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Keep your freezer more than 2/3 filled.
- Freezers operate most efficiently when they are at least 2/3 full. Keeping it full requires less energy to chill the empty space, which saves energy and lowers your power bill.
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Make eco-friendly packaging choices.
- Eco-friendly packaging such as: reusable containers, recycled
packaging, and items with the least amount of packaging, are
easy on landfills, our dwindling natural recources and our
wallets.
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Purchase dry goods in bulk.
- Purchase dry foods in bulk (health food stores have bulk bins great for beans, pasta, grains, etc.) You are afforded more choices this way while reducing packaging waste and you'll save
money too.
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Put leftover food in the composter
- A great way to help alleviate the landfill problem is
to compost your left over food.
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Reduce waste.
- Reducing household waste by making eco-friendly purchases,
sorting out recyclables and simply being more aware of the
trash we produce drasticly reduces landfill glut and it
also limits the amount of natural resources we expend.
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Resist using aluminum foil, plastic wrap and plastic bags.
- Disposable food wrapping and storage devices are unnecessary and very polluting as well as being taxing on natural resources. It is much more economical and environmentally kind to use washable plastic containers. If you do use these products, wash and r
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Resuse chopsticks.
- Although most Asian restaurants provide “disposable” wood chopsticks with every order, there is no need to use new chopsticks every time. Decline to take the new chopsticks, use old ones instead, or buy permanent ones that will last forever.
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Reuse jars and plastic containers.
- Many of the products that we buy in the supermarket are packaged in jars and plastic containers than can be reused in many different ways. This reduces waste and saves us from having to buy containers.
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Use a dishwasher and save water.
- Using a full dishwasher saves an average of 5.8 fewer gallons
of water per load than washing by hand.
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Use as little water as possible when cooking.
- The more water you use in your food when cooking, the longer it
takes to heat. Reducing cooking time lowers energy usage which
translates to big savings on your energy bill.
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Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins.
- Cloth napkins can be used again and again, do not require trees to be harvested, and are actually nicer to use than paper napkins.
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Use concentrated products.
- Use concentrated products, such as juice, laundry detergent, and other cleaners, when available. Concentrated products reduce packaging waste and save money.
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Use reusable coffee filters.
- Instead of using disposable paper coffee filters, switch to reusable mesh coffee filters. They are tree-free and will save you money too.
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Use reusable shopping bags.
- If each of us used one less shopping bag a week, we could save
hundreds of millions of bags every year. Paper bags are made of virgin paper and plastic bags are not degradable. Using a
reusable bag is earth-friendly.
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Use sponges or rags instead of paper towels.
- An average sized family goes through 3 rolls of paper towels per
week, that adds up to an enormous amount of waste. Using a rag or
a sponge saves many trees worth of paper over the course of a
lifetime.
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Wash dishes, glass and silverware in hot soapy water.
- Germs are passed easily from one person to another on the rim of
a cup or an eating utensil. The best way to ensure that all germs and bacteria are killed before the next use is to clean them in hot soapy water.
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Wash the dishes or use the dishwasher... not both!
- If you need to wash your dishes thoroughly before putting
them in the dishwasher, save the water and put them in
the drying rack instead.
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