Going green...

 

Here's what I've pushed myself, and my family to do to get green.  I'll be writing blog entries on each topic to explain in further detail what I've done.

 

  1. CFL's in all our house lighting.  Posted about it here.

  2. Recycle.  There's not much trash that leaves our house anymore, and we're spreading the word.

  3. Composting.  All vegetable waste goes in the pile (besides all the orange peels I generate).

  4. Hybrid vehicle  -- Check this bad boy off the list, we brought one home!

  5. We're growing a garden.  Trying to squeak out as much produce as possible in a rather small space.

  6. Less is more.  It's been a big change, but we've donated at least 10 pickup truck loads of items to Good Will.

  7. Purchased green power from our energy provider.

  8. Using our vehicles less.  We have a small Honda, and a large Chevy truck.  

  9. Eating much more locally.  This has been harder than I thought.

  10. Using a programmable thermostat.  Saving us money is a nice side benefit.

  11. Telecommuting more.  The benefits here are debatable.

  12. Eating at home 95% of the time.  Out of 21 weekly meals, I cook 20 of them at home.

  13. Eat on REAL dishes!  We previously used 100 paper plates every 2 weeks.

  14. Bought Energy Star appliances as the old ones needed replacing.  A fridge, stove, and soon a dishwasher.

  15. Making more conscious decisions shopping.  Buying products with less packaging, organics, items from green companies. 

  16. Reducing our bills by mail.  Signing up for all available email bill notifications helped reduce our paper trail.

  17. Dieting.  Sounds odd, but we're eating less food than we ever have, and far less beef.

  18. Quick showers and water conservation.  I can get clean quick.

  19. Kill-a-watt.  Using this item was an eye opener.

  20. Hosting this site green!  The company we host with buys REC's. 

  21. Investing green.  Our small investment fund is buying into green companies.

 

On the to-do list.

  1. Solar water heater. 

  2. Solar Array.  Probably can't afford full power yet, but we can build the system.

  3. Solar bacon cooker.  Priorities man!

A lot of this is low hanging fruit.  I've been able to institute most of these changes with minimal impact to my family.  There's more to do, and I have many goals.  Solar, small scale solar tower, geothermal, wind turbine, and much more.  The ultimate achievement would be to get carbon neutral, and be self sufficient energy wise.   I don't think we can go completely off the grid, but with net metering I think we can supply more energy than we consume.  It's going to require us moving one way or another, and some large financial investments.  I think this long term project is valuable to me and the wife, but even more so to our children.  Instilling good practice now will help them live green later.   

 

  This site is hosted green.