Greenwise

Publix puts out a quarterly magazine called Greenwise which focuses on organic, all natural and earth-friendly stuff. I always enjoy reading this mini-magazine and get some good ideas from it. My current issue of Greenwise arrived today. One article taht particularly struck me was 10 Ideas Under $10 --- thrifty mom's guide to going green. Looking through it, I was kind of supprised at how many of these things I actually use/do. Often, going green is much more cost effective in the long run.

1. Low-flow Showerheads --- Last fall, I replaced the showerhead in our main bathroom, as the previous one had burst. We have a pretty small hot water heater, and previously, we usually ran out of hot water before we finished showering. Now, I haven't run out of hot water in over 9 months. I must confess however, that I went with a pricier handheld option for ease in bathing Thing 1 and Thing 2. Between the low flow shower head and low flow toilets, we've reduced our monthly water consumption by a good solid 1/3!

2. Dimmer switches -- Currently I only have these on my dining room chandelier, however, I tend to use more lamps than overhead lights anyway (I like the coziness).

3. Green Cleaning Products --- I must confess that most of my cleaning product purchases are cost driven, however, I do buy the Green ones when they are cost effective. One of my friends, Teacher Chick, actually makes her own laundry detergent - I haven't tried that yet, but she ADORES it!

4. Discloths - The article states that if every U.S household used one fewer roll of paper towels, we could save 544,000 trees. I bought a 6 pack of organic cotton dischloths at Target last year right after Christmas (the organic cotton was a nice bonus, I bought the pack because they were clearanced priced). Between those and the other 2 I already had, I've cut down our paper towel consumption from 5-6 rolls per month to about 1 per month (there are some super gross jobs that are just better geared to paper towels!)

5. Clothesline -- I've started my air drying -- and I'm loving it this summer! We'll see how it works out in the fall. Since I don't have the option of a clothesline in my neighborhood, I bought a drying rack -- that actually doesn't collapse under the weight of 2 items of clothing -- but it was definitely more than $10! Still I highly recommend it!

6. Stainless Steel Water Bottles - According to the article, it takes 54 million barrels of oil to produce and transport plastic water bottles. That's a lot of oil consumed in the midst of skyrocketing oil prices! While I don't yet have a stainless steel bottle, I do keep a glass on my desk at work for water, and I use our million sports water bottles when on the go.

7. Insulated lunch bags - Oh yes, I definitely do this --- when I actually take my lunch! I live really close to my office so on most days I come home at lunch and let the pups out to romp.

8. Biodegradable trash bags - I really haven't given these a whirl since they debuted eons ago and were really bad about breaking when you took the trash out. I might give them another try, if I find it cost effective. I do curbside recycle, which has definitely reduced our trash output!

9. Rechargeable batteries --- I do use some rechargeables - although I think I need a better rechargeable set. Mine don't seem to be holding a decent charge. Maybe they have outlived their lifespan?

10. Recycled toilet paper -- Everyday, we flush 27,000 trees down the toilet. Wow. Apparently if we used just one roll of 100% recycled instead, we'd save 423,900. Wow. Good thing I LIKE the Publix Greenwise toilet paper!

One thing I found kind of funny was that while the article showed a picture of a reusuable grocery bag, it didn't mention them as a 10 under $10 --- I'd love to know the stats about how much oil we use with those plastic grocery sacks. And just so you know...... I use reusable bags! And LOVE them!