We've been making small changes over here. Changes to save us money and changes to live a bit more gracefully on this planet. More will come, but like I said small changes work best for us. Here's what we've changed in the last 2 weeks.
* We are making our own laundry detergent. Got the idea from gonzo mama, but there are other recipes out there. It will save us money, not sure how much yet (still calculating haw far a batch will take us). Here is the recipe
2 bars of fels naptha soap, finely grated (or other recommended soaps) I found this at longs drugs
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda (found this at nob hill)
Not sure about the fels naptha soap. We like it, but I want to make sure this stuff is good for the environment and I haven't got around to looking it up yet. (anyone know?)
* Washing all of our clothes in cold water. This saves on the heating bill and cuts back on out CO2 emissions.
* Turned down our water heater to 120 degrees. “If every household turned its water heater thermostat down 20 degrees, we could prevent more than 45 million tons of annual CO2 emissions – the same amount emitted by the entire nations of Kuwait or Libya.” -Power Scorecard
* I turn off the heater during the day. Saves us money and more co2 emissions.
So like I said small steps right now. The heater one I think is the one that I thought would be the hardest. I HATE being cold and I am cold ALL of the time. I have a hard time getting warm. I crank up the heat during the day to stay warm. Really though, it's not been that bad. It doesn't get as cold in here as I thought it would, and if I stay active (which is pretty easy) I don't really notice that the heat isn't blasting.
Next up?
Homemade Dishwasher detergent
Shop farmers market more often
9 comments:
I went to the farmers market this weekend!! It wasnt cheap for me though because OF COURSE the fancy $5 bread appeals to me and the $2.50 asparagus...oh well, it felt nice anyway. I had no idea about the water heater thing. I dont have a house to do that, but what a great idea!! :)
These are good small steps. I am intrigued by the homemade laundry detergent. I shall look into it.
We too, are taking small steps.
Those are things we have been doing for a while now. As much to save money as for the environment. Except the laundry detergent. I got almost the same recipe out of the Duggars book, 20 and Counting. We are almost out of laundry detergent and I am looking forward to making our own. My husband isn't convinced though...
I've heard yucky things about the Fels Naptha. It's nearly impossible to find an ingrediant list for it (which makes me wonder). You may be able to use something other than Fels Naptha though. I heard any bar soap will work. We're actually gonna try out soap nuts; we should get our order soon. I'll be sure to blog about it once I do. :)
~Tara
good stuff Heather. thanks for the nob hill recommendation, I'll check it out.
i have to say too, i am not sure about the fels naptha either, the more i look into it. i've read you can use a bar of dove soap and there are more options out there on the internet. i say we keep looking into it and keep each other posted!
thanks for sharing your list!
so here's a link to the msds for fel naptha soap.
http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=4002005&query=Laundry&searchas=type&prodcat=all
good post, heather - your small steps theory makes so much sense.
I thought of you... my friend is making homemade mozzarella cheese. I guess its the easiest to make and you don't have to let it sit around and stink like most cheeses you think of...and you get to squish it with your hands!
Here's some links:
http://www.leeners.com/mozzarella.html
OR
http://homecooking.about.com/od/cheeserecipes/r/bldairy22.htm
We started hatch marking our laundry detergent box each time we do a load so I can compare which option is less expensive.
so let's compare notes in afew months:)
p.s. how's Jack? I worried for him last night and virtually hugged him a few times...
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