Whole Health Dietitian — Tastefully Fueling Active Transportation
Be aware of your hot water use today. Turn off the water while scrubbing dishes. Take a shower instead of a bath, and try to take a shower that lasts half as long as usual.
For more details and specific tips on saving hot water when doing the dishes, see this post.
—
Daily action from http://www.lcwr.org/lcwrsocialjustice/eoclentcalendar2010.pdf
If you’re going to be away from an appliance for over an hour, turn it off as you leave the room. Even on an “energy-saver” setting, a computer, game console, or TV wastes more energy when it’s on than if you really turn it off.
Even when turned “off,” some appliances continue to draw energy, especially those with remote controls or with displays. Plug these appliances into a power strip and flip the switch to truly stop drawing power. Cell phone chargers draw power when plugged in, even if your phone is not connected. Learn more about these energy vampires here.
—
Daily action from http://www.lcwr.org/lcwrsocialjustice/eoclentcalendar2010.pdf
Check windows and doors for drafts with a ribbon or feather. If it flutters, make or buy a draft dodger, or seal leaks with caulk and weatherstripping.
Click here for more information about the “draft dodger” and how to make one. You can achieve a similar affect by folding an old blanket to the appropriate size and placing it on the floor in front of the drafty door.
—
Daily action from http://www.lcwr.org/lcwrsocialjustice/eoclentcalendar2010.pdf
Remember your baptism today, and the power of water. Try to conserve: Leave a bucket in the shower or kitchen sink, and collect “grey water” to water the plants. Have a lawn? Consider a rain barrel so you can water the lawn with rain.
If you visit the bathroom in our apartment, you will be greeted by an array of plastic jugs. We use these to collect the cold water that comes out when we’re waiting for our pipes to warm up before showering. Technically, this is not grey water, since it’s fresh out of the tap and perfectly potable, but that’s all the more reason not to let it run down the drain. We share our apartment with a decent number of houseplants that happily drink this water.
I’ve toyed with the idea of using grey water to flush the toilet, but we haven’t taken that step yet.
While the tip suggests using a rain barrel to water a lawn, I recommend using that water for a vegetable garden — much tastier than all of that grass that leads to so much wasted water and oil (in the form of fertilizers and gas mowers).
—
Daily action from http://www.lcwr.org/lcwrsocialjustice/eoclentcalendar2010.pdf
Make one of your journeys more environmentally-friendly today. Could you combine two trips? Carpool rather than driving solo? Bike or walk, or take the bus, instead of driving?
This line of questioning occurs almost every time we venture out of the house. Ideally, the answer is bike or walk. If we drive, we think about how to maximize the trip, by making multiple stops in the area we visit.
Hopping in the car to run to the store for just one thing? Think about whether you really need that item immediately. Can it wait? Can you make do with something you already have or find something similar at a store that is bikeable or walkable?
—
Daily action from http://www.lcwr.org/lcwrsocialjustice/eoclentcalendar2010.pdf
Her Green Life