Articles tagged “Ready Set Green”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Ready, Set, Green, Week Eight: Spreading the Word By Blythe Copeland IN Work & Connect Aug 5 2008 After seven weeks of trying to live a more green lifestyle, some things come naturally: I remember to take reusable bags to the grocery store; I check the origins of fruits and veggies and try to stay local; and I instinctively group my errands so that I use as little gas as possible. But just as I thought at the beginning that one person couldn't have too much of a negative influence, I realize now that just one person can't do enough to make things better. + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green, Week Seven: Spreading the Word By Blythe Copeland IN Work & Connect Aug 1 2008 I've already written about my home office and its relatively small carbon footprint?it consists of my laptop and our coffee table. But everything I'm saving is balanced out by Mike's office: he works in a huge office building, drives 45 minutes each way to get there every day, and is part of a company that doesn't recycle anything. + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green, Week Six: Drying, Out! By Blythe Copeland IN Fashion & Beauty Jul 25 2008 I've never been too into dry cleaning, but not for any environmental reasons?mostly because I always forget to pick up my clothes until weeks later when I realize they're missing. But for the last few months, I've been dutifully dropping off all my husband's dress shirts on a rotating schedule at the dry cleaner across the street from our house. I work from home, so I can (and sometimes do) wear sweatpants all day, but he works in an office. He needs his clothes spotless. + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green, Week Six: Dressing Up By Team Planet Green IN Home & Garden Jul 23 2008 I have always washed all my clothes in cold water?mostly because I'm just one person and I never have enough whites for a whole load of hot water. I'd rather throw everything in together and only take up two machines at the Laundromat than separate my lights and darks and spend the entire afternoon. + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green, Week Five: One Drip at a Time By Team Planet Green IN Home & Garden Jul 23 2008 When it comes to greening our home, I'm pretty limited. I have good intentions, but we rent an apartment, so I'm not in a place where I can replace appliances, add solar panels, or change anything about the heating system. + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green, Week Five: A Dishwashing Dilemma By Team Planet Green IN Home & Garden Jul 16 2008 While I look forward to the day we live in an apartment or house that has a dishwasher, that day doesn't seem to be coming anytime soon. For years I've been handwashing dishes (full disclosure: I kind of like it!). + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green, Week Five: Power Trip By Team Planet Green IN Home & Garden Jul 14 2008 During the past five weeks, while I've been eating locally, biking or walking instead of driving and cutting out chemical-laden household cleaners, I've made an even easier change: turning the lights off when I?m not in a room. I'd like to say I've always done this, but I like my rooms bright. Really bright. + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green, Week Four: Riding Lessons By Team Planet Green IN Tech & Transport Jul 9 2008 I love riding my bike: the only problem is, I hardly ever do it. I always think I'll take it to run errands, and then can't figure out how to get the dry cleaning home without wrinkling it. I intend to take it grocery shopping, and then need more than I can carry in a backpack, or don't want the popsicles to melt. Dragging the bike up the steps from the basement is so much more work than walking out to my car. It's hot out. I'm short on time. I am just full of excuses. + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green, Week Four: Traveling Light By Team Planet Green IN Travel & Outdoors Jul 7 2008 It's no secret that cars are causing plenty of problems for the environment?increasing numbers of drivers and decreasing fuel economy means more greenhouse gases are being released than ever before. I rarely drive, but Mike, my husband, drives everywhere: His 2005 Volvo has only a few thousand miles less on it than my 1999 Saturn. Most of his mileage accumulates from his commute, but we also do a lot of driving on the weekends. + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green, Week Three: Facing My Furniture By Team Planet Green IN Home & Garden Jul 3 2008 I've never put much thought into the green qualities of the furniture I'm buying--most likely because almost all of my furniture has been the flat-packed, build-it-yourself kind.How to Go Green: Furniture More Eco Friendly Choices Restore Thrift Store, Second-Hand Furniture Domino and Treehugger's Green List: Furniture... + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green, Week Three: Oh, Baby! By Team Planet Green IN Home & Garden Jul 1 2008 I may not have any children, but that doesn't mean I never cruise the baby aisle at the toy store: With five of my friends giving birth to daughters last year and my cousin and sister-in-law both scheduled to deliver before the end of 2008, I've blown my baby-gift budget by more than I care to admit. I just can't pass by teeny clothes and bright colored toys that rattle, light up, and make noise. + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green, Week Three: Clean Sweep By Team Planet Green IN Home & Garden Jun 30 2008 Curious about what kind of chemicals I'm actually spraying around our house on a daily basis, I try to decode the ingredients on the three products we use the most: a disinfectant spray that kills germs, dissolves soap scum and grease, and deodorizes; a heavy duty bathroom cleaner that seems, now that I'm studying them, to do exactly the same thing (why do we use both of these?), and our dish soap with bleach alternative. + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green, Week Two: Vegetarian Venture By Team Planet Green IN Food & Health Jun 27 2008 When I was in college, my vegetarian roommate did pretty much all our cooking, which meant the only time I ate meat was when I ordered it in a restaurant. I learned to love stir-fry and lentil soup and vegetarian chili and especially salad. (It's true: I'm easy to please.) My after-college roommate was the total opposite: we had steak at least once a week and chicken every other night (except for the times our dinner dates were named Ben and Jerry?). + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green, Week Two: Bag It By Team Planet Green IN Food & Health Jun 25 2008 I am so over plastic bags. Ever since the day the cashier used four bags to pack three items, I've been trying to avoid using them whenever possible. The only problem is, I can never remember to take my own bag along with me. So this week I've been working on carrying a medium sized canvas tote: big enough for a few groceries, a stop at the library, and a run to the drugstore, but not ridiculously oversized. + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green Week Two: Eating My Way Green By Team Planet Green IN Food & Health Jun 23 2008 Of all the ways to go green, I'm the most excited about changing how we eat. I love cooking and baking, and have already been trying to make more meals from scratch to avoid preservatives and all those add-ins with names we can't pronounce. So I spend the whole week looking forward to my first farmer's market trip, envisioning piles of locally grown zucchini, tomatoes, carrots, fresh herbs, peaches, strawberries, and blueberries. I even collect recipes perfect for fresh summer produce, including one for a strawberry cream pie. I can't wait. + READ MORE

Ready, Set, Green Week One: Skipping the Styrofoam By Team Planet Green IN Food & Health Jun 18 2008 After reading just one chapter of Ready, Set, Green: Eight Weeks to Modern Eco-Living, I'm already looking at my life differently. Apparently, I'm not as green as I thought: My favorite deli serves drinks in Styrofoam containers; I find my husband, Mike, leaving the television on when neither of us is home; and we're wasting water with leaky faucets when washing dishes by hand, and dumping half-full glasses once they get warm. While last week I thought going green would be simple, now it seems totally overwhelming. + READ MORE

How Green Can You Go? By Team Planet Green IN Home & Garden Jun 16 2008 I like to think I live a pretty green lifestyle. I recycle my plastic and paper, try not to drive somewhere I could walk, turn the lights off when I leave the house. So now that TreeHugger.com and PlanetGreen.com editor Meaghan O'Neill has asked me to spend... + READ MORE