A “natural” dryer August 19, 2009

Do you hang your clothes outside to save money, energy, or both? Do you live in a home without outdoor space and wish you could? Do you want to cut back on your dryer use?

According to IdealBite:

• In 2007, clothes dryers in U.S. homes emitted 54.72 million metric tons of greenhouse gas-producing CO2, which is the equivalent to driving a car from LA to NYC 141 times. What’s the output for line drying: 0.
• Running a load of clothes in a natural gas-powered dryer costs about $0.17 per load and electric dryers, about $0.35 per load. That means air drying can save you around $94 per year or more.
• Clothes that dry in the sun or a breeze get a real fresh scent instead of a synthetic one from dryer sheets. It can also help bleach whites!

Here’s a great project, courtesy of Conversational Girl, to hang your clothes indoors when outdoors isn’t an option. Not only does it makes sense but it looks great too.

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

Another city charges for plastic bags June 4, 2009

ABC News reported last tonight that the city council of Washington D.C. has just approved a 5 cent tax for each plastic bag requested by customers in stores. The implementation of this plan is to encourage people to use reusable bags instead. San Fransisco banned plastic bags 2 years ago. Since Ireland started charging 33 cents per bag, 9 out of 10 shoppers began using reusable bags.

It was also reported that 100 billion plastic bags and 10 billion paper bags are disposed of every year.

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

Giveaway – Greening your “joe on the go” the Etsy, eco-way May 28, 2009

This giveaway is now over – Congratulations to Beth@Smart Family Tips, Kim Townsend, and Jessica.

The winning comments are:

Here is your sequence:

 3
 8
15
Timestamp: 2009-06-05 16:57:09 UTC

Because one of the winners did not respond, I had to have Random.org choose another:
Congratulations Greentechmama!

Here is your sequence:
18
Timestamp: 2009-06-09 16:46:18 UTC

Please note that one of them comments was my own so this was not counted in numbering the winning comments.

I've mentioned Etsy on this blog a few times now. It's the best place to find a hand made items by talented individuals. There's clothing, jewelry, household items, knitted and crocheted items - the list goes on and on. Eco-Etsy is where sellers use recycled materials for their craft. It's amazing what they come up with. You really need to check them both out if you haven't already.
One of my "Trying To Be Greener" reader's is a "green" Etsy crafter there. She and her husband, Zach, created Hobocamp Handmade in 2004. Melissa is the head seamstress and crafty scientist who works on creating everyday things a little bit cuter, and a little bit greener, by using recycled and vintage fabrics and anything else she can get her hands on. They've just had a baby and have started to design green baby items, too. Melissa also has her own blog, too.
Lucky you! Melissa is offering a coffee cuff made from recycled and vintage fabrics to 3 lucky readers! What a great way to protect your hands, save cardboard, and make a really great eco-statement!

		
		

			

				
			

			

				
			

			

				
			

			

		


You can enter a total of 5 times – leave a separate comment for each entry.

Leave a comment on this post for your first entry saying which coffee cuff you'd love to win. Only one comment per person will count as an entry.
Subscribe to Trying To Be Greener or let me know if you’re already a subscriber.
Spread the word on Twitter with a link to this post.
Give this post a Stumble.
Blog about this contest on your own site.

This giveaway is open to US residents and will end on June 4, 2009 at 12 midnight, EST. The lucky winners will be chosen by Random.org and will be notified by email. If any winner does not respond within 3 days, a new winner will be chosen. Good luck!

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

Lights out this Saturday night March 25, 2009

This Saturday, March 28, 2009, at 8:30pm local time, individuals, businesses, government buildings, schools and major landmarks will turn off non-essential lighting around the world. This participation in Earth Hour is to help show others and our elected officials about the need to address climate change.

Earth Hour 2009

This year, Earth Hour’s goal is for 1 billion people to turn off their lights. It’s not about what town or country you’re from, but rather, what planet you’re from! As of this moment, 2,712 cities, towns and municipalities in 83 countries have pledged to participate.

So collect your candles, get your board games ready, and be one of a billion this Saturday night. Lets hear it readers! Will you be one of them?

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

Corn based cups – good for the environment? December 2, 2008

Cups made from corn have been showing up at some coffee shops and other places were beverages are sold but are they the best option for the environment? Let’s take a look.

Some say they are:

• They’re made from corn so they reduce our use of petroleum, which most plastics come from.
• They’re made with a naturally occurring resources.
• They can be composted.

Some say they aren’t:

• They cost more to make than traditional plastic cups.
• The corn used is often made from genetically modified corn.
• The cups cannot be composted in your backyard. They need to be commercially composted.
• Not all shops that use these products are collecting them for composting.

If the cups are sent to a landfill rather than a commercial compost, they will decompose eventually, which can’t be said for plastic cups. It will take a long time, though.

The best bet, of course,  is to use a BPA-free, reusable beverage container when your on the go. You were kind of expecting me to say this, weren’t you?

But I’m curious everyone – have you seen these cups being offered where you live? If so, where?

Photo from Flickr by Elisharene

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

Go electronic and save paper October 24, 2008

I’m the sort of person who always writes things down so I don’t forget anything. It makes me feel better that my ideas are organized. There’s almost nothing I hate more than searching high and low for something and not being able to find it. 

Listed below are a few web sites that can help you to stay organized while saving paper at the same time:

Google Calendar and Yahoo Calendar: Enter all your appointments, birthdays, anniversaries, and have access to it from any computer.

Famundo: Online calendar, address book and more.

Stikkit: Electronic post-its

Go Simply Mobile: Enter important information on you computer, like appointments, birthdays, etc. Then when you want, these reminders can be sent to you via text messages. You can even add information from your phone when you’re away from your computer to your own saved tasks or someone else’s by calling a telephone number. Very handy if you have a forgetful spouse!

Pingg and eVite: Online invites.

If you know of any more online resources, let us know!

 

 

Google Calendar from Flickr by laurgasms

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Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

Start “greening” your children early October 23, 2008

As adults, we all know we should be taking care of our environment more but busy schedules and lifestyles sometimes prevent us from doing what we know is right. The time has long past, though, and as a society we need to take responsibility for the environmental situation we’re in right now. We need to start teaching children what this means so it becomes a natural part of their life. When asked what the best way is to help children learn to “go green”, my simple answer is teach by example. 

Before I had my daughter 10 months ago, I was a Special Education, fifth grade teacher for 15 years. Teaching by example, or modeling, was my motto and I still stand by this belief. If you want your children to adopt a more environmentally friendly outlook, you need to show them that you have too. Make sure you present these practices in a way that your child will understand, depending on their age. Help them to see how saving resources impacts their lives and what they can do to make things better. Here are some examples, and please, if you know of any others, let us know:

• Recycle: Have bins for recycling outside your home and let your child sort paper, glass and plastic. Recycle toys by asking your child if they know of any younger friends who may want them instead of throwing them in the trash. Recycle clothes by asking your child if you can both pick out items that don’t fit anymore and give them to family members. Do you live near a recycling center? If so, take your child for visit so they can see where all of their hard work goes to and what happens to it.
• Reuse: Pack your child’s lunch in reusable BPA-free containers. Give them their juice, milk or water in a reusable BPA-free reusable water bottle and help them understand the amount of plastic water bottles the world uses each day that usually aren’t recycled. When products are purchased at a store, help your child generate ideas of how the packaging can be used again for arts and crafts or building, in the case of boxes. Reuse school supplies each year that are still in good shape.
• Reduce: When you’re out shopping with your child, in addition to using it as a learning experience with math, help them to choose items with less packaging and ones that are more easily recyclable.
• Use your public library or used book stores: All children should have special books of their own but they should also have a library card if you have a library in your town. Teach your child how borrowing books or buying used books saves trees and resources. Take out books on endangered species and the environment that are geared towards their age group.
• Ride your bicycle when you can or walk with your child to run errands and explain what pollution is and why the Earth has it.
  
• Line dry your washed clothes and let your child help.
• If you have a backyard, start a compost. Let your child be “in charge” of paying attention to which scraps of food you produce that can be added to it. Plant a garden in the spring with the dirt they’ve helped to make.
• Save energy: Keep your thermostat at a lower setting in the winter time and wear sweaters instead. Use blankets to snuggle in as you read together or play games.

Teaching your children to be “greener” doesn’t have to be difficult. If you’re an active participant, these principles will become a lifestyle for them, which in turn will help their own generation and generations to come.

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Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.

Smilebox – Free e-cards, scrapbooks and slide shows October 13, 2008

I’m always on the lookout for new ways to send e-cards to friends. I like that they’re easily accessible and a quick way to send a card “just because”. It’s an great way to save paper and resources too. I’ve used Hallmark and American Greetings, which I’ve both found to be really convenient to use.

Recently I came across Smilebox which allows you to add your own photos, video, and music to make animated scrapbooks, slide shows and e-cards that you can email to friends or send to your blog for free. Free versions will have ads on the side and with an upgraded version, you can pay to print your work without ads. Smilebox has hundreds of designs to choose from.

You do need to download software from Smilebox to your computer to get started. If you have a Mac, Smilebox will work with iPhoto to bring all your photos within easy reach.

Do any of you have favorite e-card sites that you like to use? Let us all know so we can try out new sites.

Copyright © 2008. Trying To Be Greener. All rights reserved.