January
Jan 1 <Confirmed why composting at home is important>
Jan 2 <1st road trip in Rubee, my EV (electric vehicle)>
Jan 3 <Used reusable shopping bags for my weekly shopping>
Jan 4 <Charged Rubee 20 miles for free>
Jan 5 <Brewed homemade kombucha>
Jan 6 <Made non-toxic floor cleaner>
Jan 7 <Used biodegradable cornstarch dog poop bags>
Jan 8 <Published my real estate newsletter online, saving $ on postage, paper & time>
Jan 9 <Shopped for groceries for a whole week vs. making multiple trips>
Jan 10 <Stay at home in PJs day>
Jan 11 <Used homemade apple cider vinegar hair rinse>
Jan 12 <Washed laundry in cold water>
Jan 13 <Signed up a new customer for Common Energy-Solar Power!>
Jan 14 <Wore my reusable mask>
Jan 15 <Used my menstrual DivaCup>
Jan 16 <Combined errands to make fewer trips>
A Week of Reducing My Digital Carbon Footprint :
Jan 17 <Deleted old notes off NOTES app>
Jan 18 <Unsubscribed from unwanted email lists & newsletters>
Jan 19 <Deleted emails I no longer need>
Jan 20 <Vowed to send less emails>
Jan 21 <Deleted old texts & apps off iPhone, iWatch & iPad>
Jan 22 <Turned off social media notifications>
Jan 23 <Discovered 2 search engines that donate part of their profits to reduce our carbon footprint>
A Week of Decluttering Mindfully :
Jan 24 <Explored reasons why to declutter & what to do with all these items cluttering my space>
Jan 25 <Posted items no longer wanted on Facebook Buy Nothing page>
Jan 26 <Found a new home for unneeded items on Freecycle.org>
Jan 27 <Donated unwanted items to a local charity>
Jan 28 <Recycled items>
Jan 29 <Re-gifted items>
Jan 30 <Sold an antique desk on Facebook marketplace>
Jan 31 <Took some of my (nicer) clothing to a consignment shop>
Jan 1, Day 1
<Confirmed why composting at home is important>
Educated my family ( & myself!) why it is important to compost-EVEN THOUGH it’s a huge pain to take it outside to the compost bin in winter (aka deep snow on a hill) & also when the bin is SO full there is no room to add more until Stephen emptied out a couple shovelfuls of the black gold & spread it on the snow-covered garden, thus spurring the question.... “Is it worth it to compost???”
Short answer is YES!
Very long but interesting side note +
+The difference between home composting & just putting veggie & fruit scraps in the garbage is explained in this article on food waste:
“For organic materials - like an apple core or wilted lettuce - to quickly decompose, it needs access to something very important: oxygen. With free-flowing oxygen, food tends to decompose quickly & turn into the nutrient-rich gardening miracle we know as compost.
Without oxygen, decomposition can take years; even decades.
And landfills typically have very little oxygen flow.
Tied up in plastic bags, surrounded by mounds of more plastic bags, & often covered by another large seal, food waste in landfills doesn’t have the air circulation needed to quickly break down food. Food does eventually decompose, but it takes much longer.
How does methane come in?
The type of decomposition that occurs in landfills is called “anaerobic” meaning without oxygen (or with very little). Anaerobic decomposition produces methane gas. And, since it takes so long for that decomposition to happen, food waste in landfills just keeps on producing methane. A single head of lettuce, for example, can take up to 25 years to decompose in a landfill, giving off harmful methane gas the whole time.
What about compost?
The decomposition that occurs in compost is known as “aerobic”.
Aerobic decomposition means lots of oxygen is present. With good oxygen flow, food waste is broken down quickly. Also, that oxygen means decomposition produces carbon dioxide instead of methane.
See HERE for info on how to compost.
Jan 2, Day 2
<1st road trip in Rubee>
Drove Rubee, my EV (Electric Vehicle) instead of driving Stephen’s car, an ICE (internal combustion engine), 220+ miles to & from Pittsford, NY for a day out.
By choosing to take the all electric car, we saved about $25. in gas & prevented over 75,000 grams of CO2e (Shorthand for “carbon dioxide equivalent,” CO2e is a standard unit for measuring all of a vehicle’s greenhouse gas emissions. A higher number of CO2e emissions = more global warming pollution.)
Lessons Learned-
You get much better range/mileage on back roads at low speed vs. high speed on the thruway. Starting at 90% SOC (State of Charge), on the way there we took back roads arriving with a fair amount of SOC, 50%.
We took advantage of the public parking FREE charge for several hours while we explored the area & ate yummy crepes, topping off the SOC at 70%.
Home bound thruway driving at 70 MPH & periodically turning on the heat quickly depleted our SOC to 35% in about half the distance home.
Discovered higher speeds & using the heat quickly uses up your charge!
I panicked a bit & worried we may not have enough charge, so we stopped for a quick 15 minute charge stop 1/2 hour from home to be sure we had juice enough to make it home (we did!)
My 1st range anxiety.
See HERE for more info on Rubee.
Jan 3, Day 3
<Used reusable shopping bags for my weekly shopping>
Aren’t we all doing this now?
See HERE for info on how you can make your own upcycled bags.
Jan 4, Day 4
<Charged Rubee 20 miles for free>
Charged Rubee, my electric car, for free with Town of Aurora municipal charging station while I walked the 2 doxies for 2.75 miles in 1 hour, which gave me 6.6 kW of charge. At my current winter average of 3.7 mile/kWh, that gave me almost 20-25 miles of charge! (A free ride to Buffalo!)
When more people utilize the free municipal chargers at Town Halls, public parking & State parks, the greater the incentive for municipalities & companies to provide more charging locations to the public, expanding the EV charging infrastructure. In turn, this will encourage more consumers to drive EVs!
Jan 5, Day 5
<Brewed homemade kombucha>
Make, not buy!
Home-brewed kombucha is easy, delicious & SO much cheaper than store brands. Today I decanted 25 bottles of kombucha that fermented for about a month. Tasty!
A 2nd fermentation is achieved in 16 oz. bottles with a plug of raw ginger root for extra flavor & fizziness.
I also began brewing 5 more gallons.
Cost savings: I buy Newman’s Own Organic black tea from Wegmans- 100 bags/box for $4.00 & Zulka Morena Pure Cane Sugar from Aldi for less than $3/bag. For the 5 gallons I brew at a time, I use 25 tea bags & 6 2/3 cup sugar which costs me approx. $2.50 total! This makes 25 bottles, which in the store would cost you $3/bottle or a total of $75.!! For less than the price of one store bought bottle, you can have 25 bottles!
See HERE for the recipe & how to make your own kombucha!
If you live in WNY I can give you a SCOBY if you’d like one.
Jan 6, Day 6
<Avoided toxic floor cleaner>
Mopped my hardwood & pergo floors with homemade floor cleaner. Using commercial cleaners dramatically contributes to indoor air pollution, which can be an enormous problem for those who suffer from asthma or allergies. They also leave toxic residue behind, which can cause other dangerous health conditions, making your family ill. Making homemade cleaners is not only safer, but they are relatively inexpensive to create yourself. Not only are they better for the environment, they are safer for your family. Smells nice & fresh too.
For the recipe see HERE
Jan 7, Day 7
<Used biodegradable cornstarch dog poop bags>
Poop happens!!!
When walking the dogs, I use these biodegradable bags made from cornstarch, instead of plastic bags.
Found these waste bag refills at TJ Maxx made by Green Bone for $5 for 120 bags=four cents a bag! Their eco-friendly, biodegradable poop bags are made from cornstarch which is also a renewable resource. They are also a member of the American Pet Products Association & all of their packaging is recyclable as well. There are other companies who are making this type of product as well.
Jan 8, Day 8
<Published my newsletter online, saving $ on postage, paper & time>
I publish a monthly (most of the time) newsletter to 200 of my real estate customers. A synopsis of what I learned & shared over the last few weeks, info on the real estate market & tips for GOING GREEN. Mostly it is a way for me to keep in touch with customers to let them know I’m still here.
Once upon a time I mailed the newsletters. This was an enormous task- writing, designing, editing, proofing, then printing, addressing & mailing. MailChimp is awesome because you can design the content on the site & see the stats on who opened the email & also if they clicked on any links.
In researching how much carbon footprint I was saving the planet by sending the newsletter electronically vs. snail mail I learned much more:
Sending a traditional, 10-gram recycled paper letter creates about 140 grams of carbon due to the process of manufacturing, printing, delivery & decomposition.
An email with a large attachment can have a footprint equivalent to 50 grams of carbon dioxide.
A regular email has a carbon footprint equivalent to 4 grams.
A spam email has a carbon footprint equivalent to 0.3 grams.
In context an average passenger vehicle emits 411 grams of carbon dioxide per mile – this means driving one mile is equivalent to sending 8.22 emails with attachments or 102.75 regular emails.
We send on average 123.9 emails per day (2016) and 45,224 per year which is equivalent to driving 110 miles.
Each email user requires the use of a computer, server & router which require energy to send & receive emails. Also, many metals & fossil fuels required for email communication are non-renewable.
INFO from HERE
I want to explore more about the effects of our digital habits & the carbon footprint of our emails another day.
Jan 9, Day 9
<Shopped for groceries for a whole week vs. making multiple trips>
With the best of intentions, I start the week with a menu of meals I am inspired to create, make a shopping list & venture into the world to obtain the ingredients needed. I try to go to just one place (Aldi is my go-to) & get everything I need for the week in one shopping trip. This saves me time, gas & headache. Some days I still need to dash out for a fresh loaf of bread or more 1/2 & 1/2, but for the most part, this works for us.
Food’s Carbon Footprint: Shop wisely
Think before you buy! Do you actually need this? Can you find a better, greener alternative?
use a shopping list to avoid those impulse purchases
avoid products that use lots of packaging
buy in bulk to save money & reduce packaging
check the label – a long list of ingredients generally means a heavily processed item with a high carbon footprint
frozen food has the highest carbon footprint, followed by canned, plastic, glass, then cardboard
and please don’t buy bottled water.
INFO from HERE
Jan 10, Day 10
<Stay at home in PJs day>
Was a slug today & did not go anywhere. See photo for current mood.
Some days are made for calming & re-energizing. This is that kind of day. Knitting, planning for the week ahead, updating my website, researching more ONE THING A DAY efforts & cooking.
Did not buy anything. Did not drive.
Reserved my resources & regrouped.
Jan 11, Day 11
<Used homemade apple cider vinegar hair rinse>
In researching ways to reduce my plastic pollution in regards to my hair care, I found this recipe for a hair rinse. My hair feels so soft & happy after I use this rinse & it has more shine & less static.
After washing my hair, I rinse it with cold water, then douse it with a healthy splash of ACV rinse, leave it in (don’t rinse it out) & style as normal.
I noticed right away how easily the comb went thru my long hair- fewer tangles!
It helps to:
decrease residue & dandruff
clarify & stimulate the scalp
unclog hair follicles which may help with excess shedding or hair loss
& it works great with shampoo bars!
Simple Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse Recipe
* Mix 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar (ACV) with 1 cup of water in a plastic squeeze bottle, spray bottle or other container ( I use an old shampoo bottle)
* Experiment to find a dilution that works best for your hair type (dry hair likes less ACV & oily hair likes more).
* I added some Rosemary essential oil 5-10 drops. You could experiment with other oils as well.
Jan 12, Day 12
<Washed laundry in cold water>
Roughly 75% of the energy required to do a load of laundry goes into heating the water. Set your machine to cold water wash to reduce power usage & make your clothes last longer.
Jan 13, Day 13
<Signed up a new customer for Common Energy-Solar Power!>
I am now a certified consultant for Common Energy-teaching people how they can save money & help the planet!
My goal is to sign up 100 people this year.
For each household that spends approx. $100/month on electricity, switching to Common Energy over one year will:
Enable 9720 kWh of clean energy (A kilowatt-hour is 1,000 watts used for one hour. As an example, a 100-watt light bulb operating for ten hours would use one kilowatt-hour.)
Prevent 7776 lbs of Carbon Emissions
Equal 264 trees planted
Save an estimated $100. (Get one month of electric for free!)
It's easy, saves you money (Guaranteed 10% savings for 20 years) & helps out Mother Earth!
Join Community Solar with Common Energy!
Community solar gives everyone the opportunity to share in the benefits of clean solar energy without rooftop installations.
Community solar is ideal for homeowners with shaded rooftops, & renters or businesses that don’t own their own buildings.
More Info HERE
Jan 14, Day 14
<Wore my reusable mask>
Opt for reusable masks! Single-use masks made of polypropylene are creating waste-related environmental impacts worldwide.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has now recommended that people wear masks whenever going to areas with high population density or those areas where social distancing cannot be maintained. However, a reusable mask provides an eco-friendly alternative to the disposable masks which are polluting the environment. With tutorials filling the internet over the past few months, cloth masks are easy to make & stylish. Plus, they are more cost-effective too!
(I have personally made over 200 reusable masks. See my April newsletter with the pattern link HERE)
To ensure your masks last a long time, make sure you are appropriately washing your masks & have a few on standby so that you are able to wear a clean one on a daily basis.
Jan 15, Day 15
<Used my menstrual DivaCup>
Why switch from pads/tampons to a menstrual cup?
Six reasons you should use a DivaCup, or one like it.
Less waste- Eco-friendly. 300 LBS!! That’s how much waste the average person creates in a lifetime using disposable period products.
Less $$$-Cost effective. Want to save money? The DivaCup can be reused again & again. No more spending tons of money on tampons & pads.
More time-Up to 12 hours of protection. The DivaCup can be worn for up to 12 hours, depending on your menstrual flow.
Chemical free-Happy vagina. It’s BPA free, with no added chemicals, plastics or dyes.
Medical grade silicone-No nastiness. The DivaCup is the better choice for your body.
Canadian made-100% Canadian & proud.
Jan 16, Day 16
<Combined errands to make fewer trips>
Drive smarter! Start consolidating your errands.
First, try to run all your errands in the same trip. Instead of running to the grocery store on Monday, the bank on Tuesday, & the carwash on Wednesday, try to do all three on the same day, & in the same trip. Doing so can reduce the total number of miles you drive, & could even improve the efficiency of your vehicle (since you won’t be starting & stopping it as often). Plus, you could spend less total time running errands overall.
Combining trips and staying local is one of the easiest ways to reduce your driving miles. All it takes is a bit of planning. In fact, this free, easy action can save you a lot of time & money! And, since gas vehicles are generally the single largest impact we have on climate emissions, it is a great way to have a positive impact.
Some interesting Stats:
Driving accounts for 47% of the carbon footprint of a typical American family with two cars.
The average American spends around 42 hours a year stuck in traffic. Even more if living in/near cities.
Properly inflating your tires improve your gas mileage by 3%.
A typical vehicle emits roughly 7-10 tons of GHG every year.
Better gas mileage-If you go from a car that gets 20 miles per gallon to a car that gets 40, that cuts close to 4 tons of carbon dioxide off your annual emissions, nearly 20 percent of an individual's total emissions.
A Week of Reducing My Digital Carbon Footprint
What part does the internet play in global consumption & carbon emissions?
Your carbon footprint is greater than just the fossil fuels burned in traveling & construction—it encompasses your digital activities too. As if spam emails weren’t bad enough, an action as seemingly innocuous as a Google search could add to your carbon footprint. Data centers, which are the engines of the Internet, require massive amounts of energy to run & are said to account for almost a quarter of global carbon dioxide emissions.
We tend to forget about this, but every web search, email sent or received, & status update on Facebook means the consumption of electricity & therefore the emission of greenhouse gases!
Jan 17, Day 17
<Deleted old notes off NOTES app>
I use my NOTES app on my computer, iPhone & iPad to keep track of articles, webpages & ideas. Whatever I write & save on one device is also accessible on the other devices, making it handy to refer to all this info. Today I cleaned my notes up & deleted ones I no longer needed, freeing up some digital cloud space. Sort of like cleaning out your filing cabinet!
Jan 18, Day 18
<Unsubscribed from unwanted email lists & newsletters>
Manage your subscriptions: If you are subscribed to newsletters, reassess which ones you really need/enjoy reading. Or all those emails from businesses you purchased something from? Do most of them simply sit unopened in your inbox? In that case, it might be time to unsubscribe from some of them. This handy guide shows you the quickest & most effective way to do that depending on what mail program you're using.
Jan 19, Day 19
<Deleted emails I no longer need>
Did you know that every old email stored in your inbox is using up energy? Decluttering your inbox is a quick & easy way to reduce your electricity consumption & shrink your carbon footprint.
Search and destroy: Once a month, scan your inbox for old, unnecessary e-mails that you can delete. Pay particular attention to those with bulky attachments. Empty your Junk E-mail folder regularly.
Jan 20, Day 20
<Vowed to send less emails>
I did not realize the impact of sending or receiving an email & how bad they can be for the environment!
Get an idea of how your emails impact the planet by using the calculator below. Surprising & alarming!
Wow, that’s for an average of 140 emails sent/received a day!!!!
Jan 21, Day 21
<Deleted old texts & apps off iPhone, iWatch & iPad>
By deleting apps & old texts off all my devices, I freed up tons of storage space & now use less cloud storage.
Jan 22, Day 22
<Turned off social media notifications>
I don’t need to get notified anytime someone posts to a certain page or updates their status. I am limiting my exposure to Facebook & Instagram-they are time suckers!
Jan 23, Day 23
<Discovered 2 search engines that donate part of their profits to reduce our carbon footprint>
Heavy search engine usage does have an environmental impact on CO2 emissions. That’s where Ecosia & SearchScene comes in: the CO2 neutral alternative search engines.
SearchScene is a charitable search engine that donates 95% of its profits to charity, focusing on charities that help fight climate change & alleviate the suffering caused by climate change. SearchScene is a unique search engine that allows you to fight climate change without spending any of your additional time or money. You simply do what you do anyway – search the web!
If everyone that used Google switched to using SearchScene, we could plant enough trees to fill the entire Amazon rainforest – not just once, but every year! We could also end world hunger, eradicate polio, provide clean drinking water to millions of children, fight extreme poverty, save the penguins & polar bears, & lots more! And all you need to do is make the switch to SearchScene!
Ecosia, donates 80% or more of its profits to non-profit organizations that focus on Reforestation. Ecosia is the search engine that plants trees! Launched in 2009, Ecosia is possibly the longest running & best known of all charitable search engines. Ecosia not only plants trees, but also provide vital income to the workers who plant the trees in the world's poorest places. Trees tend to be planted in South America, Africa & Indonesia, where the cost of planting trees is lower. For every search made (powered by Bing), the revenue generated goes towards its tree-planting scheme. On average, roughly 45 searches are needed to make a single tree.
A Week of Decluttering Mindfully
Jan 24, Day 24
<Explored reasons why to declutter & what to do with all these items cluttering my space>
Time to purge my office/ sewing room so I can paint. It will feel good to give items I no longer need a new home!
There are so many reasons & techniques to declutter!
For more ideas see this article.
The 2021 Giveaway Challenge! Could You Declutter and Give Away 2,000 Things to Help Save the Planet?
Jan 25, Day 25
<Posted items no longer wanted on Facebook Buy Nothing page>
In starting to clear out my office/sewing & knitting space for a fresh coat of paint, I have piles of items I no longer need/use/want.
Facebook has a BUY NOTHING page for East Aurora, Elma, Wales & Holland where you can upload photos of such items & locals can claim dibs & come collect them. I was able to find new homes for my grandmother’s sewing kit, a box of 100 business envelopes, 8.5”X14” copy paper & folders, a huge box of books & magazines… & much more to come! Discovered there are many BUY NOTHING pages all over. They build community, help you get rid of your stuff, & keep massive amounts of seeming junk out of landfills. If you haven't heard about them, check out their site & consider joining your local group. If there is no group where you are, consider starting one & you will have done your good deed for the year.
Our Buy Nothing Project Mission:
“We offer people a way to give & receive, share, lend, & express gratitude through a worldwide network of hyper-local gift economies in which the true wealth is the web of connections formed between people who are real-life neighbors.”
There’s a group near you. Pass on those unwanted items to someone who can use & enjoy them, keeping them out of landfills.
Jan 26, Day 26
<Found a new home for unneeded items on Freecycle.org>
Another way to find new homes for items you no longer need or want is to offer them on Freecycle.org
The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 5,338 groups with 9,042,286 members around the world, & next door to you. It's a grassroots & entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns & neighborhoods. It's all about reuse & keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by local volunteers. Membership is free. This is a good outlet for people who don’t use social media.
Jan 27, Day 27
<Donated unwanted items to a local charity>
When decluttering, it is best to find lots of boxes for easy sorting of what items to give, re-gift, sell or recycle. Local charities appreciate donations that still have some life in them. Here is a list of local charities to consider donating items to.
Jan 28, Day 28
<Recycled items>
WNY-ers, Here is a link to find where to take your old appliances, motor oil, old cell phones, building materials, medications, cars, electronics, rugs, clothes & so much more!
Awesome source for where to take things your garbage collector won’t.
Jan 29, Day 29
<Re-gifted items>
My sister in-law was a champion re-gifter & I am now adopting the practice. Re-gifting is a wonderful way to share items with loved ones. Gifts that no longer serve you may be loved by someone you know. A small china tea set (from my sis in-law!) re-gifted to my niece & a dinosaur song tape to my dino loving nephew.
Jan 30, Day 30
<Sold an antique desk on Facebook marketplace>
The beauty of Facebook Marketplace is locals can see what you are offering & message you for more details if they are interested. A bit less sketchy than Craig’s List, where I have encountered a few scams.
Jan 31, Day 31
<Took some of my (nicer) clothing to a consignment shop>
Some pieces of my wardrobe are nicer than others. These I take to my local consignment store, where I get credit to buy someone else’s nicer clothes. Keeps the textiles out of the landfill & I get a new outfit!
The problem is that the average American makes about 65 pounds of textile waste a year. Americans as a whole are tossing out billions (yes billions) of textile waste. This is even scarier when you think about how much of that is plastic textiles.
And that's not all! All brand new clothes are now shipped in flimsy plastic bags to keep them from damage. If you have ever bought clothes online, you have received it in one. Those aren't reused. So every piece of new clothing also means a pointless piece of plastic waste.