In the past, I have done days where we would do certain things to help save the earth. But this year, I am going to have certain months where you do certain things. Here's what months go with what:
January and February are electronic appliance months. Try to not use as much of your electric appliances either by simply not using them or using them less.
March and April are planting months. Spruce up your garden with some plants, or even plant a tree.
May and June are natural food months. Try to get foods from local sources and to get less from grocery stores, or see how far away your food comes from and try to get the things that are closer.
July and August are "be active" months. During these months you should try to take part in some sort of earth-friendly activity.
September and October are re-use months. Turn recyclables into useful objects, or as an extra idea, try to re-use and mix up clothes in your closet instead of buying new ones.
November and December are "save paper" months. Instead of recycling used papers, check if the back is blank, and use them for something else. This could include using cloth napkins instead of paper, or wrapping gifts with an alternative like scarves or already-used paper.
Each month, let's talk about what we've done and share ideas of what we could do. -- Amelia B.
Hi there. Great inspiration for the new year. I think I will turn off and unplug more electronics when I leave for the day. Don't need that modem working while I'm away, eh?
ReplyDelete-Cullen in MD
Great idea, Cullen. Some of the students at my school made little signs to post on all our computers to remind everyone to power down at the end of the day -- can't hurt!
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if anyone reading this has any other ideas -- especially about cooking. The past few weeks our house has been lucky to be part of an electric company pilot program where we can track our electricity usage day to day -- I can really tell the days when I use the oven (and the dryer -- although already trying to avoid that).
Has anyone ever used an electric roaster? Any other tricks for avoiding the whole oven use? I don't want to give up cooking!
That's great, Amelia. For wrapping gifts, my mom would often use the comics section from the newspaper! Why not! If you have the Peanuts section on top, use a Snoopy card and it goes together quite nicely. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou have some great ideas here. I think I will try to add on each month. That way, in March, while I am helping Tom with his planting, I will still be trying not to use appliances so much. Maybe at the end of the year we can report back on what was easy to do, and what wasn't easy to do.
ReplyDeleteNot too long ago we got a power strip that has a master plug and controlled plugs (when you turn on the master everything else turns on, but you cant turn on the controlled ones by them self). The master is the TV and the controlled are the two dvd players, the vcr player, and the antena.
ReplyDeleteIt only saves a little bit of electrisity, but every little bit counts!
-Amelia B.
Well - It's official!
ReplyDeleteSolar panels are being installed next week. I look forward to seeing how much electricity they generate and hopefully how much electricity we can send back to the power grid.
Irene W.
That's great Irene -- we all want to see pictures of your panels and the power output when they go up.
ReplyDeleteJust found out that Christine (an "earth idea" winner" on this very blog) also enrolled in the NSTAR smart energy program that we're trying at my house -- apparently they are still taking new customers and signing them up (you have be on NSTAR and have broadband internet) -- see https://www.nstarsmartenergypilot.com/enroll/ for more information.
I just looked at the graphs that the electriciy usage tracker has been making for our house, and I saw that this December we spent $4 less on electricity than last December. And last December we were away for a whole week, and this December we were here the entire time. I can also see that compared to other houses our size, every single day we spend less money on electricity. It's really cool to find out how much electricity you are using and compare it to other times and houses.
ReplyDelete-Amelia B.
Today for dinner we are going to save electricity (with another family) because we are having them over for dinner, that way only one oven will heat up, not two!
ReplyDelete-Amelia B.