I recycle and I use as little plastic as I can. I am not composting because of where I am living, but I will start next month. I am not great with the making my own products, I have to admit. I am good about walking/biking/busing instead of driving. I want to get some of those net bags for my veggies at the grocery store next.

    You can make your own out of a pillow case or a tshirt something. I've been meaning to do that because so that I can keep them in my purse. I tend to forget my bags at home a lot. lol
  • bcweisen
    bcweisen Posts: 118 Member
    I have recently been purchasing reusable snackbags. They are really cute cloth bags (all sorts of patterns) with a lining fabric and a velcro closure. They are especially great for snacks for my 3 kids. How many ziplocks do you waste using a baggie to give the kids pretzels or cereal to take in the car or out for the afternoon? These bags are machine washable and then lay flat to dry. I have a super-cute coordinating set that I use for taking lunch to work. I buy them from a store called CreativelyKooky on etsy.com
  • ssernst
    ssernst Posts: 69 Member
    I'm trying, and making progress every day. I recycle what I can and use natural cleaners. I'm no where near making my own stuff yet! I would also love the soap recipe. I wash on cold and use CFL bulbs in all my lights. I don't eat meat and try to eat more local veggies that don't have to get shipped. Hard to find around here, I find more during the summer.
  • cheshirequeen
    cheshirequeen Posts: 1,324 Member
    oh forgot carpooling and also not eating meat, which is simple, im vegan, haha. also im trying to grow my own garden, and eat all natural and organic food.
  • BabyDuchess
    BabyDuchess Posts: 353 Member
    I don't use any chemical at all on my lawn or for bugs. I recycle everything that our local center will take. I changed all the bulbs in and outside our home to CFL and plan on replacing those with LED as soon as they work out the kinks. I plugged most everything in powerstrips, which completely turns them off when not in use. I turned my AC up to 82 degrees and at night I don't run it at all, I run an energy efficient window unit, which is in the bedroom and I close the rest of the house off. I turn the water off when I brush my teeth and only run it while I'm using it. I turn the breaker off on the dryer, microwave, and stove when not in use. I try to take a shower, wash clothes, run dryer and water the lawn during non-peak hours........and I think that's it.....LOL If I could afford wind turbans and solar panels, I would be doing that too......maybe one day. Oh....also replaced all the windows in the house with tinted double-pane, gas-filled vinyl windows and I bought shades for all the windows and in the summer time I keep all the curtains drawn during the day to keep it cooler and last but not least, I only turn on lights or run fans...etc when I'm actually in the room and I bring my own bags to the grocery store.....and recycle the plastic ones I get from other stores. :flowerforyou:
  • sharonus
    sharonus Posts: 102
    One thing I do is make my own sugar scrubs. I don't think that most people know that the microbeads in many of the scrubs on the market are made out of plastic. We have enough plastic in our water -- we don't need more!

    There are a ton of recipes on the internet, but I like the simple ones best because I can just whip them up whenever I run out: Here's an easy one (http://www.care2.com/greenliving/simple-sugar-scrub-formula.html):

    1/2 cup sugar
    Enough cold-pressed oil (olive, wheat germ, peanut, corn, or sunflower) to dampen the mixture

    That's it! Mix and use.
  • JessesGirl05
    JessesGirl05 Posts: 253
    I'm going to go ahead and post the laundry soap recipe for those who can't click the link I posted a few minutes ago.


    Making the Laundry Detergent
    The only ingredients you actually need for homemade laundry detergent are as follows:

    1 cup washing soda (I use Arm & Hammer)
    1/2 cup borax (I use 20 Mule Team)
    1 bar soap (I use whatever’s cheap, in this case Pure & Natural)
    Approximately 3 gallons water

    You’ll also need a container of some sort to store this in (I use a five gallon bucket with a lid), something to stir it (I use a large wooden spoon), another pot to boil soapy water in (I use the pot in the picture), and something to cut up the soap (I use the box grater in the picture).
    First thing, put about four cups of water into the pan and put it on the stove on high until it’s at boiling, then lower the heat until it’s simmering.
    While it’s heating up, take a bar of soap and cut it up into little bits. I found a lot of success using our box grater, which resulted in a ton of little soap curls.
    When the water is boiling, start throwing in the soap. I recommend just doing a bit at a time, then stirring it until it’s dissolved.

    Stir the soapy water with a spoon until all of the soap is dissolved. Eventually, the water will take on the color of the soap you added, albeit paler. I used Pure & Natural soap for this, which was a white soap that looked a lot like a bar of Ivory.
    In the end, you’ll have some very warm soap soup.

    Next, get out your large container and add three gallons of warm tap water to it.
    To this bucket add a cup of the washing soda and the soap solution you made and stir. The borax is optional – some people say that it’s too harsh, but I’ve always found that it did a good job getting clothes clean and fresh smelling, so I recommend adding a half cup of borax to the mix.
    After stirring, you’ll have a bucket full of vaguely soapy water.
    Don’t worry if your batch doesn’t match the color of my own – it varies depending on what kind of soap you use. I made a batch with Lever 2000 in the past and it had a greenish tint to it, and I’ve heard reports of all kinds of different colors from other people who have tried this.
    At this point, let the soap sit for 24 hours, preferably with a lid on it. I just took our bucket to the laundry room.
    When you take off the lid, you’ll find any number of things, depending on the type of soap you used and the water you used. It might be firm, like Jello; it might be very watery; it might even be like liquid laundry detergent. Just stir it up a bit and it’s ready to be used.
    Don’t worry about the texture – it’s completely fine. Just use a measuring cup and use one cup of the detergent per load of laundry. If it’s got “globs” in it, get a mix of the water and of the globs – it’ll break up very quickly in the washing machine and wash your clothes well. If you’re still concerned, you can mash up the globs quite easily, but I saw no reason to do so.

    Ok I know that is long but the poster breaks it down really well.

    He said that to make a years supple of detergent (assuming you wash 1load/day) it would cost less then $10. FOR THE YEAR!
    if you bought Tide, Downy, Snuggle, whatever from the store, it could cost you over $60 (probably more now, this was posted a few years back).
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    I'm a bit obsessive about recycling. I have been known to gather other people's soda cans/bottles and take them home because there is no convenient recycling nearby. I also recycle paper, cardboard, and paperboard (like cereal boxes).

    We have all florescent lights in our house and I set the thermostat low in winter and high in summer to cut down on energy consumption. We have piles of blankets around the house in winter to stay warm and open windows at night in summer to cool things off so I'm not using a/c for it.

    I also take public transportation as much as possible.
  • oxavecamourxo
    oxavecamourxo Posts: 270 Member
    Ooh, in case anyone wants to check them out, I follow these blogs which have been very helpful in my transition to greendom:

    zerowastehome.blogspot.com

    myplasticfreelife.com
  • JessesGirl05
    JessesGirl05 Posts: 253
    For those who recycle- how do you do it? When we lived in the city, there was bins and people came to pick them up once a week or so. but we live out in the country now, and i have no clue how to recycle my plastics, cans, paper, etc.
  • BabyDuchess
    BabyDuchess Posts: 353 Member
    For those who recycle- how do you do it? When we lived in the city, there was bins and people came to pick them up once a week or so. but we live out in the country now, and i have no clue how to recycle my plastics, cans, paper, etc.

    We live in the country too and we have trash collection sites, which have the recycling centers onsite......call your local county government office to find the sites near you.
  • shesnotthere
    shesnotthere Posts: 117
    For those who recycle- how do you do it? When we lived in the city, there was bins and people came to pick them up once a week or so. but we live out in the country now, and i have no clue how to recycle my plastics, cans, paper, etc.

    The best place to start is with your county. If they don't recycle, then It can be tough. Last year I was living in a town that didn't recycle, but was only a couple of miles from the county recycling center. I felt bad because I don't pay taxes there, but not bad enough to put the stuff in the trash.
  • chris0912
    chris0912 Posts: 242 Member
    I'm trying. I recycle and I use as little plastic as I can. I am not composting because of where I am living, but I will start next month. I am not great with the making my own products, I have to admit. I am good about walking/biking/busing instead of driving. I want to get some of those net bags for my veggies at the grocery store next.

    I have a set of the veggie bags and unless I'm checking myself out, I have yet to find a cashier at any store that will let me use them. One of the cashiers at WalMart actually said she'd get in trouble cuz she'd be over-charging me since they weigh more than the plastics. She then proceeded to take my fruit/veg out of the bags, weigh them and then put them into plastic bags (which she then placed in our reusable shoppers... irony anyone?)! Excuse me? Corporate America doesn't want to get away with over-charging a customer who's willing to pay the difference?

    I think I'm probably light green. I'm a total shopping bag Nazi. I've bought them for my mother, mother-in-law, step-mother, best friend and searched high and low for a non-girly set for hubs to keep in his vehicle. We recycle everything we can. Our garbage company doesn't take any foam (even if it's marked), plastics over 5 or bags. So whatever we have that they won't take, hubs drops off at collection bins on his way to work. I recently got a home water dispenser to eliminate all the bottles I was going through. We use CFLs and have first generation LEDs in our hallway (don't like them, but they were expensive so they're staying until they're dead). Recently chopped off all my hair which has allowed me to cut my shower time in half! Drives hubs nuts, but I follow the old toilet ditty "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." A few other things, but every day I find myself dong a little bit more.

    Oh, and this is a small change, but I think others would like to hear about it...
    Last year I found www.thespicehouse.com, where I now buy all of my spices from. They also have stores in Chicago and Wisconsin. Buy your first items in glass jars and when you run low, you just need to get a bag for refills. No more little jars that need to be recycled and cost an arm and a leg. Their prices are great, they search the world for the best stuff out there and they grind fresh every week!
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