Eco-friendly tips contest ended

[FigmentFever]

After seeing an episode of Oprah about environmentally-friendly cleaning products, I have been buying all natural products to replace the harsh chemical that I previously bought.

I didn't realize what a big difference it would make, but we are all breathing better now, escpecially our cat!

It's nice to see that almost everytime that I go to the store (especially Target), there's a new type of eco-friendly cleaner available. The best part is that they don't cost much more than regular products.

[~Kathie]

We use a lot of paper in our home office, printing menus and specials. Wehn the menus change we cut the paper up in quarters to use as scrap paper. Once the scrap paper is used, we recycle that.

We have sent some of our electronic items that we no longer use to gazelle. They pay for some items but others they take as a donation. They pay to ship the items to them. What they can't use they recycle.

[Blessing and Miracle]

I've gone completely paperless. All of our bills are sent and paid through online banking. Not only am I saving trees, but I no longer have to worry about payments being late because of misplaced or forgotten statements. Everything is automatically set up and paid through the bank. Simple, timesaving and eco-friendly!

[gpp2001]

I love, love, love my reusable shopping bags! It has cut way down on plastic bags! I love that here in Southern California, some places ask you if you want/need a bag - I think it's great that stores are starting to think that not every item needs to be put in a bag!!

[OhMari]

I don't know if this counts, but I've been doing "Green Things" since my kids were in school.

I recycle aluminum cans and take the cans to a recycling center when the price is around .85 a lb.

I walk or ride my bike to work almost every day.

I hang out clothes on my washing line outside almost all year long. My kids hate it, when I hang the towels outside, but they live.

I just started to go paperless too with bills.
It's scary and I keep everything in an excel file, so I can keep track.

[disneymomma]

My son has been really gung-ho about being more green the past year, so I've finally gotten into it a bit. We now recycle cans, paper, and plastics. We use canvas bags for shopping. I've replaced all the light bulbs with energy-saving compact fluorescents. We use the air-conditioner much less, only when it's over 85 outside. We walk more, for short trips to the nearby market. And we've given up bottled water and use the washable bottles instead.

[Belle]

One can recycle magazines by taking them to their beauty shops, dr offices, etc when they are finished reading them.

Here is a great website:
http://www.womenandenvironment.org/
It has tips such as how to make your own cleaning products.

[Chris]

We are composting.
recycling paper glass and metal.
Put in those new type of light bulbs.
I use reusable shopping bags. I keep them in the car so they are there everytime I shop.

[jl8595]

Two things off the top of my head:

I purchased a gallon of sunblock from drugstore.com (Blue Lizard - love that stuff!). It comes with a pump, making it very easy to pump out what you need. A normal bottle of Blue Lizard is sold in 3oz bottles, so I figure buying a gallon (128oz) is saving approximately 42 plastic bottles. For on the go, I pump it into a reusable plastic bottle and throw it into my purse and refill as necessary.

Also, we have 4 indoor cats. One demands two boxes of her own (one for her pee and the other for her...#2 activity...she can't do it in the same box, go figure )...which translates to 5 separate litter boxes. We started using "Sweatscoop" cat litter because it's made of wheat - aborbs the terrible box odor AND is 100% biodegradeable. Also, the wheat litter, scooped daily, lasts far longer than traditional clay based litter, so we use a lot less of it over time.

[mom2rachel]

My daughter's school recycles grocery bags and soda cans. My hubby and I have set up bins at our jobs to collect these things. It's a win-win for us... it helps the environment and gives our daughter's school a little extra money.