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The toilet is probably one of the biggest uses of water in your house, especially considering the number of times it gets used.  I’ve seen many tips about putting a bottle of water in your toilet so that it uses less water.  I was very confused by this until I recently read a blog post thoroughly explaining this.

This is primarily good for older toilets, in older homes like mine (no low-flow toilet available in 1950).  The way this works is that you take an old bottle of water.  Since I don’t drink bottled water very much, I used an empty bottle of Gatorade.  Fill the bottle with water, close it tight, and put it in tank of the toilet.  This works because the water in the tank fills to a certain line when the toilet is flushed. So the bottle takes up space in the tank, meaning that the tank will fill with less water.  If you use a 12 oz. bottle, the tank will fill with approximately 12 oz. less of water.  Not enough that you will notice (I did this a few days ago and my husband still hasn’t noticed), but 12 oz. less water used every time you flush can really add up.

If you already have a low-flow toilet, pat yourself on the back.  If you are about to build or remodel, you should really check out the dual flush toilets.  This is a great concept!  No, it does not flush twice as the name might imply.  It has two flush settings.  So if you only need a “little” flush (which is probably most of the time), you have that setting, but if things happen and you need a “big” flush then that is what the second setting is for.  I’ve heard this is rather popular is Europe and heard that some models essentially have one handle, where if you move it one way you get the “little” flush and if you move it the other you get the “big” flush.  I read about this over at treehugger.com.

The refrigerator is one of the biggest energy hogs in a house.   So I was looking into ways that will help the refrigerator run more efficiently.  One of the easiest tips to implement is to keep your freezer stocked.  When the freezer door is opened up, the air will warm up much faster than another frozen object.  So if something that is frozen is surrounded by other frozen items, it will not warm up as much if the door is opened up.  Think about your science classes for a minute and what you learned about how temperature transfer works.

Now I’m not exactly going to run out to the grocery store and buy a ton of frozen food, but won’t hesitate to stock up when I find good sales for frozen food (especially with frozen food lasting so long).  What I am doing is taking some existing contains I have, like milk jugs, and fill them with water to freeze into ice. This will make the freezer fuller of frozen items, keeping the temperatures cooler when the door is opened, thus causing the freezer to use less energy.

Another no cost idea to use less energy.

There has been much debate and many studies done weighing the factors of the packaging of wine.  I find this debate to be troublesome based on the fact that when I buy a wine, I’m looking for taste, not necessarily packaging.  So I decided to do some research to see if there was some compelling reason to change my ways.

Franklin Associates has done a very informative study (search for “tetra pak”) on the comparison of glass bottles, tetra paks, and PET bottles.  Based on who paid for the study (sponsored by the manufactures of tetra pak), read the numbers carefully and with a grain of salt.  However, they make a compelling argument for tetra paks, weighing factors like manufacturing of the packaging, transportation to the winery, transportation to the distribution center, and how the product is disposed of.  With all those factors being equal, the packaging with the lower weight will always win.

As a consumer trying to make a better decision, there were some assumptions that bothered me though.  The comparison was done assuming the winery was in northern California and had to ship 1500 miles to a distribution center.  With that fact, the tetra pak beats the glass bottle hands down, as it should.  But I wanted to see if buying a tetra pak from a California winery is better than my local (Ohio) wine in a glass bottle.  Apparently this study was trying to sway the wineries to make the change, not the consumer forcing the change with buying power.

Unfortunately what I was looking for isn’t available.  So my assumption (using just my brain to come up with this) is that almost all the transportation effects on the environment have been eliminated and therefore local is a great choice.  Additionally, it has the added bonus of supporting your local economy.

My conclusions: If you are going to buy wine from a long distance winery, try to get one in a tetra pak.  I personally will stick to local wineries (and likely buy it directly from the winery).  Regardless of which way you go, always make sure you recycle or reuse the packaging.  I’ve found tons of craft projects using wine bottles and corks… Do a search and find out.

I was talking with my mom the other day about my parents flying back to Ohio soon.  With everything my parents have been through in the last few months, this is quite monumental.  So I got to thinking, with my new green choices, what would I do differently on my next trip that would make it more green and came up with this top 10.

1. Bring your own food on the plane.  Carrots, energy bars, celery, bananas, trail mix.  This way the food can be more natural, healthier, and with so many airlines now charging for food, it can save you some money too.
2. Bring your own empty water bottle.  Once you get through security, fill it up at a drinking fountain.  This way you won’t be tempted to buy a bottle of water and have to deal with that cheap plastic to dispose of and save some money while you’re at it.
3. Pack a canvas bag for shopping to avoid getting all those plastic bags while on your trip.
4. Use refillable toiletry bottles filled from larger packages you already have.  You don’t need to buy travel size products if you just fill travel size containers with what you already use.
5. Bring books with you from the library instead of buying a new one at the airport that you are likely to dispose of.  Or consider bringing a favorite book that already exists on your bookshelf.
6. Bring your own headphones to watch the movie on the plane.  You won’t be stuck with headphones that only work on the airline and reduces packaging waste from the headphones.
7. E-Ticket to eliminate the paper.
8. Use recycled or scrap paper to print out your boarding pass or check out the new paperless boarding passes!
9. Pack light. The heavier your bags are the more energy it takes to transport them.
10. Use rechargeable batteries for any of the electronic devices you’ve brought onboard to keep you occupied.  Just remember to pack the charger so you can have charged batteries for the return flight.

Next time you take a trip, what are you going to do to reduce your environmental impact?

If there is only one thing you do to attempt green, this should be it.  This is a new trend that I’m very excited about.  Many of my friends have emailed me (thank you) with various articles related to using your own shopping bag at grocery stores.  Many countries, including Ireland and China, now have laws that either prohibit the use of plastic bags or require that plastic bags are charged for.  And it isn’t just countries that are making better strides than the U.S., it is even happening in the U.S. (San Francisco).  On top of that, stores like IKEA and WholeFoods charge for plastic bags (note to self for next IKEA trip). 

The consumption of plastic bags is unbelievable (think about how many you use every time you go to the grocery store).  The environmental impact is just scary.  The plastic is not biodegradable.  That means that the plastic doesn’t break down, it becomes smaller and smaller bits of toxic waste.  With this process animals, mostly marine life, eat these bits of plastic.  To make this more personal, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t see an abandoned bag blowing down the street.

I mentioned that this is a new trend.  Most grocery stores now carry fabric grocery bags that you can buy (usually about $1/bag).  I’ve read that Target is also selling fabric shopping bags that are red with a white tree that has the Target logo all over it.  I personally like the new bags that Walmart is going to be selling, with the design “Paper or Plastic? Neither.” (pictured above).  I’ve heard, but have not been able to confirm that Home Depot will also be carrying fabric shopping bags, if orange happens to be your favorite color.  Before you know it, everyone will be bringing their own shopping bag with them.

Many grocery stores are offering discounts when you bring your own bag.  While I haven’t found any official statement from any grocery store chain, I have found many people commenting on blogs that they are saving typically $0.05 for every bag they use.  This includes the Kroger chain of grocery stores (including Ralphs, King Soopers, City Market, Dillons, Smith’s, Fry’s, QFC Quality Food Centers, Baker’s, Owen’s, JayC Food Stores, Hilander, Gerbes, Pay Less) and Supervalu chain (including ACME, Albertsons, Bigg’s, Bristol Farms, Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Hornbacker’s, Jewel-Osco, Shaws/Star, Shop’n'Save, Shoppers, sunflower Market).  I did a couple of random checks and Pathmark, Safeway, and Shoprite also give discounts. Sadly, Giant Eagle (the chain here in Cleveland, OH) does not offer a discount. So now the bags are even cost justifiable.

I’ve purchased 4 bags from Giant Eagle and that actually is enough for most of my shopping trips.  I think maybe two more should even handle my really big shopping trips.  Now, I’ve been doing this for the past few weeks and I have found one minor difficult part to all this. Several times I get halfway from my car to the store and realize I forgot to bring the bags with me and need to go out to my car to get them (I always leave them in my car, so that partially helps).  One of my friends was telling me about Chico Bags, which fold up neatly into a pocket so they are small enough to fit into your purse or even clip on to a D-ring which can snap on to your purse strap (assuming you carry a purse).  So I’m planning to get a couple so that when I make that urgent RiteAid run, I always have my bag.