I use coffee grounds around the base of my acid loving plants. I have even collected them from the coffee pots at work and brought them home. I've never done it but I have read that some Starbucks save their used coffee grounds are they are available for pick-up in 20 lb. bags.

Cherie

Anna, I do the very same trimming technique you do. When the guys bring out the mower, I am 3 steps ahead of them and a lot of my trimmings go right with the lawn clippings.

Hi Anna:

Great idea for a thread! Publix has these terrific green bags that are washable and have a plastic insert bottom for stability. I take them shopping everywhere now, not just Publix. The bags are only $1.50 and they hold so much, very sturdy. I took my plants to the swap in them and they didn't fall over or get crushed.

The plant labels I use are from an old broken wooden mini blind. I've seen people use plastic ones, too. And someone on this site used cut-up soda cans. Handy ideas.

Julie in WPB

Cherie, I also use coffee grounds. I used to get the large bags from SB until my large container got a crack in it and I didn't want to get coffee stains in my car. Thanks for reminding me- I need to get or find another car container. They say coffee grounds have the same NPK as compost. I know earthworms love them!

Cindee, we must think alike. It's a lot easier than picking them up and putting them in the trash can, and a lot more green!

Julie, I also take my own bags to Publix. But I am so glad you said you use them for other places, cuz it has actually never occurred to me to take them anywhere else! I will start. Today, I spoke to someone at Publix about giving some incentive for people to bring their own bags. Maybe some kind of a coupon, or slight savings on the final bill. I know some places in other states do this. So far, no interest. I've also spoken to the produce manager about having a section with locally grown foods. No response there either. I will keep trying.

Alright, I know you folks are bound to have more green tips- especially in the garden. Speak up.

Anna

We do our own lawn as well, but we have a bagger on the mower. I use the grass clippings in my veggie garden as mulch. It rots down over the winter and my soil is black there and loaded with earth worms. It is something I did even in NJ. There we changed red clay into black soil with worms too.

I use coffee and tea bags too.

over the past year, i've shifted away from using pine-bark nuggets as mulch, and instead i've adopted the "anything organic and brown" attitude. leaves from neighbors, trash mulch from the dump, tree trimmings from the utility co... yeah, so, sure, maybe aesthetically it's a step down (tho we create the definition of beauty, it's not assigned to us), but it's oh so much better for the world, and for my garden, too. pine mulch is ten steps up from cypress mulch, but junk that would have to be trucked to the landfill if it didn't dissolve into my rose beds is ten steps up from pine bark!

oh, and: i bought a high-hp mower last year. i also got a 3-yr maintenance contract/warranty on it. i will mulch ANYTHING and throw it into my veg beds. i mean, you'd be surprised what this mower can reduce to bits and pieces -- anything that's small around than my thumb (and i have thick fingers) gets ground up into soil amendments...

One other thing we do with the neighbors across the street. We also have a bagger on our lawn mower. We take all the green clippings, Dennis' saw dust, etc to the same empty lot area and then dump them. Every so often we take rakes with us when dumping to stir the green mixture for future mulch.

Cindee, it sounds like you've got a compost pile going there. It's nice to have a remote area like that to store it.

I've got another one. When I go to the feed store for fertilizer (alfalfa pellets, soybean meal, etc,), before I leave, I always ask if they have any spoiled grains that they will throw out. I ask if I can have it for my compost pile. Usually I leave with an assortment of stuff from fish pellets, spoiled alfalfa, etc. I then promptly stuff it in my compost bin with some browns to prevent stink. Great activator, free, and less stuff to the landfill. Voila!

Fun thread

My husband and I are into green/tree hugging :) He is in charge of the house, however - changing light bulbs, etc. My work is outside

What do I do...I use coffee grounds/tea bags. My friend drinks lots of tea and collects hers for me too. I ask for coffee grounds at Panera/Starbucks.
I have a compost pile: clipping, food leftovers, certain types of paper go there.
Every once in a while I make compost tea - catch a trashcan full of rain (when it rains...), add grass clippings, coffee grounds, and alfalfa pellets...Stinks so bad, but yummy stuff for plants :):):)

Grass clippings and oak leaves make wonderful mulch - I use a lot of it.

The goal we have is to reduce the amount of lawn to none (we really do not have it, just a patch of green weeds/grass/whichever survives) - I plant everywhere...Under the huge oak, we now have a jungle with shade lovers along the pathways. In the sun, lots of plants that do fairly well in Central Florida.

My hubby bought an electric mower - I love it. So quiet, so clean...The battery only lasts for an hour or so, but since we are diminishing the amount of area to be mowed, it does not bothers us!

I love Publix green bags - we bought two, and they hold sooooo much. I take them to other grocery stores (Sweetbay). Plastic bags are a horrible waste.

Green is the way to go :) On a rose forum a very heated discussion started regarding global warming, pollution and the environment in general. I was amazed how nasty the discussion got. I would hope that most gardeners would be the people interested in preserving the environment and going green, and I am glad a lot of people on Florida gardening forum do :)

Olya

Great tips. Keep going.

Our place in Clermont has drip irrigation (using lake water). I am so thankful.

All summer, at a family place in the NC mountains, we had a mammoth draught. The township went to a "no outside watering" rule. We took our showers while standing in large plastic containers, and then threw the water on the shrubs!

Dot

Hi again:

A few more "tips"... Instead of round-up or other herbicide, I use old cooking oil and pour it right on the plant I want to kill. You can put it in a sprayer, too. It's biodegradeable and smothers the plant. For bugs, I use a combination of neem and Kirk's soap. For cut worms I use self-rising flower.

Due to the drought and water restrictions, we've been putting thirsty plants around/under the air conditioner drains. I'm trying to figure a way to use my washing machine water to water the yard, too. (I want to control when so I don't use the hot water with bleach.)

Olya brings up a good point. And whether man is really contributing to the greenhouse effect or whether global warming is natural makes little difference to me. I just want to do what is responsible and "keep my area clean". Being careful and frugal never hurt anyone. The people on this link are good custodians of our world. You can't ask for more than that.

Julie (a little preachy) in WPB

Another thing I do is recycle the plastic pots I get the plants in. I even take them out of other peoples garbage and take them back to the nursery. I often take other stuff out of the garbage of others to use for various things. I try to use every trick I can to keep things out of the land fill. I even have free yards sales and just give the stuff away. Or take it to Goodwill.

When my sons go fishing They give me the guts heads and bones and I buried by my plants. I bury it deep and place a rock or bricks so animals wont dig.
I like buying meat in quantity in cri-vac packagings. The blood from them, I pour it over the plants.

Olya, I love the idea of a gas mower. Does it work just as well? Are there any maintenance problems?

Katkin, I recycle plastic pots too, most of the time. Sometimes I get lazy and then feel guilty. You have taken recycling to another level. It is admirable that you collect stuff and then have free yard sales. Inspiring. I'm not as industrious, but maybe I can save stuff I see and take it to the goodwill on occassion. Now I will really think of you if I ever put a plastic pot in the trash again. One of our local nurseries accepts them back, so there is really no excuse.

Felix, sounds like you have a little Native American blood in you! Good going!

Another little one I thought of: We always recycle old potting soil by just throwing it in gardening areas, or just remixing it with fresh stuff, if possible. Also, if we are mulching, I put any available branch prunings down anywhere and just put the mulch on top. When we were in Costa Rica, we saw that the coffee plantations did this. When they pruned the plants, they just lay the prunings on the ground in the rows and by the plants as a type of composting in place. The Costa Ricans are way ahead of us with Recycling. The country has essentially no yard waste pickup, so the people all have compost piles. Their gardens look wonderful!

SPOILER ALERT
After 25 yrs with an electric mower we had to go with a gas model. At our age it was just too hard to push that thing anymore. I should know, I used to do it for exercise.
What surprised my DH the most was that with the gas mower he could do the front and back yard in one day! The electric would tire you out. It would be good for small lawns. We never ran over the extension cord but I did cut it once with the electric hedge trimmer.

We bought dishpans and collect all the water from the kitchen sinks. It is used to water the patio trees. It is amazing how much water is run into those sinks!

We had our new shed wired for 220, and put the washer and dryer out there. The wash water goes to the Banana/Bamboo hedge, and I can move the hose at the end to where it is needed most. The dryer now is much faster/more efficient, since the vent no longer goes through the wall, up into the attic, across the house (a long way), instead it goes right through the shed wall. Saves on electricity!

Purchased a push rotary mower. It is actually a lot of fun to use, and the lawn look so much prettier mowed with it. I find it easier to use than the gasoline mower, by far!

I have rain barrels (thank you MsMarion!) and hopefully will have them set up soon.

No food gets thrown away. The hens or dogs get it. My co-workers have learned to save all uneaten foods from lunches for my chickens. Then I bring them fresh eggs(G).

Lisa

yup, just like coffeemom mentioned, electric mower works better for smaller lawns. For us,it is great - pushing it is no problem, and the lawn is small...
Our mower is cordless - it is on batteries, and you have to charge batteries before you use it.
Granted, gas mower could be more productive, but we are using the electric one for other reasons such as reducing noise and pollution. Not the perfect solution, but better of the two evil as far as we are concerned :)

Anna, I will have to ask the DH about maintenance problems :)

My co-workers have learned to save all uneaten foods from lunches for my chickens. Then I bring them fresh eggs(G).
Great deal!!! I want chickens...

Oh, now that Lisa mentioned washer and dryer...I stopped using the dryer - originally, not by choice, as a heating element had to be replaced. By the time my husband got around to get it fixed, I have been loving using a line outside. I have been drying our clothes outside for about 2 years now - and we estimated roughly 10 dollar savings each month on the electric bill! Of course, this will not work for everyone (for example, busy moms), but if you have time, why not give it a try. The laundry smells great - especially now, when it cools off at night. Dries super fast too.

Rain barrels are awesome. I got two from County Extension, and use the precious rain water for my many orchids.
Olya

I gave up on lawn grass nearly completely and instead ended up with a beautiful, always pretty carpet of dune sunflower (helianthus debilis), sensitive plant, gaillardia, and portulaca.

When the gaillardia would be "spent" I'd simply pull them out and new ones would reappear in new colors and new places...and it was just the best looking yard when all of my neighbors were sprinkling theirs and I could just drink a cold beer and watch!

More green...coffee grounds got spinkled around acid-loving plants--the rose bushes LOVED it and were probably on a constant coffee buzz (like me!). I actually realized that since MOST plants appreciate some acidity and our soils were so alkaline...that it never hurt anything.

I also stopped using my dryer (mostly)! It was so nice to be able to rely on Florida sunshine and heat to naturally dry my clothes. So what if the neighbors saw my boxers? When the citrus trees were blooming my laundry ended up smelling like that :) That wasn't so bad! My energy bill went down too. That's a plus!

After working at a garden center all day the last thing I wanted to do was water anything...

so my container gardens consisted of succulents, hoyas, and agaves mixed with purslane, dipladenia, and bulbine!

Rather than grow impatiens under my oak tree I had orchids hanging and those only needed supplemental watering once in a great while and are so much cooler!

I had pine trees bordering my property so I would gather the needles and rather than throw them in a garbage bag I would use them as mulch--and it went a long way! I loved the look of pine needles everywhere and so inexpensive.

Eggshells--they always ended up ground up and in the ground next to plants of all kinds.

Great topic!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. That's the motto that Multnomah County uses and it was how I was raised.

I try to keep what I use at a minimum. I take into account packaging and longevity as well as environmental impact. This includes everything getting two wearings out of clothes, using dye/perfume free detergent, using 'simple green' instead of other cleaners, long life light bulbs, turning off lights when I'm not in the room etc.

Reusing, or repurposing, stuff helps too. I use old socks/tee shirts as rags. Instead of buying plastic bags for my small garbages I use ones from the store - especially the darker ones that can't be recycled. I also save extra unused napkins from restaurants to be used at home so I buy less paper products and they don't hit the landfill at the restaurant. I clean old plastic food tubs and use them for various things such as paint holders or storing leftovers.

Recycle. I recycle everything that can be recycled. Nothing with a 1 or 2 code ever gets thrown in the garbage. I hope the recycling industry starts wanting 5's - those are the margerine and sour cream type tubs. Styrofoam trays go back to Publix in their green bins along with the plastic bags that I occasionally pick up. Every last scrap of paper without cellophane goes into the recycle bin. I also try to buy products that are made with recycled material - it helps to complete the cycle.

I have my own canvas grocery bags too. I use them for grocery shopping and have even taken them to ABC - much better than their non-recyclable dark green bags. I have used them for over 10 years and refuse to give them up. (In fact I just got another one by donating to the Natural Resource Defense Council.) They hold more, never tear or rip and are in general much more heavy duty plus they can be washed. Does anyone else find that most cashiers have *no* idea how to pack them? I try to find the one or two baggers that know how and go to their line. :-D Also, in Portland there was only one grocery store that didn't give you cents back when using the bags. Usually it was 4 or 5 cents a bag. I would love to see Publix start that. Maybe I'll have to ask too! :-D

Conservative water use is also big with me. I keep my showers down to 5 minutes or less and don't leave water running when brushing my teeth. I try to run only a full dishwasher and a full load of clothes because of higher water use efficiency. Also, I get a couple few uses out of bath towels before washing. I plant low water consumption plants and don't water the lawn in the dry season. I'll even water a plant with old vase water just so it doesn't go down the drain. This last one isn't for everyone but when Portland was in extreme drought conditions it was heavily encouraged - "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down". Not pretty, but then that's what the lid is for. ;-)

It does my heart good to read this thread. :-) Florida isn't as 'green' as Oregon but I see some good steps forward.

Hey, you guys are good.

Lisa, I am not good about saving dish water. We did look into grey water use when we built this house, but were told you have to have some kind of a permit. With all the laundry I do, (my kids play sports and our gardening clothes), I hate to see all that water go down the drain. We do use perfume and dye free liquid detergents without phosphates, so I feel it is a crime to just waste that water. Your dryer vent solution sounds wonderful. I think our vent is long and winding like you mentioned. Not good. A rotary mower sounds interesting too, but I worry about it being too hard to push. I am just under 5 feet and weigh under 100 pounds. Mowing is hard enough with my little self-propelled mower.

Alright, I will have to see if I can find a place for a clothes line. I worry my neighbors will have a fit if they see it.

We do have a 500 gallon water cistern. Wish we would have gone even bigger now.

Strawberry, sounds like you are really good. I do most of the same stuff, but am guilty of relishing my shower. Will have to pay more attention and cut down. Thanks.

Keep it coming with the tips, everyone. Especially gardening green. Thanks.

Anna

Anna, if you can't hang clothes out side maybe you can inside somewhere. I have a laundry room and have a rack that I hang the clothes on. And over the dryer is a bar and the shirts and tees go on a hanger there to dry. I let them dry 5 minutes in the dryer to take the rinkles out and then hang to finish drying. Now it is just the 2 of us so there isn't as much laundry as when there were kids home. The clothes last longer too, all that lint in the dryer is the fibers being worn off. Also I only use cold water to wash the clothes.

Anna, showers are big water users. At 7 to 10 gallons per minute every minute can matter. I used to take long showers - well long for me. About 20 minutes. A few years into the drought, a massive public information campaign was put forward. Information about lawn watering, water saving appliances, daily activities such as showering/toilet usage/teeth brushing. After that I changed habits so instead of using 10 gallons for teeth brushing, about 200 gallons for showering and 5 to 7 gallons per flush I was able to add up daily water savings that showed up on the water bill.

A bit of a funny side note... during those years if you had a green lawn in summer you would receive dirty looks from almost everyone that passed by and even get a cold shoulder from your neighbors. The grass in Portland re-greens very easily as soon as the fall rains come back so most people knew that it was no harm done to not water. A green lawn wasn't worth the water spent on it. It also spawned a whole new trend in Portland lawns called 'steppables' - planting low water usage ground covers instead of lawn that could be walked upon and even mowed just like grass.

I wish I could give you more green gardening tips but apart from what everyone else has said there's nothing I can add with being so new to the climate. Until I learn more about the plants I am too... well, 'green'. *grin*

I have re-directed the water from my water to air heat pump so that I can use it for irrigation. When I don't need it I can switch it back to go into the lake(or what used to be a lake).

I love this thread! Everyone is full of wonderful tips, many which I already do.

I am going to go to my Publix and find out why I never saw any green bags for sale. I have one large canvas bag I bring for heavy stuff and the rest gets put in plastic. I do reuse those bags for our garbage bags at least.

No one mentioned newspaper. I shred some for compost, use it under mulch and to wrap plants in for shipping.

Remember that animal rescue places will gladly take your old sheets, towels, and blankets. Some want newspaper as well.

Yes, Lady - good point about sheets, towels, and blankets
If anyone has any in Tampabay area, Animal Coalition of Tampa desperately needs them :) Please recycle and reuse :)

I collect water when I wash dishes/my tea cup/cats bowls without soap/detergent. All goes into a big container, and then outside for watering.

Olya

You guys have me timing my showers. Seven minutes is my best so far, but I am working on strategies. I have to think about how I can cut down on laundry, and get a bar for my laundry room. Being a sports guy, my son generates many loads a week. I am always questioning him about it, but it seems legit. Keep em coming. Especially the gardening ones. My DH just finished spreading 76 wheelbarrows of wood chip mulch from our tree company... and we have called for another truckload. I was in charge of placing the cardboard/newspaper below. There's nothing like fresh mulch to spruce up your yard. After Christmas last year, I had a small truckload of chopped up Christmas trees delivered to our yard. We used it as mulch. Really smelled good, and made really good mulch.

Anna

Seven minutes is good! :-) I think the only way I can do five or less is by using leave in conditioner - which happens to be the best conditioner for my type of hair.

I've cut my shower time by turning off the water when I'm not really needing it to run--like when I'm sudding up with bodywash...I actually feel cleaner cause it's not just washing away instantly! I've been able to cut my shower-waterrun time from 10 to 5 minutes this way...but I'm low maintanance...LOL

But amazing to see the difference in the water bill!

Yep.

Navy showers. I'm from an old Navy family and we get wet, turn off the water, soap up, rinse off. Just like when you brush your teeth.

I wonder why we don't have cisterns much here in Florida. They had them in the Bahamas. I've seen old houses with them, too. I have room in my attic. Does anyone have any experience with these?

The newspapers under mulch. I need to do that. Great idea.

Julie in WPB

I just saw a device on Discovery Home Channel ( it's a green channel) that you attach between you shower head and the wall and it shuts off the water after a pre set time limit. I really got into this channel, they cover all ways of going more green. Some are more extreme, but lots of very good tips. Like using tin foil, instead of plastic wrap. Tin foil is reclylable and plastic wrap isn't and doesn't break down. And is petroleum based.

Another thing I thought of, we don't use clorine in our pool, we have a salt system. Much better on the envierment. The water feels smooth like using bath salts and it doesn't beach out your bathing suit and hair like clorine does.

We haven't used a clothes dryer for three years and counting now, and haven't missed it a bit. The few minutes it takes to hang the clothes out give me a bit of quiet time and I always do it with a little smirk of satisfaction that I've beaten those utility bills... at least a little...

In warm weather we use a great outdoor shower we bought at Target. With a good, long hose connected to it we can shower for a few minutes with really hot water, and after that the water is only lukewarm-- never too cold. I bought some wonderful biodegradable soaps to make the shower even more fun!

When it came time to replace our roof this summer we bit the bullet and put on an energy-star rated white metal roof with a nice, strong attic fan. Since then our cooling costs were cut practically in half-- really!

Last but not least, instead of coming up with myriad configurations of halogen track lighting above and under cabinets in the kitchen, we opted to be kind to our budgets and utility bills by putting in solar tubes at either end of the kitchen for free daylight and an attractive flourescent (yes, they do make them now!) for shadow-free, energy-efficient lighting.

A note about Publix and egg cartons/ styrofoam: almost two years ago I called the main office of Publix to find out what exactly they were doing and was told that at that point they weren't doing anything with the 'recyclable' cartons, but they were collecting them and had plans to eventually recycle. I was annoyed and haven't followed up to see if there were any changes-- does anyone know what happens to the stuff?

Have you ever thought of going more green in your home too? Like changing all your old bulbs with new energy efficent kind. Or collecting rain water to flush your toilet or use it to wash your car. Insulate your home to waste less electricity. Or a small idea to make a hatch cover to your attic so when not up there it is closed and keeps the hot air and cold air out during that time of year.

strawberrygirlie's "If it's yellow let it mellow," is a well known, I thought, post-hurricane survival technique. First time I heard of it advocated to ease drought conditions.

Hoping to resurrect this thread, especially considering todays economy and fuel costs. Every little thing helps!

My green tips?

*rain barrels
*worm bin
*composter
*self watering containers. Help to insulate too. (snapdragons are still blooming like crazy on my deck)
*use a rough tote filled with rainwater to dunk plants potted in non self waters. Soaks rootball efficiently with no wasting of rainwater!
*coffee grounds
*use only organics for fertilizers
*use clothes drying rack inside under a ceiling fan. Dries jeans fast.
*use european horizontal clothes washer. 25% savings in water first month. Clothes last longer too.
*Use hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, salt to clean - no bleach
*Plan to build an outside solar shower using pvc pipe and hoses. Can't wait to start taking my daily showers in the sun!

I'll think of more. How about the rest of you??

rosesr4me, this is a good idea.
There are many useful tips in the string.

OK, laugh if you will (DH does): I stand in a big, clean, cat litter pan to shower.
Do the NAVY shower thing, and while soaping with water turned off, dump cat pan into a bucket.
Dump again after rinsing off.
GREY WATER, YES!
We always used grey water cysterns in the Virgin Islands.
Dot

This is a fantastic thread! I've learned a lot and been reminded of a lot - like the Pollenex Dial-A-Massage hand held shower head. With the flick of a thumb, you could cut the water flow by at least 90% - without having to readjust the temp - like you would if you turned the water completely off. (And how long does it take to soap up anyway?) Mine finally succumbed to our very hard water.

My son plans to install a grey water cistern/system in the home he will build. Rainwater cisterns are very common in the islands. Regarding the "...if it's brown flush it"; a restroom sign you'll see frequently in the islands, reads, "In this land of sea and sun, we never flush for number one."

I reuse the plastic store bags for garbage - what doesn't go into the composter, but have also reused them for packing (instead of styrofoam peanuts)and as emergency rain coats for my dog who is willing to get her feet wet but not her back! But, there's a new Publix not far from here soI'm going to check out those "green" bags.

I've used a reel/push mower for the past 13 years and love it. Light weight, no noise, fumes, etc. Can't beat it. And I have my son scouting for rain barrels. I have the perfect place for one. Of course, my neighbors might object since it's next to the front door! Will have to think about some camaflauge for it.

Newspapers underlay the mulch - and it looks like they may go over the mulch as well. I'm trying for some free mulch from tree trimmers. Jax no longer has free compost or mulch sites. Guess they built malls on top of them.

I think my "greenest goal" is going to be to make my grand daughter and her mom understand that I'm not being an old grouch - that I'm trying to save what's best about this planet for THEIR grandkids! Wish me luck!! cora

Great thread!
We have an outside shower (yes they are walled in - hehe) so the water we use waters the nearby flowers. And Big Plus - no shower cleaning needed. If your shower plumbing is on an outside wall and you have a place to make a door out of your bath it is not too difficult to do. Sometimes you can turn a window into a door.

Like Ill-man I use organic mulch more and more nowdays - in my case that is pine needles and stuff the bamboo sheds.

Rain barrels will be hooked up this weekend. Thanks to Ill-man for getting a supplier for the 55 gallon drums.

I am chemically sensitive so I don't use any chemicals in my house except for toilet bowl cleaner occasionally. I use baking soda for scouring powder, orange cleaner for tough cleaning, soap and neem for insecticide.

I rotate several small compost piles where I put egg shells, coffee grounds, paper towels ( I use too many of them), cardboard egg cartons, vegetable scraps, healthy garden trimmings, leaves/pine needles, shredded paper, sawdust(verrry good stuff). I just sneak piles here and there - One pile is under a citrus tree in the front corner of the house but you can't see it because there is a low hedge around the tree. Another is in a garden, and another in a walled area. When one pile fills up I go to another. When a pile is ready I use that and when it is gone I restart it.

I am growing some of my own food - no gasoline needed to deliver or pickup. This is the thing I get the most satisfaction from.

I refuse to buy the low energy light bulbs as they have mercury in them. But we don't have a lot of lights on anyway. In the evening it is nice to sit in the dark on the back porch and listen to the night noises and just talk. Don't watch much tv - flat screens take a lot of energy and not much is on it anyway.

Rosesr4me, I have been thinking about a worm bin. Not enough room under the sink for it. Don't know where I would put it... I would love to have one though.

When I cook potatoes etc. in water, I cool and save the water with vitamins in it for plants on the back porch.

I usually get plastic bags to clean the litter dish. At least they are getting used... But I have a cloth Publix bag which is nice when I remember.

We use ceiling fans instead of turning down the ac.

We have alot of trees around our house to shade it so the house is cooler - we turn the ac on later in the season and it doesn't have to work as hard when it is on.

We have attic stairs in the garage and we keep them partially down by putting a 2x4 acrossed it to stop it from closing completely. This allows the air in the attic to circulate and the attic to remain cooler thus lowering ac usage.

Saving water from sinks is an idea I had not thought of. How do you manage that? I am thinking if I had a dish pan in the sink I would spill it all over or it would be too heavy to mange.

I use the "yellow" fertilizer on my compost pile. Mostly just collecting it first thing in the morning or at night. Free fertilizer. I love free.

Treelady, you are doing a lot of good stuff!
I save water from the sink...I have a big plastic container in the sink, and a cat litter container (Sams litter, big plastic containers). Whenever I wash veggies, cat dishes, or water from cooking pasta and potatoes....)
Then, for convenience of carrying the water, I dump the water from the plastic container into cat carrier bucket, and take it outside. Easily 5-10 gallons of water per meal preparation and washing dishes!

I also switched from plastic grocery bags to paper bags when scooping the poo...Before, I would clean cat toilets and put the waste into grocery bags...but it is such a waste. Michael, my hubby, convinced me to switch to paper bags: now, it is all organic waste (clay, poo and paper is better for the landfill than poo stuck in a plastic bag :))
We buy big batches of brown paper bags from Sams....

Olya

I keep a dishpan in my laundry tub. This catches the water when I come in from gardening & wash up or any other water use in the tub, then take it out & water my plants. In the kitchen, two dishpans in the sink. Catch the water in one while waiting for the water to get hot for the dishes. This cool water becomes the rinse water, then both goes out to the plants. Mulch with newspaper under free wood chips from the city recycle center. Use a clothes line for laundry. Grow vegetables in the back yard.

I don't usually rake the oak leaves unless I need them for mulch. I just keep mowing them into the grass, and it seems to be working, because the only grass I have that's really healthy is under the oak trees.

I'm having my oak trees trimmed, and having them leave the shreddings for mulch.

I don't have a compost pile anymore, so I bury my compostable kitchen scraps in the garden.

Cool post, and some things I hadn't thought of.

Here's my offerings: We gave away the paper shredder and now all those silly loan offers get ripped up and go straight into the composter. Identity thieves take that! I'm looking for the right wall basket at goodwill to hang up somewhere and then we'll put all paper in it. Then, I'm going to buy one of those paper cutter things with the arm that comes down and once a week shred up and compost the rest of our junk mail too.

I save seeds from locally grown organic vegetables and plant them in my yard. This was partly because, I figure anything that can survive organic methods in Florida is better adapted to my area and my aversion to fertilizer and pesticide than fancy seeds grown in holland or Canada. But, I also feel especially good when I get an extra cantelope from the effort. One particular cantelope yielded three more and I still have seeds from that one for next year.

The biggie money saving green thing we did was inside. Three months ago, I put a couple nails in the wall behind the television and hung the surge protector there. Did the same thing for the TV in the bedroom and the computer/cable internet at the desk. Just turning those off at the surge protector as often as we remember to cut between $8 and $10 off the electric bill. We both work all day, and sleep at night, so the few hours we're home watching TV or using the computer is fractional compared to all the time we're not using them and don't need them sucking power. And we already had them all on surge protectors, which all had little holes in the back to make hanging them easy. So this was a free fix.

atreelady - I have my worm bin in my spare bedroom. At first I had a problem with small ants, but I placed the bin on a rough tote lid with DE sprinkled around it. No more bugs and have never had an odor issue. And you have an outside shower! I am jealous. I originally thought of running hot/cold lines to the outside wall for the shower. Then I thought...why not use the existing outside spigot, and heat the water via solar? Besides the A/C, the second largest energy eater is the hot water heater. (Of course, the optimal green effort would be to catch rainwater, filter it, then solar heat it. One step at a time....).

Keeping my thinking cap on, if I took solar showers, and since my clothes washer has an internal heater, the only time I would need hot water would be to wash dishes. Hmmm, wouldn't heating dish water via microwave be more energy efficient than keeping 30 gallons of hot water hot through the day? Or maybe installing those hot water dispensers at the sink? I have thought of on-demand water heaters, but have heard conflicting opinions and besides, very high $$$$.

Another thing I do is to rinse out and reuse my ziplock freezer bags (I don't reuse when storing meat/greasy/oily stuff though). I just bought a couple of the Publix bags thanks to earlier posters and they do seem to be fairly durable, especially at 99 cents.

Standing in the shower in a litter pan is a great idea to catch the grey water. I tried it while back, but being the clutz I am, always made such a mess transferring the water. I later tried storing the water in the bathtub after showering and then pumping it out the window into a rain barrel. Again, in theory a great idea, but I always was cleaning up water on the floor. Besides, not sure of any benefit to be had considering the electrical use of the pump.

Thanks everybody for keeping this thread alive!

corar....do you have st. augustine sod? I have been thinking of getting a reel mower, but have heard they are not very good on SA sod.

olyagrove...I too deal with cleaning cat litter boxes. Using paper bags is definitely a great idea over the plastic grocery bags. I used to use the grocery bags, but am now using an airtight/water tight food storage bucket (from a restaurant supply store) with a kitchen size plastic bag inside. I usually don't have to replace the bag for several days (with 3 cats) and keeping it in the airtight container no odor escapes. Thanks to your idea, I will try using paper bags inside the container rather than plastic kitchen bags.

happy_girl .... I like your "dual dishpan" technique. It is surprising how much water is wasted while waiting for the water to get hot.

Natives_and_veggies... I too try to unplug appliances, computer, tv when not being used. Alot of energy is wasted on "phantom" power. I have got surge protectors in the drawer...thanks for reminding me to start using them!

For additional ideas, check out GW's Money saving tip board....

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardenweb money saving board

I do most of the things others have mentioned but...

Another thought on using egg cartons, I like to buy the paper kind (I shop at Super Target a lot and they have them). Those can be composted. But both the paper and styrofoam make good seed trays, in my opinion. The paper kind can get cut into individual seedling holders and planted straight into the ground. The others can be rinsed and re-used. I keep a large plastic tray (came in the bottom of my dogs wire crate that we no longer use)and I line up old egg cartons on it and start my seedling in them... its worked well so far!

Another idea:
I use the big yogurt tubs for pots for my little rooted plants. Just pop a hole in the bottom and they come with their own little saucer, the top.

And, I'm extremely proud: my 60-gallon rain barrel filled up to the top yesterday with just a 20 minute rain. Everyone should have one and I want more! In the middle of a drought (I have ash in my pool from the fires in the Everglades) it's nice to have a little stash of water that I can feel good about using on my beans and okra.

A few things not mentioned that we do:

we cloth diapered our last baby from birth

used washcloths as baby wipes

use laptop lunch boxes (laptoplunches.com), that come with containers, so no plastic bags in school lunches

not buy water bottles, got everyone a kleen kanteen (tastes better too!)

the only paper product we use is TP

cloth napkins only

no paper towels ... drives company insane LOL

I love this thread :)

Michelle