These days most of us are looking for ways to save both money and resources. It is becoming more clear that we all need to do our part to make wise decisions about what we consume.
While I am not an expert in “green living,” I think simply making common-sense steps towards being frugal and wasting less around my own home is a great way to start! By making small changes, using less, saving more and thinking about clever ways to use what we already have, we can be good stewards of our resources.
SunChips is generously sponsoring a $100 giveaway to one lucky reader of The Inspired Room simply for sharing YOUR green living tips! WOO HOO! I think we could all use an extra $100, so check out my tips below and then offer one of your own in the comments! One lucky commenter will win $100! {GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED}
Here are a few frugal (& green!) tips:
- Visit a local Rebuilding Center to find great things you can “re-use” to remodel your home: light fixtures, sinks, cabinets, tubs and more! Old sinks can be refinished and look good as new!
- Salvage existing kitchen cabinet boxes with a fresh coat of paint and install new cabinet doors rather than starting over with all new cabinets. I did this in my last kitchen by installing both glass and regular cabinets and new drawers into existing cabinet bases.
- Rather than buying new, re-fresh existing furniture or thrift store finds with paint or slipcovers.
- Use natural elements (like fruit, plants, moss, bamboo, twigs, or nests) for decorating your home (see more ideas in this post Creative Ideas for Decorating Naturally).
- Share and find cool stuff on Freecycle, Craigslist, or your local Goodwill or thrift store. While I was moving I donated tons of stuff that someone else can repurpose at their house!
- Downsize to or remodel a “not so big house” in order to save money, energy and make better use of the space you already have (I love this concept as I have just downsized to my own “not so big house”).
- Consider rain chains and barrels instead of downspouts to reduce your water consumption by harvesting your own rain water in style! {I just learned about this tip last week on my Gig Harbor Drive By!} Use the collected rain water for the lawn, washing the dog, laundry or watering plants!
- Use hardy native plants in your landscapes to save water and maintenance — in the northwest that means use lots of moss, ferns, rhododendrons and azaleas!
- Home composting is a small step you can take to make your community greener. It is surprisingly straightforward and it benefits both you and the environment. The sponsor of our $100 giveaway today, SunChips, recognized these benefits and has introduced new packaging that is made of 33% renewable materials. This may seem like a small change, but in 2010, they plan on having every SunChips bag made 100% compostable. Learn how to create your own hot, active compost here and take your small step.
What small “green” steps or changes have you made around your home?
Share a green living tip here this week and you’ll be entered to win something very green… $100!
PS. My friend Sandy at Reluctant Entertainer also has a giveaway today, so after you share your green tip here, head on over and check out her giveaway too!
Top photo: HGTV…check out their 2009 GREEN HOME
THE $100 GIVEAWAY CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. CONTEST ENDED APRIL 18 9PM PST
here’s my list:
*buy in bulk! (as much as i can – saves on packaging!)
*clean with no chemicals…stick to the natural stuff (bkng soda, lemons, vinegar, etc.)
*no more bottled water! use the canteens and skip the scary chemicals in the plastic!
*borrow dad’s vespa for hubby to ride! 90 miles to the gallon!!! can’t beat it!
*ALL bills paid online
*pass on my magazines to friends (or they to me!)
*start plants from seed in green house purchased on ebay
*buy used and sell used – craigs list and ebay ROCK!
We recycle just about everything. What we don’t recycle, we donate or give away or try to repurpose. I don’t understand how people can fit all of their recycling into that one little red bin each week because we use a full-sized trash can for ours, as well as the red bin, and occasionally an extra bag or two!
There are some great ideas here. And what a fun giveaway!
I find ways to keep re-using baggies and grocery store bags etc rather than buying additional trash bags etc. If a ziploc isn’t dirty and can be re-used, I keep them and use them again rather than buying more. I try to conserve water and gas heat by using my dishwasher only once a week (I’m single, so I can wait till it fills up
and waiting to do oneload of wash rather than several small ones. Not sure if those qualify as “green…”
Think outside the box. Repurpose things that you already have around the house instead of buying new. This saves money, gets your mind thinking creatively, and is a great way to be green and resourceful. We have a quite large dining table that we bought used from a yard sale. It is great solid pine, but I disliked the heart shaped cut-outs on the sides for some reason
so my husband got creative and instead of going out and looking for a new table, he covered the hearts with pieces of stained wood and we’re going to “burn” some words into it, make it our own. I clean out natural peanut butter jars when they are empty and we use them as drinking glasses! Clean out old paint cans and use them for storage. Start thinking outside the box and your perspective changes, your world around you changes! Your friends will start asking YOU for ideas!
Green tips – compost and recycle! Since we’ve started doing those things, we only have one bag of trash every other week.
Super easy and simple (also purchasing bar soap will save on money too! I buy Sappo Hill soap!).
Pattys inspiring blog post..Hmmm… Decisions, Decisions….
I love these ideas! I am committed to searching for used items before buying anything new. I recently started making linen sandwich and snack baggies that can be thrown in the wash when they get dirty. The amount of plastic baggies that we use has decreased DRAMATICALLY. I’ve finally gotten into the habit of bringing my own bags to the store and save bread bags for dirty diapers.
Amy Jo Tragers inspiring blog post..baby girl, please
i love making something new out of something used! i just went to the thrift store the other day and found old vintage flat sheets that i will sandwich batting between and then add a satin ribbon edge to make a “porch” blanket. you can either do machine quilting on it or knot it. beautiful and so frugal and green!
love this blog!
I don’t think I have anything new to share but some things we do are recycle paper, glass and plastic, try to find a re-use for most household things, make my own cleaners out of vinegar and baking soda, try not to wash in hot water, cook more, open the shades and turn off all the lights, and install energy efficient bulbs throughout the house!
i make my own paints out of natural things like clay for true earth colors…living in the southeast helps as there is pleanty of clay soil…
My last name is “Green”
I’m on the “Green Team” at work
and my method of perserving the environment is by teaching my precious grandchildren to “be green”. It thrills them to make projects with recycled materials – TP rolls, oatmeal cylinders, etc. We also have wonderful engaging conversations about how important recycling is. We can do our best to be green, but without future generations being educated on the necessity, our efforts will be in vain.
Oh yeah, BTW, I sure could put the $100 toward a good cause!
Have a blessed day,
Green37214@gmail.com
Our family has been making strides toward greener living for over a year now and I’m please with our progress. One thing that I’ve done is to recycle un-needed t-shirts into reusable shopping bags.
Just sew the bottom up, then cut out the neck and cut off the sleeves to make handles and you’re set! They fold up so small to take with you to the store, plus they wash so easily when they get dirty
Loras inspiring blog post..Playing Games
We are progressively becoming more “green” – not for the sake of being trendy, but rather for our health and the cost effectiveness. So, let’s see…I make all of my own cleaning products and laundry detergent (which are amazingly more effective than store bought), I take my own sacks to the grocery store, buy as many things as possible 2nd hand, repurpose items that have seen their better days (i.e. old towels…), we no longer use paper plates and cups…We are now gardeners and finding organic ways to solve pest issues and I have also started canning.
I’ll stop there.
Pam Moores inspiring blog post..A Couple Completed Projects
We are renting a house right now, so the big green things – replacing the drafty windows and old a/c – aren’t possible for us right now. But I can do little things – I changed out all the light bulbs and replaced them with energy efficient ones, turned the water heater down and only run the dishwasher when it’s full. The little things can add up!
Michelle Gs inspiring blog post..Our 1st California Adventure
Recycle
Reuse water bottles
compost
Repurpose (this is my favorite – I have found all kinds of neat new ways to use stuff I already have!)
I air dry my clothes, makes them last longer as well as saves electricity. I use cooking water to water plants. I am saving stained or torn clothing to make some market totes- I will just patchwork them together and use up bits and pieces. I am growing a garden and I compost. I have rechargeable batteries.
Hollys inspiring blog post..Absense makes y’all just love me more, right?
I use apple cider vinegar for just about everything…makes a great cleaner, insecticide, even keeps my allergies at bay!
After my hubby’s white t-shirts are no longer white, I cut them up and use them in place of paper towels. Even to clean the toilet. (I do a seperate load of laundry for these rags).
cathys inspiring blog post..I promise I won’t show flower pictures everyday.
By the way I started a blog since I entered…I al listed above and just Jeri with my contribution. So you can find me at my blog
Jeris inspiring blog post..Five little questions
I haven’t considered myself a “green” person because I use the plastic bags at the grocery and haven’t been good at recycling much. But I now realize that I am VERY green because of your post. I recycle furniture and goods ALL the time. I have a chair in my den that I got at Goodwill that I recovered. I have a used table that I got at a flea market. We are building a guest house and we are reusing our old kitchen cabinets instead of getting new ones. I just bought plates and glasses at Goodwill this week. I also participate in yard sales too, lot’s of good stuff to reuse there! So I am feeling better about myself…and I hope to win the $100.00!
Thanks,
Traci
Tracis inspiring blog post..OH, MY GOSH! OH, MY GOSH!
the biggest thing we do is try to do most of our shopping at the local thrift store. it is a triple win for us: we can give them things we are no longer using instead of throwing things away, we find good deals as we reuse others’ things and we can walk there to save on gas, etc.
melanies inspiring blog post..to believe or not to believe? that is the question…
We stopped using paper towels and started using towels to do our cleaning. We also save our plastic bags to reuse them over and over for shopping trips and lunches etc..We Recycle bottles and newspaper as well.
My latest green tip is to use cloth napkins instead of paper. We got lots of them when we got married eleven years ago, but since then, they have largely sat unattended in our buffet. I started using them last year and really enjoy the effects: they save trees and they make the dinner table so elegant.
I framed a piece of lined paper, and write my to do list on it with a dry erase pen to save paper.
Recycle
Rain barrels – so great for watering plants!
Stainless refillable water bottles or BPA free Nalgenes
Reusable shopping bags (and take them in!)
Use microfiber cloths instead of disposable cloths for dusting and in place of paper towels
We actually now have solar collectors to heat our water (and we heat our house with hot water). Very great, but not inexpensive. We saved for a long time to get them.
Thanks for the giveaway!
denise
I like using household items to do other houshold jobs…
I put lemon and orange peels down the garbage disposal for anti-bacterial properties and yummy smell.
I clean with baking soda, vinegar, and salt. Sprinkle the baking soda your sinks and toilets to give it a shine – it cleans grout without taking away the color. Vinegar solution cleans the floor without leaving behind toxins for children and pets. There are plenty of “recipes” on the Internet.
I like to save money…
We have a tankless hot water heater and high effeciency washer and dryer.
I purchase spices and other dry goods in bulk. I can re-use my old container and then recycle the plastic bags I bought it in. (I bought a year’s supply of bay leaf the other day for a whopping $.04 at Winco – it was $4/lb.)
And I have fun…
Finding items I need – at Thrift Stores or on Websites like Freecycle and Craigslist – that have already been used once feels like a successful treasure hunt.
And shower with your better half sometime. It saves water.
We use reusuable shopping bags in our home. I figured I’ve save at least 100 Target bags from coming into our home and then back out into the world.
I also love to use vinegar/water to clean my wood floors and mirrors. It works wonders.
Mrs. Dunbars inspiring blog post..WW- A Picture of my favorite picture
I try to turn off as much lights as possible, use blankets when I’m cold, and recycle as much as I can! thanks for the giveaway!I’ve also been inspired by others on new things I can try! thanks!
We can all do a few simple things to save money and energy. If we all selected one thing, we could make a huge difference in our world…and in our pocket book!
Here are a few of my simple tips:
*Don’t run the water the entire time you’re washing dishes.
*Plant a garden – even a container garden! And, buy from your local farmer’s markets! You will get incredibly fresh and yummy produce and you will help save fuel that would normally be used to ship grocery store produce from far, far away.
*take a walk in your neighborhood and pick up cans. You will tidy up your neighborhood and can make some cash!
*Recycle, Recycle, recycle. Furniture, old dishes, cans, bottles – recycle what you can. Sometimes the ASPCA will take your old newspapers.
*Use your husbands old t-shirts for dusting clothes!
I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s posts. Although I’m not perfect when it comes to these things – I try.
Reuse, Reduce, Recycle! Even my 6 year old knows the mantra and what it means, and we try hard to live by it.
We recycle or compost almost everything – our trash only goes to the curb once a month
Last Summer we bought an old-fashioned push mower – now we save by not using gas for the traditional kind!
Water consumption is my big focus right now. We recycle water we don’t drink (sometimes a cup of water sits out too long and begins to taste funny) by pouring it into my sons humidifier or using it to water plans. Of course the water is OFF while we brush our teeth or lather our hands…we put as little down the drain as possible.
The most important thing we do at our house is teach out 2 children all the little things, so that they’ll grow up to be responsible adults
Mandys inspiring blog post..Is it Spring yet?
I put a big bucket outside and started composting about 6 months ago. I was surprised to find that my natural fertilizer has become a small container garden, as I now have potato and squash plants sprouting up from my thrown out cuttings.
I’m also big on transforming old furniture. A lot of the furniture in my house has been repainted, reupholstered, and refurbished to become a beautiful addition to the home. You can get a lot of bang for the buck just by painting an old piece of furniture.
Nessa Dees inspiring blog post..IF: Fleeting
We recycle paper, cardboard, glass,aluminum and batteries.
We love to find treasures at Goodwill instead of buying new.
Instead of new books – we frequent the library at least once a week.
We keep our heat/AC on timers so they turn down at night.
We re-use plastic grocery bags.
We no longer buy bottled water .
Thanks for a fun giveaway!
Amy
Amy Bs inspiring blog post..Free On-line Typing
We’re repainting old furniture and repurposing it instead of buying new.
Juliannas inspiring blog post..Refrigerator Bran Muffins
My kids wardrobes are pretty much 100% handed down or bought at garage sales or the local goodwill. Then we send them on to someone else when we are done with them. Being frugal actually lead to being very “green.”
We recycle.
My husband rides to work with his brother so we only have one car cuts down on pollution.
We shop the thirty stores a lot and buy on ebay too.
I try to do little things to be green and I should do more. I’ve been using CFL’s before they were commonplace. I’ve been using canvas bags at the grocery store for a while. Luckily they have become more popular and I don’t get strange looks when they ask me “paper or plastic” and I say I’ve brought my own. I also try to use things that can be washed rather than have to thrown away like dishtowels, and cloth napkins. This spring I am planting more drought tolerant plants and reducing the amount of grass in my yard to save on water and $$$. I’m also hoping to get a compost pile started before too long!
I conserve gas by not taking as many trips into town. If I must go into town I run all my errands in one day instead of doing many. I pay my bills online as well. I am a photographer and sell my unique cards, and ONLY use recycled card paper in doing so.
Though I am much farther away from green living than I would like, it is definitely something we are working on! We recycle ALL of our cardboards, plastics, etc and recycle each week about double of what we throw out in the garbage. I have recently started our compost (though I’m still going to read up on the link you posted!) and am starting to make our own laundry detergent. We took a field trip to a landfill about a week ago and it really woke me up on how much we waste and where it all goes!
I LOVE that SunChips will soon have fully compostable bags- that is HUGE!!
We are getting a tankless water heater!
twinjackienurse at gmail.com
*I love growing my own veggies, and sharing them with others.
*breastfeeding (saves both money, and all the cans that come with formula)
*bread baking rather than buying prepackaged loafs
*using rechargeable batteries whenever possible
*although we have a big family, we still want to conserve our gas useage. We have 2 vehicles. One small car that is used whenever possible (husband’s work, dr. appointments, etc.) and one van that we can fit all of us in for family travel.
Great ideas have been posted here!
Traci Porters inspiring blog post..I know, I know…
Thanks for all the great tips.
Jamess inspiring blog post..How To Recycle Old Credit Cards
I often blog about green living and how to reduce your impact on the Earth. This year one of my experiements involves growing upside-down tomatoes in gallon milk jugs.
Elizabeth Barrettes inspiring blog post..My Tomatoes Are Growing
It’s remarkable what some do not want, we have found some brilliant stuff at garage sales like, wardrobes, tables etc. after giving them a lick of paint or striping them down they look fantastic.
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