aLittleEarthlyLove

Let's talk about living GREEN

What is green living?

So...here's the thing, "green living"  can easily be defined as a general lifestyle that many who grow a passion to take better care of their planet choose to be a part of. This lifestyle truly involves trying, in as many ways possible, to bring a balance to the conservation and preservation of our Earth's natural resources, habitats, and also biodiversity within human culture and communities.

A guide to living Green

It all starts off with what you wish to get out of it. It can be that you wish to live a more Eco-friendly lifestyle, or maybe you've just recently discovered the importance of conserving our planet's resources, anything that urges you to want to make a difference in keeping our planet healthy.

How to: a Greener House

Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb (cfl): CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bub. This simple switch can save up to 300 lbs of Carbon Dioxide emission into the atmosphere a year! 

Install a programmable thermostat: Not only will programmable thermostats help you out with the bills, but also save you time. They are made to lower the heat or air conditioning at night and raise them again in the morning without wasting extra energy on keeping the system on when not in use.

Move the thermostat down 2° in the winter and up 2° in the summer: Almost half the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 lbs of carbon dioxide emission with this adjustment.

Do not leave appliances on standby: Same as turning off running water when brushing your teeth, unplug and turn off appliances when they're not in use. TVs alone use about 40% of their energy in standby mode. Use the on/off switches provided on the appliance or just unplug.

House Projects

Lets start simple... with the Do it yourself Recycle bins! Here are some ideas of how to store away those valuable recyclables, but feel free to get as creative with it as you'd like!

Now lets take it up a notch... with an off the Grid washing machine 

(The process of how to make this energy saving washing machine system can be found at Makenzie.com with the step by step process and materials needed)

In addition to washing a greener way, you can  utilize a clothes line to dry your clothes, as pictured above (bottom right corner) all you need is to suspend a piece of rope or string across a wide enough space to hang your clothes to dry. Make sure it's in semi-direct sunlight, and use clothes pins to hang garments from the line. this reduces the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere!

Are you someone who needs to stay organized? Not only does reusing and recycling benefit the environment but it can also benefit you in helping you organize yourself into living a sanitary and healthy lifestyle!

take these reused medicine bottles for example, by reusing them you reduce plastic waste and allow you to put these potential organizational tools to good use. the re-purposing possibilities are almost endless! 

the re-purposing doesn't end there, got any old tires? Want to add a little fun to your backyard?

All it takes is some rope, a tree, a tire, and a little elbow grease to get this fun tire swing up and swinging!

We also don't want to forget about our friendly backyard critters that need a home as well, in harsh summer heat or cold winters they need shelter so why not help them out and make one for them? Animals are constantly having to find new shelter because of the urbanization ocurring, so lend them a hand and provide them with one. below are measurements for a simple house project, but feel free to adapt it to wherever you wish to place it.

Now, Introducing Fuse Plastic

This super cool concept of fusing plastic bags into a reusable tote is a brilliant idea that has even evolved into other projects such as fuse plastic bags into cups and bowls! 

What else is there to do? How about some cleaning supplies DIYs?

The DIY Swiffer dusters and Swiffer covers made of Micro Fiber rags (template on how to cut the rag into a duster can be found here and for a Swiffer cover here)

Do YOU have any more ideas or projects you would like to see added to the site? Go to our contact page and send us an email with the information