How are you saving?
Have you noticed that all you utilities have gone up this year - in some cases, quite dramatically. How are you coping with this, coupled with the extraordinarily high cost of gas? I’d love to hear about some of your energy-saving endeavors this summers. Here are some of the main things that I’m doing: I air-dry all my laundry, I use my washing machine just 2 days a week (instead of almost everyday), I pack my dishwasher to the max and turn on every 3 days and I try to use ceiling fans instead of the A/C. I’m also about to replace the seal on my fridge and turn it down a few degrees, given that its the SUV of the kitchen.
For those of you who have been implementing these kind of energy-saving practices in your home for a while - have you seen any difference in your bills?
Don’t forget to enter this month’s contest, as the prizes are fantastic and you are really helping to spread an important message!
July 10th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
We have finally changed the lights in our apartment to CFL’s (amazing how that’s already cut down on cost!), we turned off our constantly running HEPA air filter, and I vacuum twice a week with a HEPA vacuum instead (that cut our bill by about 30%), and we got our landlord to replace our ancient electricity-guzzling fridge. all told, we are about 60% of our bills from the same months a year ago!
July 10th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I keep the AC as high as possible and use ceiling fans for circulation. I line dry everything. A few years ago we remodeled and put in a tankless water heater. It works like a radiator and only heats water being used at the moment. It doesn’t even turn on unless the hot water is on. We also put in energy star appliances and added insulation to our attic. We used the blow in type made from recycled newspaper. We also put in ceramic tile to keep our house cooler (it gets very hot in the Arizona valley). We also put in duel pane argon filled windows. The aluminum frames from our old windows were recycled and the proceeds were sent to St.Judes. But the most recent thing I did was build an out door shower. All of our gray water for bathing goes straight into the yard. I put in a post with a sprayer ( the kind to water hanging plants) It was only $10 and the head is adjustable as well as the flow. I simply attached it to the post with hose clamps. I used an old palette for a floor and surrounded it with a bamboo shade. I use it every day and so do my children.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:34 am
I would just like to say that Nichole’s comments were AWESOME! Wow! It sounds like you live in Eco Shagri-la! Let’s see–we air-dry all our clothes on our new clothesline, we’ve turned the AC during the day up to 78 instead of 76 (I know, not much but fans dry out my husband’s contacts), we bought soaker hoses for our veggie garden instead of continuing to use lawn sprinklers..our first electric bill after starting to use the clothesline was $20 cheaper than the month before but we think it will be even less this month because we were on vacation for a week during the month we compared to.
July 11th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
WOW Love your out door shower Nicole!!
Sophie I just saw you on Planet Green on the Supper Club show and Happened to buy your book at Target a couple of days ago! As a Mom of 4 with 2 twin 2 year olds and being involved in our MOM’s club,Etsy,and the children’s school, I too see how strong,resourseful,Creative and powerful Women can be! You are so right and I beleive in what you say that one little action has a ripple effect. I applaud you for all that you do and keep us all Gorgeous!
Back to your question. I am line drying our wash. we have cfls all around! We don’ have Air conditioning so we use shade and the breeze for heating and cooling. I have got a Veggie/Herb garden going again…new little puppy and our new chickens are eating all my back yard plants! We do get Fresh Eggs and Fertalizer from the Chickens!We are in Ventura County not on a Farm so anyone can really do that!That’s probably not so cost effective as it is good for the children,soil and Composting I don’t even get to do that! These Chickens and Dogs eat anything! I am working on that since that compost can be so expensive for a whole yard……
Oh we use all the water from the Washer to water the lawn.
Thank you for all your inspiration I look forward to diving deep into your book and starting a “gorgeously Green Girls club!”
Warmly,
Stacy~Creativemuse
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5023227
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52895107@N00/
July 13th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
I have a completely separate question, I just began reading the new book and wondered, can anyone comment, how do the ‘bare minerals’ foundations stack up as far as being chemical free?
July 14th, 2008 at 1:47 am
I started cutting costs for my utilities a long time ago, but my wonderful mother gave me Sophie’s book for my 25th birthday and I have changed even more things in my daily life. I only use CFL’s. I use fans instead of the AC, unless it’s absolutely humid and unbearable. (Sorry, I can’t sleep when I’m sticking to my skin.) I air dry my laundry. I take 5 min showers and use lukewarm water. I only run my major appliances at night or on the weekends. The dishwasher is packed full and the washing machine is used on cold only. I only generate about 3 loads of laundry every couple weeks -consider it a perk of living alone. I unplug EVERYTHING!
I originally started doing all this stuff to cut down my bills, but now it makes me feel good to know I’m helping our planet too.
July 14th, 2008 at 1:55 am
I have tried the trick of having my computer & the accessories into a power surge bar and actually turn the power bar off when I’m at work during the day. I also no longer leave my cell phone or ipod charger in 24 hours a day, only when I’m using it. Last but not least I unplug all small appliances (shredder, microwave, blow dryer) when I’m not using them. I’ve noticed that my electricity bill dropped about $5.00 (20%) a month but considering I live alone in a one bedroom apartment, that’s pretty good. Working on replacing the light bulbs each paycheck.