Tips to Help Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

We use cloth diapers, buy baby clothes and toys from 2nd hand stores to reduce consumption, and grow our own vegetables in a garden out back, using rain water!

Use nice reusable grocery totes instead of the plastic grocery bags when purchasing groceries. When I do receive the plastic shopping bags, I reuse them as our trash bags in our trash cans. Recycle plastics, newspapers, metals, glass, cardboard, . . . at our city's recycling center. Unplug chargers . . . when not in use. Wash clothes in cold water, dry outside on nice days. My husband brings home paper that has only been printed on one side from the recycle box at work and we use it in our printer for everyday printing or drawing paper for the kids. And my biggie - I always make a list of all of my errands and try to do them in one day and efficiently! Saves so much gas - and time!

I live in an apartment complex and we have been doing the recycling for just over a year now and I think it is wonderful. We have been saving the pull tabs of pop cans and for earth day this year we are all getting together and making bracelets out of them. I have seen belts made with them but I think this will be fun making the bracelets. We have all changed to the energy saving light bulbs and we all have new floors that are made for the green energy program and we all was them with vinegar and water. Every little bit helps the earth and we are doing our share here at our apartments.

We try to be "green" whenever we can...turning off the faucet when brushing, using green products, turning lights off when not using them and using energy efficient light bulbs.

I use a reuseable cup. We put banana peels under our roses bushes.

I have washed clothes in cold water only for years, before Earth Friendly ideas took over. We switched all our light bulbs to LED's, and we have noticed a small difference on our electricity bill already! We also use cloth bags for shopping, and plan out our shopping to one trip per week to save gas. We are 15 miles from the nearest store, so that can really add up!

I love to garden and do not like pesticides or store bought fertilizer. As a deterent to pests like rabbits or squirrels i take old CD's and hang them on a string then place them on a post in my garden. something about the light hitting them keeps the critters away. I also line the edges of my garden with cayenne pepper. For fertilizer I use household trash such as coffee grounds and egg shells. I have started using organic cleaners in my home as well as shampoos, soap detergent etc. We use a surge protector strip on almost every electrical item we have so we simply unplug these to save energy. we have put time limits on showers and we got rid of our pool that was a constant source of water filling. We are currently looking for a new home and when we find one, we want to use solar panels on the roof. On days that it is not so hot, we turn of the air conditioning and open windows to conserve energy.

I use reusable shopping bags, unplug electronics when not used, and refill an eco-friendly water bottle instead of buying bottled water.

My friends and I share kids clothes when ever we can. I make old clothes, that aren't share able into rags, or use to make blankets or whatever I can think of using them for. The more I can think of to use old clothes that have holes or spots on them, the less I have to throw out. We also try to reuse jars for craft projects & storage. I have also started to make my own cleaners. Pinterest has a lot of great recipes on there for making your own cleaners, for dishes, normal house hold cleaning and laundry. There are even great ways to kill weeds with natural products. I also use left over coffee to water my plants. My plants have never looked better.

A vinegar and water solution is a great and green cleaning option for most types of floors. Combo 1c vinegar and 1G of warm water and get to cleanin'. :)

we recycle everything, compost, & donate to friends & goodwill. we also unplug everything when it is not in use

I only wash in cold water and hang my laundry out to dry

Very few of us get so dirty that we need a shower every day. If you cut the showering to every second day you'd save a TON of clean water and other resources needed in connection with this. AND reduce your water bill.

I use old washcloths and t-shirts that I cut up as wash rags and that reduces my paper towel use by a lot. I also use cloth napkins instead of paper ones. I turn my car off and open the windows whenever I am idling for a little while. I also used vinegar, lemon and baking soda to clean most of my house and avoid chemical cleaners as much as possible. I also empty used oil/grease into baggies because I learned that the oil pollutes the water system if washed down the drain.

I am trying to go paperless... or as paperless as possible... We only use reusable bags for shopping (all stores - not just grocery stores), have eliminated paper napkins and paper towels. I write my to-do lists on my phone instead of on paper (this is also a time save since I always have my phone with me and can update the list on the go as things come up).