Can you believe that we're more than halfway through the Greener Year Challenge? Since we've been covering so many huge, heavy issues, I thought it would be nice to change it up by focusing on some tangible improvements you can make for a less wasteful and more environmentally-friendly house. Let's get to it!
BEGINNER:
Open the windows. Fresh air is a lovely way to improve the air quality in your home, and the more you blur the indoor/outdoor edge of your living space, the more attuned you'll become to the weather, the changes of the seasons, and the ways that nature influences and affects you.
Decorate with nature. Instead of relying on purchased items to decorate, go on foraging walks to find twigs, weeds, and flowers to display in your home. Again, bring the outdoors indoors to maintain your connection with the natural world.
Buy household items secondhand. This has myriad benefits, but here we can just focus on the environmental ones: by using something again, you're taking advantage of the embodied energy and keeping it out of the landfill for longer. (Plus, the item has had time to off-gas any toxic chemicals used in its production…)
Start a stash of rags. Paper towels are largely unnecessary if you have access to a washer; keep a pretty basket of rags in the kitchen and grab them instead to clean up spills. Then throw them in the laundry (or a separate hamper) when you're done.
Clean with baking soda and vinegar. Did you know that you can clean almost anything in your house with these two ingredients? Use baking soda for scrubbing (sinks, toilets, grout), and diluted vinegar for general cleaning (and hydrogen peroxide if you need something really disinfected, which is rare).
Get some cloth napkins. Paper napkins take a lot of energy to manufacture, and someone you know probably has cloth napkins lying around that they'd be happy to unload on you. Just use them like regular napkins and throw them in the laundry when you're done. (They feel a lot nicer than paper napkins, too, especially if you're a messy eater like me!)
INTERMEDIATE:
Hang your laundry to dry. Dryers are a big energy hog in the house, so try hanging your laundry and see what you think of it.
Check out household goods swaps. From laundry to cleaning to personal hygiene, eco-friendly swaps are here to help you choose items that are better for you and the earth.
Choose a less-waste beauty and makeup routine. Check out Polly Barks's list of zero waste makeup brands. (Or you could be like me, who never liked wearing makeup and will gladly walk around looking like I just rolled out of bed all the time.) Check out this link for my hair care routine.
Consider waste-free menstrual products. Those of us who have periods know that disposable pads and tampons add up over time. I've used cloth pads for years (even when hiking in the backcountry on the Pacific Crest Trail)— and I can't imagine going back to uncomfortable plastic. Menstrual cups, sponges, or even natural cotton tampons are options, too.
Try cloth toilet paper. Eco-friendly recycled toilet paper is expensive; cloth toilet paper is free! It's not gross, and it's not as intimidating as it sounds. Check out the tutorial here.
ADVANCED:
Research eco-friendly options for home improvement projects. Need to insulate your walls, buy a new dryer, paint the porch? Before you dive into the project, take some time to research eco-friendly (or at least less toxic) options. Here are some basic tips to get you started.
Install a greywater system in your home. Greywater simply means water that has been used once— like the almost-clean water that spirals down the sink when you wash off a head of lettuce, or the barely-dirty water heading straight to the sewer after a load of laundry. Greywater systems aim to intercept the water and find ways to use it at least once more before the embodied energy is lost. Simple systems involve catching bathroom sink water in a five-gallon bucket, which is used to flush the toilet; digging a trench in your yard and filling it with mulch and dumping kitchen waste water on it; and of course, the quintessential rain barrel. To learn more and gain inspiration, check out The Water-Wise Home by Laura Allen, as well as free resources at Greywater Action.
Install a composting toilet. I mentioned this in an earlier post, but it's worth saying again: this is a great way to save water and energy, as well as fertilize your plants!
Make your home a center of creation, rather than just consumption. I will be talking about this in depth in November's post, but I want to introduce the idea now. The typical western home is an energy guzzler in many ways: we eat up electricity, waste water, numb our minds with endless passive entertainment, and rarely do anything creative within our own homes. But reclaiming our homes for creation— whether that's a garden, a drawing, a dinner party, or fiber arts— is one of the best ways to ground ourselves in the habits that make for a sustainable life. We'll talk more about this next month!
Which of these challenges would you like to take on this month? What would you add to the list?
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