Oh, the Pressure!

There are lots of little, easy things that can be done to make this world a little greener. Making sure the tire pressure on your car's tires is where it should be is one of them.

I read the other day that Americans waste 4 million gallons of gasoline each day simply because their tires are under inflated. 4,000,000 gallons! Some simple third grade math (okay, actually some simple computer calculated math) tells me that’s over 1.4 billion (1,460,000,000 to be exact) gallons a year.

I must admit. I have no idea how to put air in my car's tires. I've always had my husband do it because I'm afraid the tire will explode on me. Before I was married I suppose the tires only got inflated properly when I took my car in for service.

I think this weekend I'll have my husband teach me how to inflate my tires.

There are other things you can do to your car to help it achieve more efficient gas mileage. For more tips go to:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/maintain.shtml

Reuse THEN recycle

I go through a ton of printer paper. As a writer, I need to proofread everything I write, and for me that means printng out a hard copy. Some writers can proof from the computer screen. I don't feel comfortable doing that. Sometimes I need to print an article out two or three times as I go through the editing process. These edited papers always end up in the recycle bin.

I have found a treasure trove of free paper - right in my kid's backpacks. Every day they come home with announcements from school - always printed on only one side of the paper. They also come home with graded worksheets (again - only one side of the paper is printed on). I used to put all this paper in the recycle bin - anywhere from 5-15 sheet of paper every night. It occurred to me at the beginning of this school year, that I can print on the back of those papers.

I know - not a particulary earth shattering realization. I should have realized that a few years ago. But sometimes I'm slow. So now, I put all of those papers in a bin on top of my file cabinet. When I need to print out something to proof, I let the local grammar school supply the paper. When I'm done with the proofed copy, then I recycle it. I reuse THEN recycle.

Not an original concept, I know. But one we all need to take into consideration more often. What else can we reuse before we recycle it?

A Socially Conscious Christmas

Yes, I know it's still September, but I bought my first Christmas gifts the other day and now this is on my mind.

Every year I buy all of our brothers, sisters, and their spouses something from William and Sonoma for Christmas. Something fun that you probably would never pick up for yourself. But this year I'm going to try to do something a little different. I'm going to try to find gifts that not only will be enjoyed by the recipients but will make a difference in someone else's life, too.

We've got a big family and we buy a lot of gifts at Christmas. We don't spend a whole heck of a lot of money, but I figure what we do spend might as well do some good, right? I got the idea the other night at church when I bought some gifts for my neices that were made by some women in Uganda. The proceeds from the sale will help to pay for a Ugandan man who needs medical help to be flown to the U.S. to be treated by a doctor who is volunteering his services.

So now I'm on the hunt for socially conscious Christmas gifts. One site I've already explored is buildanest.com. It's a non-profit that makes small loans to women who need to buy supplies so they can create things and sell them. They lend to women all over the world and the woman can pay them back with products that they made that are then sold on the website. There is some great jewelery. I love the whole idea of buildanest.

I've just started coming up with ideas for socially conscious Christmas presents. I'll post more as I find them. I'd love some of your ideas.

A Little Greener Every Day - Day One

As I have been researching for my new green column in Primal Parenting Magazine, I am coming up with so much green infromation and it can't all go in the column. I'm starting this blog so that I can get more information out there.

It's going to have some tips, some statistics, some rants, some inspiration, some ideas, some insanity, and who knows what else. It will often be about green topics, but it's my blog, so sometimes my posts will be about whatever I feel like.