To celebrate Earth Day 2009, here are a few of the easier ones to incorporate in your life:
* Use tea towels instead of paper towels. If you can find linen towels, they're great because they don't leave lint on your china and glassware.
* Use architectural salvage or yard sale finds in your decorating for a one-of-a-kind look
* Carry re-usable bags when you do your grocery shopping. These Cath Kidston bags were made from recycled soda bottles.
* Consider hanging your clothes on a clothes line to dry them. Tumble driers use tons of energy. Even though a lot of home-owners associations do not allow them, there are ways you can be subtle about hanging things to dry.
What is your favourite way to be green?
I'm a true fan of your social consciousness. If we all do our part in small ways we can make a difference. It really does take a village. I admire you for putting it out there for all of us to think about. My truly favorite way of being green is to re-use things that have been used before, from cloth shopping bags to creating art and furrniture from antique pieces and salvaged objects! Great post!
ReplyDeleteLots of natural light. There isn't one on in the manse today, although it is cloudy out. And I always turn them out when no one is in a room.
ReplyDeleteThe tea towel thing is great! I've started using them instead of paper towels, but then they get washed and dried.... hmmm... a wash?
I walk as much as possible, instead of taking the car.
Mrs. E. and I prefer antiques to new furniture.
Wear vintage! Highly tailored vintage, but vintage none the less.
I like carrying my own shopping bag. From a strictly aesthetic viewpoint, it is much more satisfying. (Big canvas totes from Bean's and Land's End are fantastically constructed.)
Meg -- Now I always think of you when I see dish towels (I mean that in a good way!) and clothes hanging out to dry. Although I have to admit, I never come across clothes lines. Just a few random items on someone's back porch. Anyway, you're doing a great job championing simple things!
ReplyDeleteit's all about using vintage in design for me- why buy something new when something old and cool can be repurposed. outside of a few items, my home is 100 recycled (used to be owned by other people) stuff.
ReplyDeleteLearning to eat more seasonally has been my favorite earth-friendly endeavor; I’ve learned about new ingredients and lots of new favorite recipes in the process!!
ReplyDeleteJust cutting back on consumption is my favorite method of being green.
ReplyDeleteLights off when I leave a room (childhood habit.)
ReplyDeleteEating seasonally (was raised that way but we didn't have words for it back then.)
I have a circular clothesline I use, and it comes down for storage after each use, so as not to offend the community, although my back is high fenced-hedged off.
Oh there is so much, I agree with all the above, hand me downs for my kids, bottles versus plastic, I cook home meals for school as lunch to avoid their one way containers, we reuse, recycle and reduce... we give away instead of throw away,
ReplyDeletethere is a wonderful company here on the Eastcoast which does recycle and renovate used kitchens and bathrooms called Green Demolitions,as a professional I recommend them whereever I can...
* We're always trying to be CONSCIOUS of it~~~ I think "AWARENESS I*S GREEN"! Now, pleeeease, can you tell us where to find those delightful tea towels hanging on the line in your last photo? ~~~ So darling n' fun! Many thanks, Linda in AZ *
ReplyDeleteDo you know of any place that sells Cath Kidston products in the USA?
ReplyDeleteLinda and Mimi... both the Cath Kidston and the tea towels are from shops in the UK. Sorry! I am sure you can get Cath Kidston things here, but don't know of a source.
ReplyDelete* Came back to see if you'd had time to answer my question~~~ many thanks! (She DOES have a website ~ went there, but the ones that were of particular interest, to ME anyway, weren't there/available... Sure do APPRECIATE the info, tho!!! Best n' THANKS AGAIN, Linda in AZ *
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas, all, Meg. I have started hanging my sheets outside to dry and they smell wonderful and feel nicely crisp. Also - had some extra cloth napkins that I was no longer using, so now carry them in the car for wipes/spills.
ReplyDelete–Lana
I am desperate to have a few of those Cath bags. It's so hard to get her stuff in the US and shipping from the UK is super expensive. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteWe stopped using paper towels about 6 months ago and only occasionally whine about missing them.