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Water Saving Laundry Tips

July 24, 2009 in Water by Jennifer | No comments

Laundry with kids is a pain – it’s never ending! Am I wrong? And I just have the one child; all you parents with 2, 3, and 4 + kiddos amaze me. Do you ever stop washing clothes? There are still ways to conserve water though, i.e. lessen the loads besides simply buying a more efficient washer…

Separating laundry is overrated: I’m not saying toss a red shirt into a load of white towels, but everyone is so darn picky about separating clothing, from bedding, from baby items, and so fourth. MOST of your stuff can be washed together with fine results. I know plenty of folks who will wash a half load or a not quite full load because they don’t have enough of one sort of item to fill the load. When you don’t fill the washer it wastes water and energy. Around here we have two sorts of loads – delicate and not delicate. That’s it. Mix it up – I swear the world won’t end. NOTE: on the rare occasions that I do have a red item, or some other maybe leaky color item, I wash it with the old cleaning rags – who cares what color they are.

Buy washable stuff: This sort of goes along with the above tip. If you buy hard to wash items, or items that do absolutely need to be washed alone, it’s going to waste water. When purchasing clothing, bedding, and other textiles, base part of your decision on ease o’ care.

Babies aren’t that sensitive: When Cedar was a babe, his pediatrician said we could wash his baby stuff with our adult stuff no problem. We used an eco-friendly, dye-free, fragrance-free detergent, but we used it for everything. The only time you actually need to wash your baby’s clothing in a separate load is if he happens to have seriously sensitive skin and you need to use more expensive baby wash, or if he’s a preemie, which may make him more sensitive (ask your pediatrician).

Hand washing can save water on super dedicates… but: Only if you fill a basin, or the sink, then turn the water off. Lots of folks tend to wash as the water runs, but it’s unnecessary.

Don’t be so fresh: Towels can be used a lot. Most clothing can be worn more than once. Cloth napkins in a fairly tidy meal environment can be used for the next meal too.

What else can you think of?

Create an earth-friendly rain garden

May 26, 2009 in Organic Gardening by Jennifer | 3 comments

First of all a rain garden is not that much different from a traditional garden, it’s just a far more efficient garden. Rain gardens use rain and stormwater runoff to their advantage and contain smart plant selections.

Other key rain garden tips:

  • Rain gardens fare better when small rather than large.
  • Garden sites are usually located close to runoff sources.
  • Rain gardens are designed to withstand moisture extremes and can hold up even when exposed to nitrogen (found in runoff water). See a cool pdf poster that explains rain garden design.
  • There are two basic rain gardens – under-drained and self-contained.
  • Rain gardens are slightly depressed into the earth so that rain water may be better soaked up when it rains or storms.
  • Water-friendly plants, or at least plants that can stand a bit more water tend to be used.
  • Water in a rain garden is stored via design. I.e. your rain garden will save water from a storm and use it over a few days.
  • It helps to have slope to your land/yard for a proper rain garden, but it’s not a necessity. You can also make changes to your land plot.

To learn more about rain gardens see the following links:

Read an excellent FREE rain garden how-to guide and booklet. The previous guide is very good, but your local community extension office may have a booklet on rain gardens especially for your area, so I’d check.

Green Apartment Life – Easy Ways To Get Sustainable

March 16, 2009 in Green Audit, Green Your Home by Jennifer | 1 comment

This week we’ve been looking at green apartment living. So far we’ve discussed:

Now we’ll look at some green tips that apply to anyone, even folks in an apartment, and later we’ll check out some sustainable decor and furnishings for apartment life before wrapping up this series.

When you live in an apartment, some green rules won’t apply. Unless you live in a very flexible apartment complex, you may not be able to do things like install a low-flow toilet, change your heating and cooling source, or build a rain barrel. But there are still plenty of ways to go green when living in an apartment. Such as…

Insulate your apartment. Caulking is iffy in an apartment but weather stripping and door draft stoppers are usually ok.

Ditch your landline phone.

Turn Down the Thermostat. You may be better off than a home dweller in this case, especially if you live on a first or second floor with an apartment above you. The extra layer of housing can help to seal in heat in the winter and keep it cooler in summer.

Live simply for a better, greener life.

Use eco-smart lighting like compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs and LED lighting.

Conserve water!

You can solve indoor air pollution even in an apartment. The same tips that work for a house work for an apartment.

Rethink your disposables. Using items like cloth napkins and cleaning cloths over paper towels is not only eco-friendly, but handy in an apartment. Apartments tend to be short on space and it takes more space to store huge packs of paper towels.

Hold a green audit! Not all green home audit questions will apply to an apartment dweller. However, there’s still a lot you can audit and possibly change to stay green. Check out the following home audits and simply cut out questions that don’t apply – such as roofing or landscaping issues.

Do you live in an apartment? How are you keeping it green?

Get Your Kids Involved With Greening the House

August 11, 2008 in Children & Babies, Organic Gardening by Jennifer | 1 comment

tree hugger

Kids can be a valuable asset when it comes to going green. Where your home is concerned, kids can be really helpful because teaching them green steps early on means they’ll be more vigilant than you even.

My son always reminds me to turn off lights, and asks about recycling, so I know first hand that teaching your kids to be eco-friendly at home works.

Here are some easy green steps your kids can take at home:

Gardening: There’s no better way to learn about conserving than actually working with resources related to gardening. Your kids can learn about growth, organics, solar topics, seed saving (instead of buying new), composting, water use and conservation, and more. If you don’t have the yard space for a garden plot, these topics can easily be taught with a container garden.

Bathroom use: Lots of green opportunities occur in the bathroom. Even little kids can learn about turning the water off while brushing their teeth, not flushing everything yellow, and reusing a towel before washing.

Recycling: Get the kids involved in your home recycling. Kids can tell the difference between the recycling bins and the garbage can. Allow them to sort recycling and if they’re confused about bins, try this trick.

Clutter: Clutter and cleaning up said clutter is actually a cool way to teach eco-friendly objectives at home. Kids can learn that broken toys can be fixed, used toys and clothing can be given away vs. tossed, and more. As you clean the house make a point of talking to kids about these landfill reducing topics.

How do you get your kids involved with greening the house?