persimmon cottage

The Ongoing List of Simple, Green and Frugal Steps

What we’re doing (items in the wishing or planning stages are italicized):

Food

1. Frequent our local, year round Farmer’s Market
2. Eat leftovers
3. Eat at home
4. Eat whole foods
5. Make our own butter
6. Order cheese in butcher paper
7. Grow more of our own food

Heating, Electricity and Energy

1. Heat with woodstove (and some supplemental space heaters)
2. Lower-use rooms closed off for winter with heavy drapes
3. Homemade kotatsu
4. CFLs in about 2/3 of house, replacing old incandescents as needed
5. Turn off the lights
6. No tv – turned off the cable for the school year
7. Rarely or never use the AC
8. Turn off all phantom electricity when not in use – tv , microwave, printer, modem
9. Go to bed when it’s dark
10. Eat dinner by candlelight
11. Window blankets or other insulation
12. Heating mattress pad?
13. Insulate the house, beneath the first floor, etc.
14. Improve passive solar reception – put in a window seat on south wall

Personal Care

1. Reusable menstrual pads
2. Baking soda deodorant – it’s fab!
3. Cut the kids’ hair myself
4. No poo – try it!
5. Shower only when necessary
6. Rarely use makeup
7. Get a diva cup

Laundry & Clothing

1. Wear clothes till they wear out
2. Wash clothes only when they’re dirty
3. Line dry
4. Wash in cold water
5. High efficiency front loading washing machine
6. Sell, donate, exchange or freecycle old clothes
7. Wear simple sturdy clothes and launder only when necessary
8. Go commando!  (when possible)
9. Investigate making laundry detergent (find recipes without borax), soap nuts?

Recycling, Trash & Waste

1. Moved to monthly garbage collection.
2. Recycle glass, many plastics, paper and metals curbside
3. Buying without packaging: tea in bulk, milk and cream in glass bottles, etc.
4. Paperless bills and account statements (mostly – not all institutions accommodate)
5. Flush only when necessary. Don’t flush #1.  Use pee in the garden and to deter raccoons.
6. Reduce waste, buy in bulk with little packaging
7. Reduced junk mail
8. Bucket toilet for pee
9. Composting toilet
10. Make list of materials Metro accepts

Household Products & Practices

1. Products I’m finishing with plans to replace with more sustainable options:  paper towels, toothpaste, flossers, toothbrushes, deodorant, tampons, cleaning products, shampoo for kids, rest of plastic bags and wrap (reuse until can’t), razors, conditioner, garbage bags
2. Use non-toxic cleaning products: white vinegar, baking soda
3. Sell or Freecycle stuff we don’t use or need, like books at Powells
4. Before buying ask: do I need it?  can I repair the one we have? can I repurpose something else to meet this need? can I buy it used or get it on Freecycle?
5. Stainless steel lunch tins for school lunches, Kleen Kanteens and thermoses
6. Get a fountain pen or two
7. Investigate dumping phone landline
8. Buy almost nothing brand new
9. Have no junk in the house
10. Replace paper towels with cloth rags

Money

1. Pay for what we value, nothing more
2. Barter or trade for things
3. Get out of debt
4. Track expenditures
5. Pay myself first!!
6. Take care of what we have – maintain, and make things last

Gardening

1. Compost everything!  Good food scraps to chix, rest to compost bin
2. Built raised beds in backyard
3. Convert front yard to edibles

Transportation

1. Only drive when necessary – walk, bike, bus
2. Learn about hypermiling

Farming & Animals

1. Two chickens
2. One rabbit
3. One cat
4. One dog
5. Insulated coop for winter

Water

1. Rainbarrel
2. Second rainbarrel
3. Fix gutter and reconnect rainbarrel(s)
4. Investigate greywater options

Health

1. Eat healthy and exercise – take the stairs
2. Go barefoot as much as possible (stocking feet in winter!)