20 Ways To Quickly Get Sustainable at Home
jchait - Home & Garden
Some sustainable acts take a big leap. Others you can easily manage in less than 30 minutes and still make a difference. Here are 20 easy sustainable steps you can take to green your home.
- Install low-flow shower heads.
- Stop all the incoming junk mail.
- Reuse your foil and plastic baggies or better yet, lose these items and use reusable containers and plain old foil free baking sheets.
- Use both side of your paper.
- Turn the oven off 7 minutes early.
- Unplug five items you’re not using right now!
- Cancel your newspaper.
- Cook three vegetarian meals a week.
- Load the dishwasher, instead of washing by hand.
- Clear out the toxic household cleaners and whip up some quick and easy homemade green cleaners.
- Test your toilet for leaks.
- Throw that can in the recycling bin instead of the trash.
- Fix a button, zipper, or hemline, and make curtains, blankets, and clothing last longer instead of buying new.
- Wash your laundry on cold.
- Use green recycled toilet paper.
- Defrost your freezer.
- Open your windows for at least 30 minutes each day.
- Cut five minutes off your daily shower.
- Use rechargeable batteries.
- Make sure your morning coffee is green.
Trucks Gain Sales as Gas Prices Fall
khallgeisler - Bikes & Cars
Oh, Americans, when will we ever learn? We the people freaked out during the spring and summer of 2008, when gas prices hit $4 a gallon, and bought small, low-gas-mileage, low-emissions, Earth-friendlier vehicles by the boatload. Small cars that had languished on dealership lots for months were snapped up in seconds as the price of gasoline climbed. And heaven forbid you had a Mini Cooper or hybrid on your shopping list. They were scarcer than hens’ teeth.
In the wake of this fuel economy frenzy, articles were written (including one by me) about the plight of the large truck. Pickups and SUVs were left on the lot by new-car buyers, despite deep discounts and dealer incentives to get these things to go away and make room for the smaller cars people wanted.
But now, though we all talk a good eco-game, truck sales are inching back up. This despite the fact that all signs point to the current low-ish price of gas being an anomaly. Not to mention that whole reducing the ol’ carbon footprint idea. Here are the top five vehicles ranked by sales in May and November, according to industry publication Automotive News, with city and highway mileage plus the annual carbon dioxide output numbers from the EPA:
May 2008
- Honda Civic (53,299 sold, 25/36, 6.3 tons of CO2)
- Toyota Corolla (52,826, 26/35, 7.3 tons of CO2)
- Toyota Camry (51,291, 21/31, 7.3 tons of CO2)
- Honda Accord (43,728, 21/31, 7.7 tons of CO2)
- Ford F series (42,973, 14/19, 11.4 tons of CO2)
November 2008
- Ford F series (37,911)
- Chevy Silverado (29,534, 15 city/20 hwy, 10.8 tons of CO2)
- Toyota Camry (25,224)
- Toyota Corolla (21,807)
- Honda Civic (17,690)
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