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drummergurl's Eco Tips

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Eat locally grown food

Submitted by drummergurl on Mon, 06/21/2010 - 13:25

It takes 1,500 miles for food to travel from the field to your plate. This has tremendous impacts on the environment and your health, considering the carbon that is emitted into the atmosphere and the fuel that is consumed, not to mention the chemicals and preservatives that were used to ensure the food arrives fresh to your plate. Avoid the added environmental and health effects (as well as the added costs) by purchasing locally-grown foods at farmers' markets. Check out Local Harvest if you live in the United States.

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save trees by saving paper!!

Submitted by drummergurl on Sun, 06/20/2010 - 19:51

#1: Photocopy and print on both sides of the page.
#2: E-mail everything. Why use snail-mail, that will waste resources and emit pollution into the atmosphere, in this technologically-advancing worldÉ
#3: Print only what you need. You can set your print settings by choosing to print 2, 4, or 8 pages on one paper.
#4: Use the print preview! This allows you to view what you are about to print, and whether or not you can shorten the pages of printing (can you squeeze in that one line from the second page into the first page?)

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use baking soda to clean your carpets

Submitted by drummergurl on Sun, 06/20/2010 - 19:49

To clean your carpet using only natural ingredients, sprinkle some baking soda over the dry carpet, waiting at least half an hour or over night, and then vacuum.

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use programmable thermostats

Submitted by drummergurl on Sun, 06/20/2010 - 19:48

Using programmable thermostats helps you control the temperature when you're not at home, setting the AC to turn off when you leave home and start up before you get home, reducing cooling and heating costs.

Reducing your thermostat by one degree in the winter or raising it by one degree in the summer helps you save up to 5% on heating/cooling costs.

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Home-Made Fertilizers

Submitted by drummergurl on Sun, 06/20/2010 - 19:47

1. Use dried coffee grounds around plants needing a nitrogen boost.

2. Crushed eggshells provide additional calcium for the soil.

3. At-home liquid fertilizer: Using seaweed and water in a container and allowing the seaweed to decompose (about two months) is an excellent source of potassium for the soil. Before applying it to your soil, dilute the seaweed as it will be concentrated.

4. Steve Solomon`s Organic Formula
What you need:
(Measure by volume)
4 parts seedmeal (canola, alfalfa, soy) or fishmeal
1 part dolomite lime