So, my gf and I are still in our apartment, which both of us are definitely sick of. We're SO anxious to get a house and to make it ours, it's kind of hard to bear. Once we do have our place, we'll both be trying to save money, big time, and I believe that we'll also be doing a lot of things to save energy, which often go hand-in-hand.
I've been making a conscious effort, which is quickly becoming more and more unconscious, to use more "green," earth-friendly products, to spend my money more wisely on things that I hope will make a tiny impact on how much strain I add to the earth, while improving my own well-being. Once I got that baby gift together for my friend a couple months ago, that was really an inspiration to how much these things matter and how easily they can be done. Even just little steps.
So far, I've been buying as much organic food as possible, within my budget constraints. I'm buying only recycled napkins and TP, usually from Marcal Small Steps. Their napkins and TP are great! Very high quality, good strength and softness, 100% recycled, and not chlorine-bleached. They are sold at the chain grocery store near my work, and they're just about as cheap as the stuff made from virgin forests!
I've been printing coupons online, for organic brands, because they are rarely in the coupon books that come in the newspaper. I set up a gmail account to subscribe to the newsletters of all sorts of organic and eco-conscious brands, so that they wouldn't clog up my regular email and so they'd be all in one place!
Since researching all that baby stuff on the Cosmetics Database, I've switched some of my cosmetics to organic brands. My shampoo and conditioner are EO, and my body wash is Dr. Bronner's soap. I tell you, that shit cleans everything!! My skin feels great, and I've used the other scents to clean our grimy front stairs, and all over our house. I've ordered the Baby Mild kind, and I plan to use that exclusively in the shower, and keep the tingly Peppermint for cleaning the house! I also bought Seventh Generation's all-purpose spray cleaner, so that when my gf goes on her cleaning binges on Saturday mornings, she can use something not-scary!
My latest step, today, was starting to switch us over to compact fluorescent light bulbs. I had 4 bulbs, purchased from Big Lots and from Target, using a coupon for GE's Energy Smart bulbs. Today the forecast was for 90 degrees and humid. Time to turn our AC units on. And I figured, if these bulbs can help us save a little bit of money and energy, hopefully that will help us offset some of what we're using with our air conditioners! So I put them in the lights that we use most, and honestly, the light is really nice. Not gross and green-looking like I thought it might be. So as soon as I can, I plan to get more of these to replace even more in our home! And once we get a house, I want us to only use these bulbs. Sure they're more pricey at the beginning, but they're not terrible! And the Energy Smart bulbs are supposed to last for 8 years! Quite a smart investment, in my opinion.
I'm hoping that we'll see only a slight increase in next month's electric bills, despite having the AC turned on here and there. Here's hoping!
Shows I've been watching for inspiration:
Sundance Channel's:
Eco Trip: The Real Cost of Living
Big Ideas for a Small Planet
The Lazy Environmentalist
Everyone needs to see this movie:
Food, Inc. (It's available to stream on Netflix!)
