Going Green, One Step Further.
Twittermoms is running a contest sponsored by Airwear , maker of environmentally sound eyewear, and Airwear’s Lighter.Safer.Greener campaign spokeswoman, Beth Aldrich, a green living expert. The contest encourages bloggers to share their tips for incorporating green living into everyday life. I think most people know about switching to energy-efficient lightbulbs, recycling, using cloth bags at the supermarkets. It hasn’t taken long for these seemingly small actions to become standard practice, which is amazing, because it amounts to a change in culture, which usually takes at least a generation. So, kudos to us!
But do you ever wonder if there is more that you could be doing, in terms of reducing waste and using less resources to begin with? We recently made some changes in our household to take green living one step further, and –bonus!– we save money! So, here are my three eco-friendly tips:
- We recently visited friends in Seattle, and being the mother of a messy toddler, it didn’t take me long to notice that there were NO paper towels or napkins in their kitchen! None! What do they use instead? Easy! Cloth napkins and washcloths. I mean, every kitchen has dishtowels usually but to use cloth for everything? Novel idea–to me, anyway! Soon after we returned home, we used up our last roll of paper towels and seized that opportunity to make the switch to a paperless kitchen. I went to Target and stocked up on cloth napkins, washcloths and more dishtowels. Since these items are small, they do not take up much additional space in our hamper. Each person gets their own cloth napkin for mealtimes, and reuses it until it is too dirty to be used, then it goes into the wash. I generally use one washcloth all day to wipe my daughter’s face and hands after she eats, then toss it in the hamper at the end of the day. Dishtowels are reused until laundry day. I also bought cheap cloth rags specifically for housecleaning, or I rip up old t-shirts that have seen better days . Instead of grabbing a paper towel to wipe spills off the floor or do other household cleaning, I use these rags.
- I buy in bulk at the supermarket. Buying in bulk means you waste less packaging, and you also save money. I used to think shopping at Whole Foods was a luxury but I found that by taking advantage of WF’s bulk selection, I actually save money. I stock up on family favorites like granola and animal crackers, and I also buy dried beans among other things. (You use even less packaging if you bring your own containers to the store!)
- I freecycle! Instead of throwing out things we’ve outgrown, no longer need or want, we post the items to our local Freecycle listserv. This keeps more of our “stuff” out of the landfill, which is great especially for those plastic things that live on forever in a landfill. We also save money when we find things on Freecycle that we, in turn, need or want.
Check out the Airwear contest below to submit your own tips for green living for a chance to win Airware eyewear for your whole family!
