Today is the day that H and I are closing, so this post is going to be short (also, I took back the internets on Wednesday, so we dont have internet at the house right now).  After talking about the huge check yesterday, and I got the final number yesterday, which was still mind boggling.

After closing, one of the things that I’m looking forward to the most is going on an efficiency shopping trip to the hardware store.  I havent decided exactly what i’m going to get on this trip, but it will be all products that you can quickly change yourself that will save energy, (light or heat) or water – which will reduce your use and your bills.  It could be a rather expensive trip, but it will pay off in the long run.  I havent looked at everything yet, but here are a few things I know will be on the list.  (I’ll also write a more detailed post about what I get and why later)

Programmable Thermostat

These things are awesome.  You set them up to keep the temperature at a certain level for a certain time (say, from the time you normally get up in the morning to the time you leave for work) and then it will kick off when no one is home during the day, so you’re not heating a big, empty house.  I’ve installed them before and they take about an hour or so to install and set up.  After that, it’s nothing but automatic energy savings.

LED Bulbs

These bulbs are new (to consumers) and are still kind of expensive, at around 15 bucks per bulb.  They last much longer than normal incandescent bulbs and even CFL’s and use a fraction of the energy.  I’ll have to check and see which lights will be on most and start there, to save the most cash right away, then I’ll moved on to the lower used ones.

Dual Flush Toilet

These have been around for a while, and the toilets use less water based on the type of discharge that someone puts in there.  Typically you’ll get about 1/2 the water if you push the handle up, and  a full flush if you push the handle down.  These are about 20 bucks for the kit.

That’s about it for now, but once I actually make this trip I know that I’ll have done more research and add more things to the list.  Enjoy your weekend!

Sometimes readers write in with questions and I answer their email, but occasionally I feel like they may not be the only one having that problem.  This is one of those times, when elizabeth is asking about composting.  (also, if you’ve got a question, feel free to email me)

Elizabeth writes in:

I have a sustainability question for you – composting in a suburban environment. My neighborhood isn’t very compost friendly – you have to have a fence to do so in your yard, and (1) we’re planning on moving in the next few months and (2) putting up a fence costs thousands of dollars! Do you any ideas for a “covert” compost in a suburban area – one that might fly under the radar, or be mistaken for something else?

Thanks for writing in Elizabeth.  Composting is something that really is not that difficult to do, though it does get more difficult if you’ve got a small space.  I’ve lived in a few apartments, and never really was able to get composting going when I lived in them, but I do know there are a few ways that you can do it – and they my be easier to do than outside composting because the heat is regulated inside (my compost heap froze this winter).  No matter if you do compost inside or outside you can still compost the same things (no meat, no dairy).  One suggestion that I would make though is get a small bucket or pail or something (typically, I use the paper bags that come with our fruit shares and just throw everything in the bin, bag and all) to put all of your scraps in.  I was using a small pail at one time, but the dog chewed it up, so I found something else.  Keep it near your garbage pail so you make sure to put all the compostable food waste in there and the rest into the garbage.

Essentially your only option for apartment composting is worm composting (sometimes called vermicomposting).  This involves having a place for your compost, filling it with worms and letting the worms do their thing.  When the worms eat  all of the scraps, they poop out some awesome stuff (for plants, not people) that is really nutrient rich and can be used as fertilizer for your soil.  Typically, the best types of worms for the job are earthworms, specifically the red wigglers, but the red earthworm and european nightcrawler will also work.  Since you dont live in an apartment, you may be able to go a bit bigger than this, but I’m not sure how much.

You can probably get an old garbage pail or something and apply the same principles to this, but I’m not sure how that will work out.  One option is to build a “worm farm” like DIY Natural worm farm.  This is a cheap and easy solution, and you could probably leave it in a discreet place in your backyard and the neighbors wont even know what it is.  That particular worm farm you may be able to build with stuff you already have laying around the house, but you’ll probably have to buy some worms for it.  It uses the same approach (and the same worms) as the apartment style, but it’s a bit bigger and can be stored outdoors if you wish.  I’m not sure where you live, but if it’s near wildlife of any kind, you may want to keep the lid on it or leave it inside.

Readers: Have you been wanting to do more DIY/sustainable projects but feel limited based on your living situation (rent, apartment living, etc)?  Are you interested in composting like elizabeth? 

A lot of the time that I’m thinking about sustainability, the cost is one of the first things that come into mind.  There are a lot of great sustainable things out there, but some of them cost a whole boatload of money.  Some of these expensive things will have a pay back period (time it takes to recoup your investment) in the tens of years, if the item ever recoups cost before it needs to be replaced.

The thing with sustainability for most things though, is that it’s cheaper over the long term.  Some of the things you may buy will be more expensive at first, but will be made of a higher quality material and will last much longer, lowering your cost of each use.  Not only are you saving money over the long term, but by not buying something that will need to be replaced in 4 years, you’re keeping garbage out of the landfill.  So, if you’re focused on sustainability, look into high quality items that will last a while – they may be initially more expensive but will most likely be cheaper in the long run.

Over the last 10 or so years, one thing that I’ve noticed at the store is a whole boatload of new “green” products coming out, that are supposedly better for the environment in some way than their “non-green” counterpart.  Of course, the company doesnt really go into detail about why it’s greener, they just say that it is because it uses (or does not use) some ingredient.  Of course, this “green” product often comes with a nice price increase over the non green item, lots of times north of 10%.  I feel like a lot of people are concerned about the planet and want to do the right thing, so they purchase this product that claims to be greener, feeling like their extra money has done some good.  Typically though, the product is just called green and is only marginally better (or not at all) than whatever they non green version is.

One of the best parts about green cleaning solutions (and other green products) is that you can be much more sustainable and use less harsh chemicals if you simply make the product yourself!  I didnt do much of this up until two years ago because I thought that it was difficult, but it really, really isn’t.  Most cleaning solutions can be made with vinegar and water, and perhaps something else to make it smell good, and you can get vinegar for like 1.50 per gallon, where a normal sized bottle of green cleaning solution is like 4 bucks!  Depending on how much you use, you can save a ton of money making your own stuff!

Sustainability isnt just about buying the product with the expensive product with the green label.  Most times, you can save a truckload of money while trying to be more sustainable at the time of purchase as well as over the product lifetime.

Readers: Do you find green products to be more expensive as well, and does that prohibit you from buying them?  When you buy them, do you know why they are greener than their counterpart?

Well, march is just about over (as of this writing) and it’s time to look at how I fared on my goal progress for the first quarter of 2012.  If you’re curious about what my goals were, you can see them here (as well as past years).  I’ll write them below and provide a brief update on the status, and how I can move forward for the rest of the year.

1. No New Debt From Jan 1, 2012 until the wedding in Mid July.  Well, this is a  fail – H and I bought a house.  Of course, it’s not consumer debt or “bad” debt, but it’s debt nonetheless.
2. Pay off 1/2 of the truck loan.  Working on this, and have started to get some traction over the last 3o days.  Paid down about 2k worth of balance so far in 2012.
3. Finally, I’d like to create joint financial goals with H after we get back from the honeymoon, but before the end of the year.  It’s not just me anymore out there, and I’m happy to have her support. Obviously, this wont happen until later this year, but we have had a few discussions about it so far, but nothing concrete.
4. Run a Marathon – This has been going well so far.  Though I’ve missed a handful of training days over the last 2 months (it’s less than 5, but I’m not sure of the exact number) the results of this wont officially be in until June, after I run the race.  I wish it was as easy as just turning up and running, but unfortunately it’s not, and everything I’ve done so far will help me complete this goal.
5. Eat Vegetarian Dinners Three times per week - This also has been going well.  It was a little rocky at the beginning because H and were trading off the shopping duties – one week she would menu plan and shop, and the next week I would do it.  It didnt work so well – H doesnt really like going to the grocery store, so after a few tries, I just started getting her input when I make the menu, and do all of the shopping and cooking on my own.  I’ve been doing fine on this goal so far this year.
6. Be in Good shape for my honeymoon - Though this was a rather terrible goal because it had no reportable metric, and I still havent figured out how to measure it, but I think it’s going well.  I’ve been able to put on something like 10 lbs since I started regularly going to the gym again – and I’ve noticed a difference.  That’s about all I can ask for at this point, so this is also going well.
7. Plant a Garden – This has been in quite a state of flux, and at this point I dont really know where it’s going to end up.  Before we decided to move, I had a plan for the garden and all I was waiting for was to get some time to build the border and then fill it with compost from the city.  Now that we are moving, I have found a spot that I’d like to turn into the garden (but it’s full of rocks right now) – I’d have to clear the rocks, get the soil in and all of that relatively quickly.  I’m not giving up on this quite yet, but it’s looking dicey at best at this point – this is surely not a fail yet, though.
8. Make papercrete- There hasnt really been too much movement on this yet, but unlike the previous goal it was probably helped by moving.  I’ll get my own outbuilding in the new house, and I can make papercrete in there and I’ve even got a 55 gal drum to make it in.  In addition to that, I’ve been saving all my throwaway paper from my office for the past year to make papercrete with, so i’ve got the stock and all I need is a mold to pour the stuff in.  So, this is going along swimmingly, and I’ve still got 9 months to go.
9. Continue using human power for travel - this has also been going swimmingly, and with the purchase of our new house, it will continue.

I’ve had my current cell-phone for two and a half years (it may be time for a self upgrade on android). It’s one of the first Android models, the G1. I love this phone. It has a convenient keyboard, I get service everywhere I go, and best of all… it has internet! Okay, you caught me; I’m a bit behind on the times. Unlike a friend of mine, who hooked up his Android to his car and simply has to say the name of a song for it to come on through his speakers, I am still astounded that I can check my emails from my cell-phone. Although I’m usually one to keep my phone until its screen is cracked and the battery barely lasts a half-an-hour, all this talk of 4G, and 3D, and NFC, makes me want to upgrade, even though I’m happy with my current model.

I know I’m not alone. As a result of the current influx of new technology, it seems people are replacing their cell phones, computers, mp3 players and tablets at least yearly, if not more often than that. But what happens to all of our old technological equipment?

For many, endless chords and wires attached to endless outdated electronics end up at the bottom of some closet – a tangled relic of simpler times. But with spring and its signature cleaning around the corner, maybe you should start thinking about what you are going to do with all that electronic scrap (or e-scrap).

The improper disposal of e-scrap is a growing problem. Approximately 50 million tons of e-scrap are produced every year, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates only 15-20% of total e-waste is recycled – the rest goes towards clogging our earth with toxic junk. The worst part: the UNEP predicts these numbers will increase by 500 percent over the next decade, with America leading the way.

While e-scrap is primarily composed of hazardous materials, it also contains valuable parts. Up to 60 scarce elements can be extracted from complex electronics, and many obsolete electronics still have working parts. By improperly disposing of e-scrap, we are wasting these precious resources.

Many corporate technology providers offer convenient recycling options. Radio Shack’s Electronic Trade-In program allows you to “trade-in” your old electronic products at one of 4000 participating stores or online for a Radio Shack Gift Card. Radio Shack then uses your old products to refurbish new ones or sell them for parts; either way all traded-in merchandise is repurposed. Best Buy, Apple, and Microsoft all offer similar trade-in programs. Microsoft even dedicates a page on its site to tips for reducing your day-to-day environmental impact, including conserving electricity, saving water, buying energy-efficient electronics, and learning about sustainable energy initiatives. Corporate recycling programs are a good way to make cash for electronic scrap while protecting the environment.

You can donate your old electronics to charity or causes. Goodwill teamed up with Dell to form Reconnect, a service which refurbishes electronic materials to benefit local communities (also, I believe that apple has a program as well). Currently, 1,900 Goodwill locations accept electronics, in any condition, that are sealed and properly labeled.  The Wireless Foundation’s CALL to PROTECT program donates the proceeds from recycling used phones to national organizations that battle domestic abuse. Students Recycling Used Technology (StRUT) provides reusable technology for students interested in careers in electronics. Other charitable e-scrap recyclers include Komputers 4 Kids, eBay Giving Works, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

With the wealth of e-scrap recycling options, there is no reason you should be contributing to hazardous electronic waste. So if you plan on buying a new gadget this season, don’t be careless with your old ones. Make some cash (or good karma) while taking the right steps toward protecting our planet.

This is a guest post provided by cjenvironmental.com

Just like everyone, I have trouble remembering all of the things that I can do in my day-to-day life that will help me become a more sustainable person (and help me save money or get healthier).  To help me out, I developed this post – sustainability from A to Z.  Here you’ll find tips beginning with each letter of the alphabet that can help you out in your day to day life.

A is for Air Dry.  Lots of dishwashers have a heated dry cycle that uses a lot of energy.  When you have dishes in the dishwasher, typically you’re not in dire need of something that’s in there, so you won’t need the heated dry to speed things up.  You can just turn off the dry cycle all together and let your dishes air dry in the dish washer.  If it turns out that you do end up needing something, just open the dish washer and pull it out and dry it with a towel.  Air Drying dishes can help you save money by using less heat when operating your washing machine, and  can help you save the earth by using less energy.

B is for Buy Used.  Buying used is a rather simple process:figure out what you need (or want)  and find a store that sells it used.  You can check local antique or consignment shops in your area, your local craigslist, or even ebay.  Don’t worry if you think that what you’re looking for is too off of the wall or crazy, sites like ebay have everything.  Buying used can get you what you need for cheaper (and possibly better quality) than buying new, and you’ll keep something out of a land fill as well.

C is for Clothesline.  This is probably one of my favorite sustainability tips as everyone who wants to can do this (even you’re apartment people!)  Many of those in homes can easily string up a clothesline or may already have one that just needs repair. H and I had to make our own by buying some clothesline string and stringing up a few lines over the corner of our fence.  If you live in apartment, you can always use one of those clothes drying racks.  Clothes dried out on the line smell so good and feel so fresh when they are done too!  You can save money by using less electricity, saving wear and tear on your dryer, and you can save the environment by reducing emissions from   your local energy generation station.

D is for Driving.  There are plenty of things that will burn gas at a higher rate than normal, such as constant jackrabbit starts (gunning it off the light) constant stopping and starting, and speeding.  It’s pretty simple to avoid these habits (once you graduate high school) by paying attention to how fast you’re going and watching the lights to make sure you don’t have to come to a complete stop before your light turns green.  Of course, this will help you save gas, which will save you money and will help out the environment by using less petroleum based resources.

E is for efficiency.  Specifically, I’m talking about fuel efficiency.  You know that your commute is going to be X number of miles to work and back home, right?  If that’s the case, then why wouldn’t you want to maximize the amount of miles that your vehicle can operate per gallon of gas?  Well of course you would, because you want to be more sustainable, and you know that getting a more fuel efficient car will help you save money by using less gas than you would with a less efficient vehicle, and will help save the environment by lowering emissions and using less petroleum based resources.

F is for Full.  Many things operate better and use less energy when they are full.  Freezers use way less energy when they are full because the things that are already frozen will help freeze the newly put in things.  Many other home appliances work in a similar way.  Why run the dishwasher or washing machine when it’s half full, simply wait a day or two until you’ve got a full load and you’re on the road to sustainability.  This can help you save money by using less energy (on freezer, dishwasher, washing machine and other home appliances) and saving on wear and tear, and will help you use less energy or water depending on the appliance.

G is for Garden.  Most food that you eat has traveled 1500 miles (on average) to get from the production area to the shelf of your local store.  Clearly that’s a lot of miles and a garden is a great way to cut down on food miles.  Even those of you with apartments can plant a pot full of your favorite herbs like basil and mint and avoid buying some things.  Starting a garden will help you save money at the store by lowering what you’ll need to buy, save the earth by cutting down your food miles, and could help you become a bit healthier by removing additives and pesticides from your food.

H is for Homemade.  For just about everything you buy, you can do it yourself.  People just think that it’s cheaper to buy what someone else has made (while it does happen sometimes, it’s far less often than you think).  I haven’t been into the homemade movement for long, but since I started digging in, I’ve found tons of things you can make at home that I’d typically buy, like dryer sheets, drain cleaner, food, cheese and so much more.  When you make things yourself you can control what goes into the product and how it tastes at the end – and you also get that great feeling of having done something productive that day.  You can save money and the environment by going the homemade route.  This tip provided by staff writer Beatrice.

I is for Information.  The more information you have about something (be it a service or product) the more you can decide if it’s as sustainable as you would like it to be.  Don’t like how many miles your food travels?  Get some information and figure out how you can start producing some of your own food.  There’s plenty of ways to become more sustainable, you just have to look around for them. Honestly, I didn’t know you could make your own laundry detergent, dish soap, etc until I started this site.  This can save you some money by cutting down costs of things you’d normally buy but start making instead, and can help save the earth (and your heath) by using less toxic ingredients.

J is for Join. If you look at the definition of join in the dictionary here is what you will read, “ the shape or manner in which things come together and a connection is made;  make contact or come together.” Use this to your advantage in living sustainable. See if there are community programs you can join that work on green projects, like community gardens for example. Or, join a Community Supported Agriculture Progam (CSA) and use it to source your fruit and veggie groceries. Or, bring your friends together who think like you and ‘come together’ to form an environmental advocacy group. The sky is your limit when it comes to connecting with the planet.  Tip provided by Miss T from Prairie Eco Thrifter.

K is for Knowledge.  There are a ton of things that you can learn about from a sustainability perspective.  You can learn about life cycles of products, how things are made and how the inputs used are harvested, mined, or otherwise created.  There is sustainability in each one of those steps, and the more you know about the most sustainable methods, the better you can make decisions on the day to day.  For instance, when I bought laundry soap I would always buy the powdered kind in the box because all of the fancy designed bottles are wasting a ton of space in the truck.  Less space wasted = more room for product = less trips.  So, there’s sustainability everywhere, you just have to know about it and make decisions based upon what you know.

L is for Low Flow.  Low flow showerheads and toilets are awesome.  Simply purchase a low-flow showerhead and install and it will regulate the water flowing out of the head.  Low flow toilets work a bit different – some use less water per flush and some will have two buttons – one a half flush for number one, and the other a full flush for number two.  You can cheaply lower the water in your toilet by filling a few jugs with water and placing them in your toilet tank, lessening the amount of area the water has to fill every flush.  Low flow treatments can help you save money and the environment by using less water.

M is for Mindful Spending.  A lot of sustainability can be boiled down to resource use.  If you buy things that you don’t need just to buy them, you’re wasting resources.  When you think about what you spend, you’re giving thought to what’s actually going to happen to the item when you take it home.  Is it something like a tiddy bear (full disclosure: I didn’t know about this before I started writing this post) that seems totally useless and will only be used a few times before it stored away, or will you use it a couple of times every week?  Think about your purchases, if you do this, you’ll end up saving yourself some money and stopping resources from being used for no reason.

N is for New Life.  Anything that you feel like you’ve outgrown or no longer have a use for, consider donating to a local chairity.  Even though you may not have a use for it anymore, there very well could be someone who has a need for it and would be more than happy to have it.  This could be anything from movies to books to old clothing.  You’re keeping things out of the landfill helping you become more sustainable and saving the person purchasing it some money because they are getting it secondhand.

O is for Overboard.  Don’t go overboard with your sustainability measures needlessly, as it could cost you money that you’ll never recover.  When I was in college we got assigned a task to try and figure out where we would save the most money if we could only replace one incandescent with a compact flouresent bulb.  Obviously, this meant replacing the light that was on the most for whatever reason.  Think about it – should you put the light in a high traffic area like the living room where the light is on 2 hours a day, or the closet in the basement that gets turned on once a week.  You can save some money by not buying needless bulbs and still be exponentially more sustainable.

P is for Programmable Thermostat.  Programmable thermostats operate pretty simply – you tell them what time and what temperature to turn the heat to on any given day and they do the rest.  They take probably an hour to install and cost about 50 bucks, but can easily make that back during the winter, and then some.  Once you’ve got this done, you can sit back while it saves you money and helps out the earth by using less energy than  you would if you heated/cooled your house when you were not going to be there.

Q is for Quality.  One of the most important things I have discovered on my eco-living journey is the importance of quality over quantity.  I have discovered, in terms of food, I prefer an approach that is less about how cheap and easy to make the food is, and whether or not the food is of good quality. Quality over quantity, in this sense, means going slightly against your natural spending habits, at least on the surface, and embracing an added short term expense to minimize a long term one. Investing in your health and the planet now by modifying your diet to include organic and humanely-raised animal products will benefit you in the future with lower health care costs. It also benefits the planet through sustainable farming practices. Already eat sustainable? Then here is another example.  Think of the consumer marketplace. How many people buy a cheap, plastic item and eventually have to take it to a landfill because it no longer works, or the plastic cracks, sometime not long after they bought the item? The numbers are staggering. Don’t believe me? Go and pay a visit to your local garbage dump. In my experience, not many consumers in general question the quality of the items they buy. They just buy them and forget about the origins of the product, or the sweatshop conditions of those who laboured to make them. It often doesn’t enter into the consciousness of everyday people. Do the planet and yourself a favour and start paying attention to quality over quantity.  Tip provided by Miss T from Prairie Eco Thrifter.

R is for Reuse.  I used to want to buy a lot of stuff – something for every purpose and something crazy for some far fetched idea I had at one fleeting moment.  Thankfully, I didnt do 98% of these ideas, but a lot of people do buy a lot of stuff for one reason or another.  Eventually they’ll tire of the item and will be willing to sell you something perfectly good for cheap, or even better, FREE!  Of course, this doesn’t have to include a friend – you can find something in your house that you no longer use and re-use it for something different.  It doesn’t have to serve its original purpose, it just has to serve a purpose to be reused.  You can turn old shirts into dishrags, hand down clothing to younger children or just about anything else you can think of!  This will help save you money by preventing you from buying things you don’t need to buy and will keep stuff out of landfills by extending the lifetime of the product.

S is for Shower with a Friend.  We increasingly hear about water and electricity becoming increasingly scarce while subsequently increasing in value.  Rolling brown outs in the northeast a few summers ago and a quick look at the water resources in Arizona are no longer isolated resource deficiency stories – the problems are getting larger and more wide spread.  Solution? Shower with a Partner!  The dial on your water meter (if you don’t have one now, you will …) will slow and you will save electricity heating (and keeping warm) a large tank of water in your basement.  That and the quality time with your partner – can’t put a price on that!  Tip provided by Simon at Sustainable Personal Finance. 

T is for Trees.  Who doesn’t like trees, right?  They are there when you need them to sit under in the shade on a hot summer day and they are there to fall on top of your car when the snow comes too early .  In all seriousness though, trees are great for saving energy in the summer – they can protect your house from excessive heat by providing shade if they are planted nearby.  This will help you save some money on electricity costs and help the earth by planting trees to fix nutrients into the soil and remove CO2 from the air (you can also solidify your sustainability cred by taking a photo of yourself hugging said tree).

U is for Utility Usage Data.  Some utilities providers don’t offer this yet, but some do.  You get a website to go to that will tell you how much energy you’re using and at what time of day.  I think some of them can even tell you what appliance is using the energy!  Knowing all this information can allow you to tell the utility companies to cut power to your house on days where they have high demand (usually in the summer when lots of air conditioning is turned on).  This can save you some money because you’ll be using less electricity (and some companies give rebates for joining a program like this), you can also help the environment by delaying (or preventing outright) the construction of a new power plant, and reducing all the not-so-great things that comes along with new power plants.

V is for Vampire Draw.  I’ve talked about vampire draw a bit before, but for those that missed it: it’s when something is plugged into the wall but not connected to something charging on the other end.  One of the common culprits is cell phones – you leave your charger plugged in to the wall, but carry the phone with you.  The charger will still draw energy.  Obviously, this won’t cost you a lot of money but waste not, want not, right?  This will help you become more sustainable and save you money by saving you energy and lowering your electric bill.

W is for Walking.  All throughout high school, I thought that you had to drive everywhere.  When I got to college and my dad said I couldn’t take my car, I quickly learned I didn’t have to drive everywhere.  Once I started walking everywhere I had to go, I realized how much I enjoyed it and wanted to do it after I left school.  Unfortunately it didn’t work out that way for me right away, but after switching jobs, I’ve been able to walk to work for 9 months.  I’d prefer never to drive again.  This helps me save money on gas as well as wear and tear on your vehicle, stay healthy by getting you to walk more, and be more sustainable by driving less.

X is for Xeriscaping.  Xeriscaping is mostly done outside, and involves planting plants and native grasses that would naturally grow in your area anyway, to reduce water use.  Native grasses and plants are used to the conditions and won’t need any special treatment, making them fairly hard to kill if you’ve got a black thumb like me.  You can save some money and help the environment by using less water – gotta love 2 birds with 1 stone!

Y is for Yearn. When we yearn, we have affection for; feel tenderness for something. Yearn for our home, our planet. Be eager to experience mother nature’s beauty; to connect with her on a deeper level. Look around you and see what she has to offer- how beautiful she is. One of the ways I do this is by camping. I pack my tent, hike into the forest and escape into the wild. I listen to the sounds of the breeze touching the trees. I see the birds and squirrels playing. I awake to the brightness of the sun. I soothe myself to sleep with the glow of the moon. I take in the peace of the fresh air and heal myself with the silence. I yearn for my home.  Tip provided by Miss T from Prairie Eco Thrifter.

Z is for Zero Waste.  While this may be out of reach personally (but maybe not!) lots of events are beginning to head this direction.  I have been to multiple events that have forks, cups and spoons made from corn products, plates made out of recycled paper, and composting for food and paper waste.  While I personally don’t think they can get to absolute 0 waste, I’m glad they are trying.  Even though you may not be able to get to total zero waste in your household, even trying will help you become a far more sustainable person.  You can help the earth by looking at the whole lifecycle of your purchases, and figuring out what you’re going to do at every step.

Well there you have it – 26 sustainability tips.  Do you have any that I left off?  If I get enough tips in the comments I’ll put them together for another post.

Like I’ve been saying before on the site, I think it’s time for H and I to start a garden (practice what you preach and all of that).  So, for the last 2 or so months, I’ve been figuring out how to do that as green as possible.  After getting the book Building with Second Hand Stuff (non affiliate), I started to get a plan and get excited about the garden.

I figured that I’d save some money and use reclaimed wood for a few reasons:

• I wanted to do this as cheaply as possible.  H and I will move at some point, and I wont be able to take these with us to our new place
• This would keep wood out of the landfill or other trash dump site
• Reclaimed wood is pretty easy to work with

My first thought on this was to dig up some old railroad ties, as they are laying around everywhere here in town and on sides of road that drive on a lot and use those.  Unfortunately, they are soaked in creosote and very very heavy.  Slightly discouraged, I kept looking in ditches on the sides of roads and found some things a few times that would have worked just fine, but were too heavy for me to pick up myself.

At this point, I still  had no idea how much spare lumber I would need and where I would store it all, not to mention how big my garden beds should be.  Of course, I wasnt deterred by this and just kept looking.

After a while, I ended up finding some old pieces of fence with a sign that said “Free” on them while I was on the way home from the gym one morning.  I decided that I’d use that, and a few days later went by and picked up 1 section that was 6′ by 8′.  Right now, it’s sitting in the back yard waiting for me to figure out exactly how I’m going to cut this up and turn it into my garden walls.  I’m thinking that I’ll cut it 18″ tall and against the fence grain so that it will look like a mini fence wall around the garden, but I’m not totally sure about this quite yet.  I havent yet planned my garden area, but it looks like I’ll have around 35 feet worth of fencing for the border, which I think I’ll make 2 boxes with and use the fence as the back wall for both boxes.  Im going to be making two boxes so that I wont have to walk all over the place and reach all over the place.

Right now, I’m hoping to get these in sometime in march when then weather gets marginally better.  Hopefully that will give the dog enough time to get used to that not being her area anymore, but who knows how she’s going to take it.  I’ll give an update when I start cutting the fence and finish my plan.

Readers: Have you ever used reclaimed wood?  Where did you get it from, and what did you use it for? 

Right before I signed us up for our 2012 CSA, I was thinking about the amount of food H and I are currently in possession of, our current eating habits and a few other things and I came across kind of a startling realization.  All of that elk that I went out and got will probably be there for a while based on our current patterns, so I created a Meat Challenge.  After purchasing shares from the CSA for H and I, I realized that we didnt need to stop challenging with meat (though this one is just for me, because we’re a split food household).  After thinking about the amount of food that we ordered and what we eat (again), I figured we can essentially make that our food spending for July – December.

Since we basically only eat fruits and veggies and we’ve got enough meat to last us till the fall (most likely) we are going to try and drastically cut back on the food that we purchase for the latter half of 2012 while we are getting our CSA’s.  We will be needing minimal amounts of vegetables and fruits, and our only needs will be in the dairy and grains area.  Right now, we dont eat a whole lot of rice (I think we go through a 5lb bag in 3 months), but I’d like to change that a bit.  In addition to rice, we also eat quite a bit of dried beans, and I’m not sure we will be getting those with our CSA, so we will need to purchase that at the store as well.

One of the other things we will continue to need to purchase is dairy products, such as milk and cheese (I’ll probably start making my own yogurt again) and do a few other things to keep the buying down to a minimum as well.  I typically look to food to reduce costs in my monthly budget (sometimes correctly, sometimes not) and this is one of those times.  If we can pull this off, there will of course have to be some rules, so I think these will do just fine:

1. Use all food we get from the CSA on a weekly basis.  This shouldn’t be too difficult – we will most likely get our shares on friday and I usually menu plan on saturday and shop on sunday.  I can assure that the foods that will not get put in a recipe can get turned into snack food.  One caveat to this is food that will be preserved – Some things I may need to get from the store for the recipes (including spices) will be allowed if I cant complete the recipe.
2. Use things from pantry and freezer before purchasing new food.
3. I can use additional veggies and herbs that H and I are able to grow ourselves
4. I will try to make as many things at home as possible, but will consider time constraints (ie I probably wont be making bread)
5. Obviously, none of this will count during the wedding/honeymoon time as we will be out of town!

Hopefully going after these few rules H and I will be able to ensure that we dont waste anything that we get from the CSA (I do believe we had to toss out a very, very small amount of fruit that had gone bad) and we will maximize the value that we get from the CSA.  In doing so, I believe we will be able to save quite a bit of money at the grocery store during July – December (as we’ve already paid for the shares).

Readers:  Have you tried to put a limit on some of the things that you’ve bought from the grocery store? What did you try to cut out and why?  How did it work?  Do you have any rules to suggest for H and I during this challenge, or think that I may be missing something?

The following is a guest post from SB as part of Yakezie blog swap. SB blogs at One Cent at a Time, where he writes about getting ahead in life which includes personal finance and productivity related topics like How to be Rich and Saving Environment. Read my post at One Cent at a Time today.

The topic of the blog swap for today is best travel tips I ever received. For me, it’s very difficult to put only one, various travel tips I got that helped me in the past. Let’s have a little discussion on few of them.

1. Experience the destination – Mix up with the locals, be out of your hotel room as long as possible. Explore the place, take in all that the place could offer. Note down what you couldn’t do, to come back and do it later. Don’t make your travel purpose unfulfilled.

2. Experience local food and local culture even if they cost money – If you are visiting key west, eat key lime pie. If you are visiting Boston, eat†clam chowder. Don’t think about money on experiencing authentic cuisine. Eat the authentic local cuisine at the best local restaurant for original taste. To me, supermarket cuisines are not just exact replica of the local food. A†Walmart†tinned clam†chowder†is not the thing we tasted in Boston.

3. Pack less, travel light – be lighter, it will enhance your agility, it will cost you less baggage fee. It will let you get ready earlier each day during your vacation. You’ll miss less things while outside. Your things would stay at your usual residence and be safe, how about that?

4. Do all the arrangements as early as possible to save cost – †Book flight early, book hotel early, book your rental car early. Even some site seeing companies offer early bird discounts. I tend to forget things when I am preparing at the last minute. My wife even packs the bags a few days before the travel date. It’s so relaxing to travel when you are well prepared.

5. Research your destination thoroughly – Don’t repent missing out on a site seeing activity or a cuisine later. Do your research on the destination, list the things you think you should do. Make a time-table as per the list. Try to stick to the time and avoid missing out on important events.

6. Don’t compromise on fitness and†hygiene – If jogging is your every day habit, don’t stop, do that even when you are vacationing. Many†Habits are†hard to develop and when lapsed†for a few days, they become hard to re-adopt to. Smoking is one easy example. I generally give one relaxation when I am travelling, that is eating. I give diets a break!

7. Don’t forget to create memory – Don’t forget to carry your camera, video camera and an extra memory, in case camera gets full. I am even planning to blog about my upcoming trip. Try to develop a friendship with your fellow†travelers†you meet at destination or on the way. They all add up in your travel experience. You cna even keep a diary with you.

8. Save on Airfare and stay as much as you can – Nothing new here, whether its trip to parents or trip to†Hawaii, air travel would going to give you same experience, tiresome few hours. Save as much as you can on travel, figure out ways to save on flight tickets.

I book hotels through Priceline bidding, I generally try for a few days to get the cheapest option at a good hotel. You’ll need your room at room, do you care if it’s at Hyatt or Holiday Inn express?

And as a bonus, the best travel related tip I ever†received, “To know some one better, go on a travel with that †person“. I hope you too have realized it by now.

Readers what’s the most cherish travel memory you have? Please share with us today.

In 2012, I’ve decided to make myself a bit healthier through habits, as well as more sustainable through my practices.  As most of you know I set a goal to myself to eat a vegetarian dinner 3 times per week.  So far, this has been going well and honestly, I dont think I’ve had a dinner that I’ve cooked at home with meat in it (though I think I’ve had dinner out 1 or 2 times).  I’ve started doing most of the food shopping/menu planning, and it’s just easier if H and I both eat the same thing.

Knowing that goal though, you may be curious as to why I went hunting for elk all those days then.  One of the reasons is that I still enjoy the occasional meat related item, and that I really like knowing where my food comes from and all of that.  As I detailed in the Cost of Getting your Own food post, I was able to get elk for about 5 bucks a pound, and that included all types of cuts, from (what will be) ground, to stew and steaks as well.  I’ve got a lot of meat from the elk obviously, so I figured it would be a good time to set up a fun activity.  A no meat buying challenge.

Right now, most of the stuff in the freezer is from when H used to eat meat (mostly a few pork loins and some chicken sausage), things that I’ve gone out and gotten for myself (halibut, duck and elk), or things that are not meat (like kringle).

I got to thinking about it, and the more I did I realized a few things:

• That’s a lot of meat for 1 person
• That’s a lot of meat for someone who eats meat as infrequently as I do

There will be a couple hurdles to this plan though.  I’ll be bringing quite a bit of elk meat to the bachelor party in june, so that can have a huge affect on my current stock, as well as the amount of fish that H and I will eat throughout the year. Obviously I wont be able to get more halibut myself very easily, so I’ll need to make sure that I dont over do it any week or month.  Other than that though, hopefully it will be smooth sailing.  I’ve laid out a few rules that I think will help out, and here they are: