Going Green

[Garydh]

Going Green seems the thing to do these days. What do you do to go green? Besides recycling?  And is paper vs plastic really going green? Do these corporations that say they are going green really? Or are they pulling the wool over our eyes?  Yes is there such a thing as clean coal? 

[timvolley]

i agree that there is not much difference between paper and plastic. In my area it is hard to even find paper bags as an offer.

[catwell2]

i agree that there is not much difference between paper and plastic. In my area it is hard to even find paper bags as an offer.

Get some grocery totes that you can reuse. It seems like paper and plastic aren't much different, but plastic bags are worse because most people throw them away and they aren't biodegradable. Plus, the resources used in making them  would be much better off being used for something else (ie. petroleum).

[ninajay]

My city has banned the use of plastic bags and in grocery stores you have to pay for paper bags.

[inertia4]

I think going green would mean that using plastic would be a no no. But who has the time these days to monitor everything we do.

[amstewart]

I recycle as much as I possibly can.  My recycle bin is twice as full as garbage.  I take the extra time to rinse out all containers, remove plastic film from envelopes, break down boxes, etc.  so that the items are actually able to be recycled.  It makes my stomach turn to see boxes and cans in the garbage.  If we all do a little, it will go a long way!!
I also use reusable grocery bags, try to conserve energy, and teach my kids how to be more "green".

[GramPolly3]

I've crocheted some market bags from leftover yarns I had around and given them as gifts. There is one supermarket here that offers paper bags --the old kind with handles that are very sturdy; I can get about 10 uses out of them and always have some in the car to use. Then they are good to use to start a fire in the fireplace or wood stove.

 There are many ways to go green from composting to planting a vegetable garden or patronizing local farmers markets for organic produce and meats. All the little things add up and whatever you can do added to what others do, is a good thing.

[mjdoug03]

Recycling is good and using reusable grocery bags as well.  Paper is just as bad as plastic.  Just spend $10 on some reusable ones.

[mintopewku]

I don't really believe in clean coal---however I will agree that the efforts used today are much 'cleaner' & healthier than previous methods.  Not against coal. 
I do recycle, and in general try to use things multiple times.  I also think that we should buy recycled products, look to purchase items that use less plastic & packing.
100% recycled paper costs more than regular paper because of the demand (less of).  Never buy bottled water (WHAT A WASTE!)
Car pool and yourself do you really need to do that errand today?  (how many times you do make a special trip to the store, etc)

[qtrdhd]

I know there is so much more I could do.  But mostly I try to recycle as much as I can.  Every little bit helps right?

[Garydh]

There are some great ideas out there from everyone. I use the plastic bags you put your produce in to keep it from leaking into your groceries. I use them for picking up after the dog. Paper, for my garbage bag, and I recycle the plastic from the cans. Yes, bottled water to me duh? but having a water bottle with you can eliminate that. Hope everyone is going to have a great New Year, and hope you cash out more this coming 2012, so go FusionCashers

[lvstephanie]

There are usually three things that kids are taught about how they can go green: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The Recycling seems to be the easiest since there are usually recycle bins near the garbage, esp. in areas that have vending machines. But the other two are more difficult. One of the best ways to reduce the amount of garbage you have is to reuse items and repurpose them for some other use. For example, I may buy a bottle of pop from a vending machine, but instead of tossing (recycling) the empty bottle when done, I usually use it to fill up with water from the fountain. I may add some Crystal Light mix to it to give it some flavor (and sometimes give it the caffeine that I'm missing from not drinking another bottle of pop). Or like someone else mentioned, I'll specifically ask for plastic, but that is to clean up after my dog. And paper bags make great book covers for the kids' school books.

[brendy1990]

we recycle as much as we can i wish we had more recycling centers where we live but we dont.

[donnainky]

I try to be "green" when possible. I take my reusable bags to the grocery store, make my own environmentally safe cleaning products and use cloth towels in place of paper towels. I was visiting family back East this Christams and discovered the Washington DC charges 15 cents for a plastic bag. I can see where that would encourage people to use their own bags

[dmathiss]

I use grocery totes because I can just reuse them. I dont like using paper or plastic bags because to me its just has bad to use either. I also recycle everything from bottles to newspapers but I mostly try to read the paper online in order not to buy the newspaper. I also dont get any bills by mail. I do everything online. My kids are learning what going green means and they help me recycle.