You already probably know that Sherry and I do our best to make green decisions around Casa Petersik, but we actually approach the whole eco-friendly issue from two different places. Which means that we don’t always see eye to eye on the lengths that we’ll go to be green.
Sherry’s interest in being green comes from a health & safety standpoint. That usually means limiting unnatural chemicals around our house, on our bodies, and in our food whenever possible. She’s the driving force behind things like filtering our water, gradually shifting into organic food, switching plastic tupperware for glass, cooking with Greenware instead of Teflon, and trading our personal care and cleaning products for their more natural alternatives (we use Tom’s of Maine, Dr. Bronner’s, and Mrs. Meyer’s to name a few).
I, on the other hand, come from a place of energy and waste conservation with my green ideas. Perhaps because my dad, a retiree from the U.S. Department of Energy, has been a big influence on me (which is why an elementary school project of mine featured solar panels and a family vacation once included a stop at a wind farm). So beyond being the nag about turning off lights when we leave a room or turning off the water while brushing, I’m also the reason that we have a rain barrel, a compost bin, and a dual-flush toilet here at Casa Petersik.
Of course neither approach is more or less valid than the other, because we both agree that each has merit (and together they have some pretty nice overlap). But it does cause some sticking points here and there. For instance, despite Sherry’s warnings, I’ve yet to go cold turkey on the “refuse those BPA-laced register receipts” tip because I just find myself being awkward with checkout people. And I’m awkward enough as it is. So after a bit of debate (and many promises of hand-washing on my end), she decided to go easy on me for this one. Gotta love my flexible and understanding lady-wife.
And if it were up to me, we’d have two more rain barrels in the front of our house too. But when Sherry delicately pointed out that the neighbors probably wouldn’t appreciate that aesthetic (and neither would she) I conceded that we didn’t need to line the entire perimeter of our home with giant plastic rain-catchers. If I lived in a dream world we’d also bike more of our errands – but alas, our narrow roads don’t make this very safe (or even very possible) so I’m glad Sherry tamed my inner risk taker on this one.
Clearly, being green around here involves a fair amount of compromise. Just like all aspects of marriage now that I think about it. The bottom line: I respect her reasoning, she respects mine, and we both do our best to be supportive of the other. So even if it’s not a decision that we’d make for ourselves, we’re happy to put in the effort for our other half if it makes them happy. For example, I’ve been willing to use natural deodorant, as long as Sherry’s been willing to put up with me smelling a bit less fresh after working in the yard. And she’s willing to walk our food scraps out to the compost bin even though the garbage can in the kitchen is a few hundred feet closer- just because composting puts a smile on my face. In the end we figure we’re better off having two sometimes-opposing viewpoints because it actually helps us to embrace more green practices in total. We like to think of it as some sort of wide-range eco approach – you know, like a venn diagram with two overlapping circles.
But enough about us. What goes on in your household? Does one of you push the green envelope more than the other? Or for differing reasons? Tell us all about it. And if you want to witness another couple coming to terms with being green together, we recommend a documentary that we watched called No Impact Man. Let’s just say it raises the be-green bar (and involves a husband telling his wife that she can’t use toilet paper). I don’t think Sherry and I are there yet…
Psst- No Impact Man image from here.
jessica jones says
Yall are so inspiring! I was the one to first push towards going more green. I started with organic fruits and veggies and then after watching “Food Inc.” we both decided to start buying grass fed meat. I was for what we put into our bodies affects our health, he was for supporting local farmers instead of the big corporations. By the way, we live in richmond’s west end and order our meat from mountvernonfarm.net (a great farm not too far from here) and they deliver twice monthly to the Westham neighborhood where we pick it up (excellent people and the best meat we’ve ever had in our life). My husband bought his first compost bin a few weeks ago and he’s so excited. Its funny to see how much this guy has changed. Now that we’re expecting our first child in December, I am slowly switching to organic cleaning products. (so expensive though!) Most of my info on all this stuff comes from you two, so thankyou! Oh and what cloth diapers are yall using – I want to go cloth, but I know I need the snap kind and not velcro.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jessica,
Food Inc was a big eye opener for us as well! It’s the reason we’re fast food vegetarians and we love going to places like Chipotle and Panera (who actually have much better meat standards than most other chains out there)!
xo,
s
Lisa says
I’ve been the driving force here, I started getting rid of all my commercial cleaners when I was pregnant with our first child and thought “Hey – I shouldn’t be breathing this in!”. So it’s been over 6 years now and it’s just a way of life. I just read “Slow death by rubber duck” which I would highly recommend. It talks about the chemicals in our everyday life that are affecting our health, it’s very informative and gives practical ways to avoid things that are very bad for you.
Every year we try to do more and I appreciate all the tips you give here!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lisa,
I LOVE THAT BOOK! I got it for my birthday and actually finished it in the hospital having Clara. Well, not while I was actively “having” her…
xo,
s
Snickrsnack Katie says
Hey Sherry and John!
I posted earlier a question I had about not having gutters, and if you had any suggestion on how I could create a rain barrel without them. Look what I found – this barrel is supposedly specifically for gutterless homes.
http://www.ne-design.net/gutterless-barrel.html
Of course, it is over $100 but at least there is an option out there!
YoungHouseLove says
Awesome find Katie! Thanks so much for sharing the link!
xo,
s
Jennifer says
Have you heard about sand boxes being bad for small children?? My sister was telling me one of their friends won’t allow their child to play in the sand box.. something about sand being toxic from silica dust. Totally news to me! Do you plan to let Clara play in the sand box?
YoungHouseLove says
Never heard about it! But now I’ll have to research the heck out of it… oh the joys of parenthood. Our little rugrat is so worth it though!
xo,
s
Heather says
I’m the green one. So much so that my Husband makes fun of me. We rent right now, but if we weren’t I would have rain barrels and compost piles also. Though I think Sherry was right in not letting you put them out front.
My Husband and I went for a walk last night and I actually picked up something off the ground and carried it until I found a garbage can, which made my Husband sarcastically reply “feel better now?”.
Amanda L says
I am all about being green for both of those reasons. My big things are saving energy and I’m a big stickler for organic meats. I had some health issues previously that were partially caused by my hormones being wonky from all the antibiotics and hormones in meat.
My wonderful hubby, however, wants nothing to do with it. He hates sorting the recycling, doesn’t want to spend a dime extra for a green cleaning product, and doesn’t think that the organic meat tastes any different. (It so does!!!)
So, we are a family that is slowly going green due to the fact that I do all the shopping because I currently don’t have a job. And if I tell him I got a good deal on something he’s fine with it. I say the greener the better, but he doesn’t think the grass is greener on the other side.
Kelly Clawson says
I make my husband take reusable bags to the grocery store. Most the time he forgets them in the car and ends up coming home with the plastic bags but once in awhile he will remember and use them. I have also got him into the habit of saying “We don’t need a bag, we will just carry it” for our one item purchases.
I saw this bag when we were on vacation and wanted to buy it for my husband, but didn’t want to pay the $15 price tag for it!
Kelly Clawson says
Not sure if the image of the bag went through. Here is the link to the image.
http://www.entertainmentearth.com/images/%5CAUTOIMAGES%5CAU11939lg.jpg
Meghan says
I think I am the driving force behind being more “green” in our household. This really started a few years ago when I started to get myself ready to become pregnant. I stopped sating processed foods and artificial dyes- especially red and yellow, i eliminated artificial sweetners and MSG too. Eventually that progressed when I became pregnant to include hormone/pesticide and antibiotic free meats and cheeses. After we had the baby we switched to plant based cleaners for everything except the dog messes that occasionally happen in the basement (bad bucky!) We also have only used our air conditioning sparingly this summer and that is only when we are worried about the baby overheating. We recycle like crazy because we pay for our trash but not the recycling- so you can bet that we recycle anything and everything we can. We don’t use fertilizers or pesticides in the yard and this year we built a raised garden bed and used soy based sealants and stains and are growing organic veggies and herbs. We even switched to the ceramic pots and pans and although I have initited all of these things- once we make the switch- my husband is usually on board. The one thing I tried to switch but couldn’t get on board with was the natural deodorant. I am much too much of a freak about smell..and I found that the natural kind that I tried just did NOT work. I kind of cringe every time I use my regular possibly bad for you deodorant and really wish that the natural ones worked weel enough for me…oh well- baby steps…
Sarah says
How do you guys handle taking the compost out? My boyfriend’s parents have a small compost bin next to the sink that the slide all scraps, egg shells, etc. into and then just take it out once a day. Once we stop renting, I’d like to have a compost heap, but (and this is kind of silly, but you’re the decorating mavens, so I think you’ll understand) I really hate the look of a trash can on the kitchen counters! Do you guys have a more aesthetically pleasing option?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Sarah,
We keep an airtight container under our sink (next to the regular trash can) that we fill with scraps and then carry out to the compost bin in the backyard when it’s full. We usually do that once a week or so, and we thankfully don’t have any issues with fruit flies or odor since it’s airtight.
xo,
s
Kim says
A year in Africa (2001-02) really helped us appreciate the value of water and electric even more — we collected rain water in a big cistern under the house during rainy season and pumped it to a tank on the roof for gravity-fed water to flush the toilets and clean; drinking and cooking water were hauled from the bore hole well a short bike ride away; we had solar shower bags and learned to take efficient “jungle” showers. There was no electricity where we lived so we used four smaller solar panels and a couple of truck batteries set up to provide enough power to run the (rather weak) lights a couple hours at night (important since we were on the equator and the sun set EVERY SINGLE EVENING at 7 p.m.). Our small stove and tiny fridge ran on propane tanks that we had to get refilled in the capital two hours away. We had a small garbage pit but only things that could not be re-used or composted went into that — and our Ugandan neighbors could make use of just about everything, let me tell you :D
Now we live in Argentina and I’m sad to say we cannot recycle here (no system in place) but we do compost food scraps. I also made cloth shopping bags to take to the store. We just keep them in the car so they’re handy. We also use more energy efficient light bulbs.
What we’ve found is you do what you can, where you are and what circumstances allow. It’s not always possible or practical to do what you’d like. Just being more aware and thoughtful of what you’re using in terms of energy, water, etc. is helpful.
Carolyn says
Has anyone ever heard of/used Norwex cleaning products? They are special microfiber cloths made in Norway that can clean ANYTHING by just adding WATER! There are little metal bits imbedded in the fabric (or something along those lines) to make them antibacterial. Read more about them here: http://www.norwex.com/norwex.php?lng=7&cnt=223
My boss has been raving about these cloths and leant one to me the other day. Holy cow — it was able to clean my shower better than any chemical I’ve ever tried. We even had some film on our tiles leftover from our most recent reno and it cleaned it right up! The only problem is I think they are somewhat hard to get ahold of… my boss got hers at one of those Mary-Kay-type parties. But I’m really excited about these and thought some of you might be too!
YoungHouseLove says
Never heard of them! Thanks for the tip.
xo,
s
Megan says
I love this post! I am definitely the green leader in our family, but my husband is always totally game for my crazy (or not so crazy as response to this blog post would sugest) ideas. For example, on the deodorant front, I recently made my own–1/4c. baking soda, 1/4c. corn startch dissolved in 5 tbs. organic coconut oil. It works! And he tried it to humor me and actually likes it better than the chemically stuff. He even went so far to say, “I noticed the shaving cream has lots of chemicals too–can you come up with a natural alternative for me?” God love him :)
Emily says
Hi Youngsters!
After hearing some NPR podcast, my husband has been talking recently about the benefits of raising chickens. We live in a townhouse in Burke, VA (DC suburbs), so it is definitely not an option for us right now! But I was wondering if you were interested in pursuing anything along those lines. My husband insists it’s not too “farmy,” although I’m definitely not totally convinced :).
Thanks for the great post!
YoungHouseLove says
We were super interested until we learned it was actually illegal in our neighborhood. You have to own three acres and since we only have one we’re out of luck. Boo!
xo,
s
Mrs. Jones' Soapbox says
Good post! My favorite topic. :) I love reading the comments and hearing what everyone’s doing. I think the important thing is to take it slowly and not get overwhelmed. Otherwise you’ll do nothing and be even worse off. About 2 years ago I started getting a little frustrated with all the green washing and companies trying to write “organic” or “natural” on everything just as a marketing technique. I wanted a way to educate people on the merits & truths of this lifestyle without sounding too preachy and that’s when I came up with my business of making & selling non-toxic cleaners. Switching to non-toxic cleaning products can make a HUGE difference in your health and the health of our environment and it’s really an easy change. My goal is to give presentations in people’s homes (like those sometimes cheesy buy-my-stuff parties) to really teach friends & family some simple, easy ways to make a difference in your life. It’s taking me a long time to develop the idea because I have two other “real” jobs :) but I’m getting there! You can see the line here: http://www.mrsjonessoapbox.etsy.com.
I also just bought a hybrid car which I LOVE. It’s the Honda Insight. It’s cheap, too, in comparison to the others!!
Maya says
Hey guys,
Love your blog and this post in particular! My hubby and I are pretty environmentally conscious in similar ways to you both (different reasoning but we’re happy to encourage each other’s enthusiasm :-) ). Two things… 1) I saw that you mentioned Mrs. Meyer’s products as your “green” cleaning options. I know that many people love these, but I don’t buy them because they’re not toxin-free enough for me. For example, if you read the ingredient lists for their dish soap and countertop spray, those products include methylisothiazolinone. A quick Google search on that chemical shows some disturbing info. The EPA says in its fact sheet about the chemical under “Human Health Assessment: Toxicity” that, “In studies using laboratory animals, methylisothiazolinone has been shown to be of moderate acute toxicity by the oral and inhalation routes. It is highly acutely toxic when applied dermally or to the eye and is considered to be corrosive.” The EPA has also determined that it’s “moderately to highly toxic to freshwater and estuarine/marine organisms” (http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/3092fact.pdf) Apparently studies on the mutagenic potential of the chemical have arrived at differing results. Personally, that’s enough info for me to avoid it, especially since there are so many other great options without it (including Seventh Generation’s products and good ol’ vinegar and lemon!). I know that their website gives a long explanation of how important being safe and healthy is to them, but they just don’t quite get there for me.
2) I saw that someone mentioned switching to Method soaps as a “green” choice. I appreciate their fun, creative packaging (as with Mrs. Meyer’s!), but if you read their ingredients, their products also contain many things I wouldn’t want in my house (e.g., synthetic fragrances, unspecified synthetic “preservatives,” synthetic colors (aka the “artificial colors” we wouldn’t want to eat, but we’re then putting on our dishes, sinks, countertops, etc. and as a result probably ingesting)). They’ve started to make fragrance-free options (better!), but on the whole they use too many synthetics or questionable ingredients for my taste.
We use vinegar, lemon, and baking soda to clean most things (they work so well that it’s amazing to me that so many other cleaners have taken over that option – and really, your house doesn’t smell like a salad bowl! :) ). They’re also, incidentally, the cheapest option out there, I think! My favorite “bring on the tough stuff” product is Citra Solv – it can be hard to find but it works like magic, especially for removing price tags and other sticky stuff. It smells great, too.
Sorry about the long comment, but just thought you might be interested… Thanks for all the fun stuff you do and for getting us all together online to chat about it all!
Elizabeth says
I actually rented No Impact Man today – can’t wait to see it!
Summer says
You mentioned that you switched from plastic tupperware to glass – I’ve been looking for small(ish) glass storage containers to take to work for lunch. Where have you found them?
YoungHouseLove says
We found a bunch of nested glass containers at Crate & Barrel for a great deal. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jackie says
Hey guys, I was just wondering (this might be getting a little personal, haha), which natural deodorant do you use, and does it actually work? Thanks!!
YoungHouseLove says
After trying a bunch of them we prefer Tom’s Of Maine, but it’s really a personal thing (some friends of ours hate it and love Jason deodorant instead). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
McGee says
Well, if you are using cloth diapers, it’s not too hard to convert a few extra cotton fleece receiving blankets into cloth wipes – just cut and do a zig-zag stitch around the edges to prevent fraying. Toss in with your cloth diapers when you wash them. Keep a spray bottle of water wherever you change the baby’s diapers.
If you can get used to that, is it really that much of a step to going sans toilet paper and using washable cloth wipes instead?
For the record, we use both cloth wipes and disposable “green” wipes (obviously not totally green as they’re disposable, but they’re biodegradable and contain fewer chemicals than most wipes). I see the logic in cloth wipes for everyone instead of TP, but we haven’t been able to make that leap. I do know families who do it though and say it is no big deal.
Marilyn says
Just THINK about it, OK? No need to take one side or the other, or to point out that Ikea is trying to do the right thing re: use of wood products or to wonder if other, more traditional furniture companies hold themselves to the same standards or not. Not casting any stones here, since I’m not without sin myself. Just THINK about the scale of it:
http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/07/do-ikea%E2%80%9Aaos-products-reflect-the-true-price/
Yes, the design is great and the prices are right, and “Ikea Hacks” can lead to recycling. I love the blog for so many reasons, one of which is the scavenging/repurposing it explores. But just THINK about it for a bit. No need to react right away.
M says
I’ve heard people mention Charlie’s Soap–have you or other readers tried it? What do you all think? Would you recommend it as green and effective?
Jessica O'Brien says
in regards to SarahNo’s comment on June 23, 2010 @ 3:14 pm, there are lots of chic countertop options, for collecting scraps, before they get emptied into a larger compost bin. here are 2 examples: http://tinyurl.com/29n88qs
hope that helps for those who want to have their bins out!
Leigh-Anne says
So glad you guys have kept up with your compost. I just reread your post on that the other night and planned on making our compost this weekend. It has been a while for you….what’s the update? Are you still using the rubber bin with a lid? Have you used any of it for fertilizer yet? How much attention do you give it on a weekly basis? Thanks for the inspiration!
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, we’re still using the airtight rubbermaid container with the lid under our sink. Love it! And we’ve used the soil from the compost bins (we have since added a second one) for everything from our front plant beds to our edible garden in the back. As for weekly attention, it’s really low maintenance. We bring out the rubbermaid container every week or so, dump it into one of the bins, stir it with a shovel for about 30 seconds, and put the lid back on. That’s it!
xo,
s
Kelly P says
GREAT TOPIC!! In our house we compromise a lot on this issue but for different reasons. I’m the only one who cares about green issues (both health and energy) in my house for the mostly the same reasons you guys do. In fact, my darling hubby had never recycled a single item before meeting me (gasp!). But he is very tight with his (now our) money, so where energy savings overlaps with saving money he is totally on board. So he has kindly adopted my stringent recycling rules and given in me to purchasing more expensive green cleaning products (with coupons!) and I have agreed to walk more places then I ever used to. It seems to work well. My next project is to plant a small garden – I can’t wait!
BTW – I love your blog! I save it for last every day bc it’s my fave :-) (is that weird? maybe some people read their fave first?)
Sarah says
Yay for being green!!! I am definitly a “greenie” but it helps that my parents are tree-hugging hippies and have an organic farm. I’m all about turning the A/C up when I’m not home, going to farmer’s markets, recycling anything and everything, etc! I probably push all my friends to try to be a little green, and my boyfriend now recycles because of me :)
Oh and John… on the “pretty” rain barrel subject… my parents have small steel tanks at the end of several gutters around the house and to make them more appealing my mom put water lillies in them, but she mostly uses them for watering all the potted plants with rain water! My dad also got a 1000gal tank for Christmas a few years ago so he uses that for the gardens, so at least you don’t have that in your back yard!!
Ashli M says
Another great post!!!!! Thanks so much! You and my husband would get along great, “line the house with rain barrels” cracked me up!!
Wendy says
I turned from being very “brown” to being VERY “green” about 3 years ago! I love it! We are in the process of adopting our first child and I plan on using cloth diapers. We are also very fortunate to have curb side recycling bins that we do not have to sort. My only complaint is that I wish recycling was picked up weekly and garbage every other week!
I also compost, use only green cleaning products, make my own green laundry detergent, switched all my plastic tupperware to glass, grow my own organic garden, shop at farmer’s markets, and shop second hand. I love finding all the “treasures” for cheap! My next step to being even more eco friendly is a rain barrel. I have been wanting one for a while, but just haven’t done it. That might be on my weekend to do list. Thanks for all the inspiration!
Bobbi says
Love this topic! Our home started on a green journey years ago when I started carrying my own bags to the store before they were available. The big step was when I started a butterfly/veggie garden which had to be organic. Then I took a local composting class. We compost outdoors and inside with worms….not gross at all….not smelly and very scientific. The worms came when I decided to teach my 4 year old son what happens to food. The great thing with how we started this is that during the school year my son teaches his classmates and often teachers how to compost and the butterfly lifecycle. My 7 year old knows more than some adults. And forget me, Mom, being the #1 recycler in our home, that is now driven by my son….from what not to throw outside because it will feed the worms to which items go into the recycle bin…..teach them young and they will outshine you! No struggles in how we are going green, I threw out the tupperware and went glass, no-one complained…..next step….still working on it!
Casey E says
It is the same here at our house! My husband is definitely all about the energy saving- unplugging all appliances before bed, keeping the ac at the appropriate temperature, turning off lights and even saving flushes- eww- not to mention his ocd way of recycling anything and everyhing. Anyway, I admire his seemingly overboard recycling habits and I do enjoy recycling myself but my “green” living is more on the side of health. I too am slowly transitioning into organic options and when necessary, I don’t inlight my husband to see if he notices the difference :) I love the idea of natural cleaning but haven’t gone completely wild yet. My battle seems to be in my own ocd tendencies where I still like deep cleaning so much that I am having trouble putting away the same bleach and “harmful” chemicals that give me peace when I facing germophobia. I am very interested in seeing the documentary you suggested. Its on my list of things to do!
Beth says
Haha – you guys are amazing.. I’m still trying to get my husband to recycle. :)
Sabrina Jordan says
I watched No Impact Man last night! Such a great documentary! I doubt I could go without (or want to go without) such luxuries as toilet paper, but there are sooooo many things we can do to reduce our carbon footprint. :)
Carolyn says
I’m all for going paperless, but I don’t think I’ll be including toilet paper on that list for now! Speaking of paper, and being on the same page (pun intended), my husband and I mostly seem to agree on green/healthy living. I think our main motivation has been prompted by not wanting lots of nasty chemicals around our home (especially now that we have a curious toddler roaming around the house). Strangely enough, I am also motivated by being too lazy to use our car. If I need to get a couple of things at the shop, I walk the short distance simply because the thought of loading and unloading my daughter into the car, dealing with traffic and finding a car space is too much hassle. The exercise and stress reduction of getting out of the house is a nice bonus. Plus, we save on petrol.
Anyway, on a completely different note, do you know of any ways to carry lunches to work without using plastic wrap or plastic containers? Also, how do you go about storing any leftovers in the fridge? Do you use the glass pyrex containers or something else? Thanks.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Carolyn,
We love using SnackTaxis! They’re green and oh so easy. Plus they’re cute and colorful (bonus). Just visit snacktaxi.com to check them out.
xo,
s
Trish Milburn says
My son-in-law, in the gutter installation & anything else you need business, has a very attractive rain barrel. A bit pricey, but if you were to line the perimeter of your home, it would look a bit nicer than the purely functional yet not so attractive barrels! Other cool stuff also if I were in the “more money than I know what to do with category!”
Here is a link to his site
http://shop.springfieldgutters.com/category.sc?categoryId=2
calliope says
I’ve always been the green one in our small familly of three but my lovely husband always always hears me out and then complies with no buts and ifs because he knows it’s for our own good.
We compost and he’s the one to take care of that dirty business, we bought an air-pressure outdoor cleaner and this has saved tons of water and time, we intend to build rain barrels, too, as soon as we fix up the garden area.
I recycle religiously (he, not so much, but I go over his garbage bin so that’s ok!) and I’ve insisted on using reusable bags and cloth towels. Finally, I make my own detergents from laundry to mopping to bathroom cleaning and I couldn’t be happier about it!
Mike at The Big Stick says
As an avid gardner I fully support your love of rain barrels. Question: What about the garage? Does it have a gutter system? If not, how much would it cost to install? A more extreme idea is to increase the surface area of your garage roof by adding additional plastic or metal panels. The more surface area, the more rain you collect.
I also read about a guy that built a fairly large roofed pavillion for just this purpose. He uses the area underneat for cookouts, etc. The roof is wild looking because he wanted to maximize his rain collection but it was built in such a way that it looks very modern and interesting.
Anyway, good luck!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Mike,
We could add gutters to the garage and use that, but the barrel would be pretty far from the things we need to water with it (since the garage borders the back woods of our property. Thanks for the idea though!
xo,
s
Stacy says
My only concern about the rain barrels is the potential for mosquitoes & the West Nile virus. They get pretty intense in these parts. Just like this heat today!!! (I sure do wish my car a.c. worked.)
Some county Parks & Recs departments have rain barrel work shops. So check them out if you’re interested.
bindc says
We do it all! I’m a huge gardener so we’ve always had a compost bin where all of our scraps and yard waste goes in. But, the compost only supplies so much so when we need compost, we use organic compost from our favorite nursery. We have a rain barrel that waters the gardens with an all natural mosquito repellent in the barrel. We eat organic when we can and have switched from regular ground beef to bison. We don’t use dryer sheets, we use dryer balls. We use reusable sandwich bags (instead of using a ton of ziplocs for school lunches). Of course we use reusable totes at the grocery store. The list goes on and on!!
Also, on top of using Tom’s of Maine and other natural products for us and our kids, we use the California Baby all-free shampoo/body wash, especially for babies. It’s fantastic!
So kudos to you (and all those out there) for being as green as possible! We can’t do 100% but we can do our small part.
Miriam says
Hi!
I think Christoph and I are equally green. Both of us are into using eco building materials for renovating our old farmhouse, preparing laundry detergent, baking bread, eating local food, not flying etc.
This summer there will be an exception though – we will fly for the first time in 13 years. To go look at grasses on Shetland.
Hope the grass research part makes the trip a bit less un-green :) Guess we will plant some trees this fall to balance the carbon nevertheless :)
SamiJ says
With all the focus on keeping chemicals from impacting our homes/selves, have you & Sherry read the articles about the carcinogenic flame-retardants that Ikea and other furniture stores use? While I love the usability of their furniture, it makes me definately favor buying older/vintage. The other surprising recent news item, is that most popular sunscreens contain hormone distruptors (article in NYT this week) — see the Environmental Working Group’s rankings of the most popular brands (www.ewg.org)
YoungHouseLove says
That’s why we love California Baby sunscreen! Totally pure. You can check out on EWG’s site (love that place by the way). And as for Ikea, we hadn’t heard that. We’re surprised because they do other things like trying to limit offgassing MDF and toxic glues. We’ll have to look into it!
xo,
s
Carolyn says
Thanks for suggesting Snacktaxis. Unfortunately they don’t ship to Australia – BOO!! but happily I found the same idea available locally (another US brand called Lunchskins).
YoungHouseLove says
Sweet! So glad you found something!
xo,
s
MarT says
I live in the Pacific Northwest. On a garden tour of a neighborhood that a large percentage of starving artists, I saw rain barrels “wrapped” with galvanized sheet metal roofing (if you like shiny), and balanced out by galvanized horse trough planters. The whole space was amazing. The owner wanted camouflage for the rain barrels and raised planters that would keep their dogs out.
I imagine you could disguise extra rain barrels with flexible
willow fencing
http://www.gardeners.com/Willow-Fencing/Landscaping_Fences,36-647,default,cp.html
or the bamboo kind. If you are worried about “too much water” or mosquitos, some folks have their rainwater rain from gutters or barrels into an underground cistern where is can be more safely stored in one location. My in-laws use this system in the Oregon high desert to help supplement their water supply in the dry summers.
And my kids love our organic flower and produce garden and all the wiggly worms in our worm bin. I can see a back yard seating area with worm bin end tables in your future. What a great style challenge for you!
Jami says
One way that my husband and I choose to be “green” is by buying used as often as possible. We LOVE thrift stores, antique stores and flea markets. Our house is filled with character and individuality… and we’re doing something affordable to keep perfectly useful (and sometimes beautiful) pieces out of landfills. Oe less newly-manufactured thing purchased from Target or Ikea.
Of course, our fervor extends to clothing as well. I can’t see the sense in buying organic produce and BPA free plastic bottles… while buying clothing for my daughter made in sweatshops in other parts of the world. Green + cruelty free = a great combination.
David says
This covers all the bases = saves you money, helps the environment, helps your health, makes you feel better, it’s so easy to do and it costs less than $50.00; Save money and the Earth and be clean at the same time! Add Bathroom Bidet Sprayers to all your bathrooms. I think Dr. Oz on Oprah said it best: “if you had pee or poop on your hand, you wouldn’t wipe it off with paper, would you? You’d wash it off” Available at http://www.bathroomsprayers.com with these you won’t even need toilet paper any more, just a towel to dry off! Don’t worry, you can still leave some out for guests and can even make it the soft stuff without feeling guilty. It’s cheap and can be installed without a plumber; and runs off the same water line to your toilet. You’ll probably pay for it in a few months of toilet paper savings. As for water use a drought is always a concern and must be dealt with prudently but remember the water use of industrial users far exceeds the water use of household users and in the case of toilet paper manufacture it is huge. The pollution and significant power use from that manufacturing process also contributes to global warming so switching to a hand bidet sprayer and lowering your toilet paper use is very green in multiple ways.
MarT says
Also got interrupted on my last post. I have also seen rain barrels wrapped with chicken wire or hog wire (the bigger stiffer rectangular kind) and then used attractively and effectively as a low trellis. We also have many folks out here in Seattle who run copper rain chains down to them instead of gutters which is beautiful and creates a great sound:
http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Amaryllis-Copper-Rain-Chain/1713051/product.html
One designer in Seattle who is really innovative and has experience with how to do sustainable landscaping and make it look good is Cameron Scott of Exteriorscapes. His portfolio is pretty fun to look at, he has a lot of experience and ideas about rainwater storage and I bet he could do a whole guest post on how to make it look pretty.
http://www.exteriorscapes.com/exteriorscapes.html
jja says
Living in Germany one simply has to be green. Driving mostly bike, separating garbage – paper, glass, bio, plastic etc. using by low energy saving bulbs.
Buying organic food, supporting local farmers. Here it is just a way of life. Even most paid CEO won’t use his Mercedes if he lives in a city then rather a bike, bike traces are all around the city and you pay more tax if you drive a car, so called ecology tax. No plastic bags at grocery, mostly a cotton one, reusable. Energy saving household equipment using extremely small amount of water or electricity. I love this country to giving me so many opportunities to be green.
Catherine says
Here’s a great reason to feel good about using Dr. Bronner’s (or other veg-derived soaps): my toddler inexplicably decided to chug our “Baby Mild” Dr. Bronner’s the other day. We use it to clean him, us, the floors, my bras, etc. & always kept it handy next to the tub. I was two steps away from him, turned away for literally a moment, but didn’t even see him do it. When he started to puke uncontrollably, however, I figured out what happened.
Not so fun – but the good news is that if it had been petroleum-derived, we would have been in for a trip to the ER. As it was, he was briefly very sick, we were scared mightily, but everything was ok. I cannot tell you how many less dramatic moments I’ve had where I’ve thought, “I’m so glad I switched over to the non-toxic [spray cleaner, deodorant, etc.] version!”
My husband was a little reluctant to chuck all our old brands & thought using baking soda & vinegar to clean was nothing short of heretical, but now we’re really glad we made the switch!
Caroline says
Just wanted to say that I love that you referenced venn diagrams… hilarious!
Kathi says
We don’t do as much yet as I’d like to when it comes to being green, but in the last couple of years, we’ve significantly increased our recycling/reuse efforts. This has cut down the amount of trash we throw out down to 1 kitchen sized bag a week (we used to have 2 or 3 a week).
I love No Impact Man! I’ve been following his blog for a couple of years and he’s very inspiring!
Rachel Elizabeth says
We are working on being even more green. Our first baby is due in August and we want to make our home the healthiest environment possible. We are also cloth diapering and we recycle like made.