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Soy Candles by Irene
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50 Something Eco-Tips
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50 Somethings we are doing to help save the planet.
1.Our home is powered by Solar Energy. We have enough sun power to run the whole house and business. We share our home with our community by hosting solar tours.
2.We have a Solar Attic Fan on our roof to pull hot air out of the attic.
3.Irene rides an Electric Scooter, Zero Emissions Vehicle.
4.Jaime pushes an Electric Lawn Mower.
5.We collect 60 gallons of Rain Water from our Rain Water Collection Barrel. We use the water to water the plants under our patio cover that don't get any rain.
6.We compost all of our natural food scraps, which creates beneficial nutrients for our garden.
7.We have Organic Gardening (pumpkins, tomatoes, peaches, lemons, oranges). This year we had volunteer pumpkins!
8.We eat with real dishes and flatware. We don't use disposables because they end up as landfill. After we eat, the dishes go into our energy efficient, water saving dishwasher.
9.Our house has Low Flow Shower Heads and Low Flush Toilets to save water.
10.All of our windows are Energy Efficient dual pane.
11.We turn on our daylights during the day. That means we open the blinds and let in the natural light. We don't use ANY lights during the day.
12.We have Energy Star Central Air Conditioning, Refrigerator, Dishwasher and Washer/Dryer units. Dishwasher and Laundry units are water savers.
13.We installed a white shingled roof which keeps the house cool during the summer by throwing the suns rays back into the atmosphere.
14.Our house is painted a light color, which also reflects the sun off of the house to keep it cool.
15.We use Biodegradable Vegetable-Based cleaners for the dishwasher, clothes washer, dishes and hand and body soaps. All non-toxic cleaning. No Phosphates/Bleach. Phosphates are bad for the environment. We use vinegar and water to clean most surfaces.
16.We use ONLY Cloth Napkins and Handkerchiefs at home.
17.We use ONLY Cloth towels instead of paper towels.
18.We Wash Full loads of dishes and laundry to save water and energy.
19.Our children go to school with waste-free lunches. They use reusable containers, cloth napkins and metal forks and spoons. They have refillable juice cups or stainless steel bottles, and do not use anything that gets thrown away. Ellora went to preschool for 3 years, 1st grade and now in 2nd grade she has never used a baggy or paper napkin. We purchase large bags of snacks and refill the small containers, instead of purchasing individual packages that create more waste.
20.We have Compact Flourescent Lights (CFL) throughout the whole house.
21.PRECYCLE: Don't buy anything that comes in a package that cannot be recycled, such as juice boxes and mixed paper/plastic/foil. We stay away from Capri Suns and single serving items if we can.
22.RECYCLE: We recycle all plastics 1-7, plastic film, bags, foil, cans, paper and cardboard.
23.FREECYCLE: We are members of freecycle.org. This is a great way to give to others, and receive things in return. The goal is to keep usable items out of the landfill.
24.REUSE: For every disposable, there is a reusable. We buy used instead of new and reuse over and over again! We use reusable water bottles that are made of sturdy stainless steel, and do not leach chemicals into our water or juices. We use a brita pitcher to refill our bottles and even take it on vacation to fill our bottles wherever we go. You can now recycle your Brita filters.
25.REDUCE: We try our best to reduce our consumerism and waste by not buying things that end up as landfill. By purchasing quality made items they are built to last and that alone reduces waste, because you are not having to buy 10 more of those cheaply made items.
26.REFUSE: Stop taking the free stuff you don't need. Refuse paper and plastic bags. Bring your own and reuse. Irene bought a pair of shoe laces for Ellora and the girl at the register gave her a bag for one pair of shoe laces. Irene returned the bag and put the laces in her purse. The girl at the register was confused and a bit miffed that she had to refold the bag. How many times have you gone shopping and held everything in your hand while walking through the store and then standing in line? Did you need a bag then? Perhaps you can also make it to your car without a bag. It is said that the one-use plastic bags are used for a total of 10 minutes and only 2% ever get recycled. The rest end up in our landfills with mummified garbage for many generations of our grandchildren to deal with. The bags will eventually photodegrade into tiny pieces that will eventually end up contaminating their ground water too. Plastic bags are made from foreign oil and are literally choking wild life. Sea Turtles mistake them for jellyfish. A simple thing we can put a stop to if only we refused the plastic bags. Bring Your Own Bags, BYOB!
27.RETHINK: Think before you buy. Hmmm?... Can this be recycled or freecycled when I'm finished with it's use?
28.We visit Household Hazardous Waste Round Ups for disposing of batteries, e-waste, and any broken electronics that could contain hazardous materials if dumped in the landfill.
29.Use Rechargeable Batteries. They are especially great for all of the kids' toys.
30.Walk to and from school, and leave the car at home. Ellora rides her bike and Mom rides the scooter or her bike with the toddler trailer attached.
31.Buy in bulk, avoiding over packaged items.
32.For birthdays and christmas, how about Green Gifting from Earth Friendly Companies. Green gifting also helps support the green economy.
33.We use Reusable Cloth Gift Bags. We no longer use paper gift wrap and the kids love to see what's in their cloth bags. The bags get folded up and put away for another year. They take up less space than rolls of one-time-use paper wrapping. Best of all it doesn't become landfill and our forests can recover. So please, give our forests and wildlife a break this holiday season. Our children will be glad when they can enjoy wildlife with their children. Remember, extinction is forever!
34.BYOB: Bring your own Bags! We refuse plastic bags when we go shopping, and bring our own reusable bags, even on vacation. We use Bio-Bags for trash, not plastic.
35.BYOB: Bring your own Bottles! We bring our own stainless steel reusable bottles everywhere we go so there is no reason to buy a plastic water bottle that leaches chemicals. We even take our Brita pitcher with us on vacations, so we can refill right in our hotel room. Every morning we refill our bottles and go!
36.We bring along a bag of reusable dishes while we are on vacation. Since we often order take-out and eat in our hotel rooms, we like to use our own plates, cups, cloth napkins and utencils that we wash and reuse. We are so used to this routine, that we don't think anything about the little extra effort to help save our planet. The restaurants thank us for not using the extra supplies, because this also saves them money.
37.We burn Soy Candles, and on occasion a Bees Wax Candle. We find that the bees wax smokes too much, so we don't burn them often. We no longer burn paraffin due to all of the cancerous petrochemicals, and we don't want to support the foreign oil industry.
38.We buy organic and local foods when possible, such as local Farmer's Markets.
39.Our printer is filled with recycled paper from old grocery order books. We print on the good side.
40.We buy unbleached 100% recycled paper toilet paper. Some companies are cutting down ancient trees from the Boreal Forest for virgin wood pulp. They are destroying old growth forests and endangered species habitats, just so we can have soft tissues and toilet paper. I must admit, it is soft, but is it worth it? Kleenex has been dubbed the name KLEERCUT on www.kleercut.net along with some other diaper companies. As long as there is a demand for it and people keep buying it, they will continue to clear cut forests. When we visit the zoo we are sad when we see the signs posted for each animal that is on the endangered species list because of deforestation. Paper products, magazines and catalog companies are largely responsible for the destruction of forests, and for the many animals that die each year out of greed.
41.We support Earth Friendly companies by voting with our wallets for the products we want.
42.Our 1995 Saturn SL is awaiting electric conversion.
43.Our 2007 Ford Focus Wagon is a PZEV. It only emits 25% of fumes compared to other cars. This car is on the Clean Air Car List from the California Air Resources Board and South Coast Air Quality Management District.
44.We drive around the neighborhood in a fully electric Ford Ranger. It is currently undergoing repairs due to an electrical fire at the Ford dealership. UPDATE: Sadly, our Ranger was a total loss and we could not afford the expense of keeping it. We were able to sell it on e-bay in December 2008, and will purchase another electric car when the stars are in our favor.
45.We combine errands to save gas and cut down on pollution.
46.Jaime can Telecommute&Work From Home if needed and Irene also works at home!
47.We are telling others what we are doing, and how they can help at work, home and school.
48.We share our movies, "Who Killed The Electric Car," "An Inconvenient Truth," and "Trashed." Another movie we like to share is called, "The Story of Stuff." You can share The Story of Stuff downloads too.
49.Eat Less Meat. Cows especially need more water than all of the crops in the US. They create tons of methane gas and transporting beef requires even more gasoline.
50.We are members of Carbonfund, and offset 70 tons of carbon pollution in 2008 and 35 tons in 2009. More than we produce.
51.We give at least 1% of our annual sales to the natural environment through 1% for the Planet at www.onepercentfortheplanet.org.
52.Our website is used as a tool to educate people about the environment and social change.
53.We donated our mini-van to Cars For Causes and 50% of the sale went to the Zoological Society of San Diego for our animal friends. We are also Diamond Club Members at the zoo and Wild Animal Park.
54.We are teaching our children about social responsibility by buying products that benefit peoples' lives instead of big business. Our children are not allowed to purchase any stuffed animals unless it is purchased at the zoo. Proceeds from their sales benefits the animals through the zoos' non-profit organization. These sales are not making someone else rich, but benefit the lives of the animals. The only thing we don't like is that every stuffed animal we find at the zoo is made in China. We don't know if they were made in sweat shops and whether the materials are safe or sustainably made for our children. Nothing bothers us more than not knowing where and how a product is made.
55.We support USA made products to keep America working. We do our best to purchase fair trade products from people in developing countries.
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