I do many of the same things (reusable bags, reduce paper consumptions, recycle via pick-up and drop-off, drive a small car, convert to CFL over time...), and I also compost. At our house, this has really reduced the amount of garbage that goes to the landfill.

For me, my office is the biggest place that I see unnecessary consumption, but I think some of that is generational. It can be challenging to persuade some older co-workers to be conscious of their paper and energy consumption.

I like to think I live a green life,I ride the bus to work. I only get the car out when it's absolutely needed.I take my own bag to the grocery. If I can reuse any containers or bottles I do.I also put out a garden.

Wish I had space for a garden. I put any food waste down the disposal since I'm in an apartment and don't have land to compost on. I really enjoy Trader Joe's raffle for a bag of their food when you bring your own bag. And Wild Oats gives you "Wooden Nickles" to either donate to the local charity of your choice on your way out of the store or to get 10 cents off your purchase!

Im new to the green thing, my vehicle is def not enviromentally friendly, but thats not going to change. I could run E85 but thats not much better in the bigger perspective of things. But me and my gf we recycle paper cause we can drop it off at the dumpster, but we are starting to look into the curbside pick up, its only 5 bucks month i think and they will come to you. We have been saving our plastics and glass (washed of course so you dont get little critters coming around) But i think recyclying is a must since we consume to many resources. we do reuse as much as possible.

I ride my bike/walk almost 95% of the time.
I recycle most of my plastic, paper, cardboard and glass. I switched my IPL to 100% green power. I use a human powered mower.

I guess that's good enough for now.. I would like to get one of those rain barrels to collect rain water to water my lawn/flowers/plants.

Ideally I would like to eat 100% local and organic as well, but that's just not in the cards yet.

I use my own bags for groceries and drive as small of a car as my daughter's car seat allows. I'm looking into the possiblity of taking the bus, but havent' worked out the details to get us to the daycare & work on time! I try to keep as many of my work files electronic as possible, and use the back of printed sheets for faxes and scrap paper. I wash clothing with cold water...and I feel like there are a couple other things I can't think of right now. The biggest challenge I have is recycling in an apartment. I don't have anywhere to store my recyclables (is that a word?) until I can take them to a bin.

In addition to riding the bus, recycling, use my own bags for groceries, etc. I like to air dry my laundry (and I live in an apt), living in a space that is not more room than I need, shop organic and try to buy a lot of local (traders point, farmers market, etc.), hand wash dishes, unplug unnecessary appliances (including tv, computer, etc...they suck a lot of energy even when not being used). There's a food delivery program where local farmers send in-season produce through this company to your door in certian quantities (can't remember the name of it), but until we can get it delivered to our apt. w/o it getting taken...maybe someday. I like to think that what I do is making a difference.

And I almost forgot the thing thats been, of late, very important to me...eating no meat. It's suprising how much pig, cow, chicken, etc. farms effect the environment. Cow's produce more carbon dioxide then the transportation industry. Between their waste, transporting them before and after slaughter, etc, even the amount of food and water they use...that's a lot of effects for a hamburger. If you're interested in more information, Micheal Pollen wrote a couple of really good books. Even eating less meat would help lessen the effects on the environment.

I'd read a bunch about how environmentally unfriendly being a carnivore is. As that TV ad puts it, "The More You Know.....""

I'm aiming for eating as many organic or locally grown products as possible. Can you recommend any farmers markets as spring edges closer? Heard about community gardens? I'll be posting more as weather warms for it...

Container gardens or hanging gardens are good for the yardless.

www.localharvest.org/ lists tons of csa's, co-ops, family-run farms, etc. You can search by state, city, zip code…

Cornelius: Farm Fresh Delivery is the service you're thinking of maybe? It's a nice service (you can order & pay weekly, whereas most co-ops require payment of the full season -- or at least 50% -- all at once) and you can get more than just produce.

But I'm partial to picking up my produce via local food co-ops -- I find it offers quantity, more variety, and if there's something I don't care for (like hot peppers) I know someone else will take them and make good use of them.

As for plastics, I don't know all the fine points, but apparently recycling oil-based plastic isn't as simple and straight-forward a process as it seems.

Products and foods packaged in biodegradable corn- or potato-based plastics are becoming more widely available, though. They're supposed to be a greener alternative, since they decompose within months instead of years.

I just read that all of the Patachou restaurants are now using the corn-based plastics for carry out containers. They also now use "green" cleaning products, energy saving light bulbs and recycled paper products.

As far as my greenness, I do pretty much the same as others on here... recycle (curbside), wash with cold water, keep my thermostat low, have energy saving lightbulbs, use "green" cleaners, etc. The one thing I can't do is walk to work. I work in Greenfield, so I have a 45 minute commute both ways. I wish I could bike to work, that would not only be better for the environment, it would make me less crazy and stressed (and save on gas!).

I'm a big fan of farmer's markets in the summer. I need to look more into the delivery service maybe. I also have recently been researching ways to have my own little urban garden. I live in a rented duplex, so I want to at least try to grow a tomato plant, a pepper plant, and maybe a couple of green bean plants... and I really want a countertop herb garden!

I also don't eat meat... the more I find out about the meat industry, the more I'm glad I don't eat meat.

I turn condoms inside out and get another use out of them.

s.h.

I'M REPORTING ABUSE! That is some gross, yet hilarious shiz!

eh- What a great tip. Love www.localharvest.org! I would not have found that site on my own. As far as corn based product goes, I ordered something from cooking.com and they shipped with corn based packing peanuts. I got curious and dissolved one in a cup of water in seconds. AMAZING! I held on to them for use in other personal shipping but commend them for their awareness!

I do most of the same with addition of 'green cleaning' I try to use earth friendly cleaning products. I am amazed what vinegar and baking soda can clean...

One small thing I do (among several small things) is to NOT use drinking straws at restaurants. I don't know if this really helps, but it seems a waste to me to do so.

Allison- I need to know how to use the vinegar/baking soda/borax method. Any hints? I bought the Clorox Green products but they aren't impressive yet.

JL Kato - I don't use straws either, I avoid lids on fast food cups and simply dodge pot holes if I take it to go ;-)

Oh, and want a reality check on what just recycling plastic water bottles does to save landfill space? Check out this Cornell University animation of bottles per year! http://www.cs.cornell.edu/~djames/bottledWater/

This website has lots of home-made cleanser formulas. Otherwise, we're big fans of the Ecover and Seventh Generation products at our house.

I'm on the fence about the Clorox thing. I know that, with the purchase of Burt's Bees (yep, they're owned by Clorox now), Clorox said they were committing themselves to "greener" behaviors, but it's hard for me to shake the feeling that there might be green-washing involved.

Seventh Generation products are pretty good, leave a bit to be desired. Their dishwashing detergent etched all my glasswear. :-( Big thumbs down to that. I don't think a solution will be created quickly and genuinely enough for me to believe in it.

Thanks middlewest - I'll look into the cleanser formulas

We've used the Seventh Generation spray cleaners for windows and counters. For plates and such, the Ecover dish detergent is good in liquid or the dishwasher packet form. A great tip for replacing who-knows-what's-in-it dishwasher rinse products: powdered citric acid, available at your local health food store in bulk, will prevent glass streaking perfectly in the dishwasher.

Nice link to the video!

baggles: Nice to know about Cafe Patachou. I hear it's becoming more common for supermarkets to package their to-go foods in them.

I'm the furthest thing from green. When I go to the grocery I ask for all of my groceries to be double bagged in plastic then put in paper bags. I spend the better part of my day driving around aimlessly going through gas. I cut my grass in the afternoon. I burn all my trash.

Thanks Middlewest for the powdered citric acid tip. I'll give that a shot and report back.

And going back, Cornelius - a secondary bonus to air drying laundry in your small apartment: it refreshes the whole apartment's scent!! Love it! :-)

Grilling: gas or charcoal - which is greener?

I drive a tiny, girly car and use energy efficient lightbulbs. I'd love to put solar panels on my house or maybe install a windmill, but green energy initiatives like that are so damn expensive.

I think that's the most frustrating part of trying to take a big step towards being green... you need a lot of money. And though making this switch would save you money in the long run, its the big bulk you need at first that is hard to come up with.

As far as grilling goes, I think gas is probably cleaner?? I don't know for sure... but that would be my guess.

For grilling: go electric. You can get a large outdoor/indoor electric George Foreman Grill. Electric trumps gas and charcoal or it would if we generated our electricity in Indiana in a more environment-friendly way. I believe most of our electricity in Indiana comes from burning coal, unfortunately.

Is a small car enough to make a difference? Hard to say I can cough up the $$$ to buy a hybrid or even a smaller car (not many smaller than a VW Bug- A smart car is dumb if you need it for more than a commute and a Mini has no trunk space)

Tips on saving the enviro while saving cash on your fill ups? Best I've heard is to get your car tuned up regularly. And Mythbusters taught me that in the summer it doesn't make a huge difference if you run the AC vs. drive with windows down- just don't over do it and make your care a rolling deep freeze fridge.

I do many of the things mentioned above, and also try to avoid using the clothes dryer. You can buy collapsable folding racks at the store and it saves energy and your clothes don't fade or shrink. Also, I avoid sending things to the landfill via trash by using freecycle.org where people will take the things you no longer need or want. There is an Indianapolis group. In addition to tune-ups, keep your tires at the right tire pressure and you will get better gas mileage. I just took my recyclables today and you're right about the lack of apartment space - I just moved to an apartment and I have to drive to the place almost twice a week to keep it from getting on everyone's nerves!

I didn't have AC in my car for 3 years and didn't really notice. I eventually got it fixed because I started commuting in dress clothes in the summer and didn't want to arrive at work all sweaty.

Except on the hottest days of summer, I usually just roll my windows down instead of use AC. My wife keeps the AC so high I actually get cold. :(

Speaking of AC, keep the temperature in your house reasonable in the summer (75 maybe) and the heat reasonable in the winter (I keep mine at 68).

If you dress cool in the summer and warm in the winter, you don't really notice the difference.

Wearing appropriate weighted clothing helps a lot! So true about just turning the thermostat up or down- save you $$ and carbon emissions.

I rely on hot or cold beverages too. The house might be chilly but a hot chocolate does the trick with a blanket most of the time.

Do you recycle at work? I have a hard time convincing coworkers to turn their light off in their office when they go out to lunch for an hour! Have you signed up for Earthhour? www.earthhour.org. my business is on board!

I think it's easier to use less energy in the spring with the ability to open the windows and leave lights off longer due to days increasing in length. Earth Hour was fun but it was one hour out of 8,756 hours a year....