7 Ways to Make Your Home Office More Eco Friendly

Even if you don’t work at home as I do, you probably have some sort of a home office set up in your home. It’s a place to keep the computer and various papers you need. It’s a quiet place to work when you need to get something done.

You may not have given much thought to how much energy you use in your home office. It’s one of those rooms where it’s easy to have bad habits. These are some basic fixes that you should consider for your home office and possibly other rooms.

1. Turn Off the Computer at Night

Lots of people just leave their computer on all of the time. It’s easy, and then you don’t have to wait for it to boot up in the morning, which can be annoying. But it also wastes energy.

If you can’t bear the thought of turning your computer on a few minutes before you’re ready to use it, at least make sure it goes to sleep mode when you’re away from it.

2. Beware the Phantom Loads

When you shut down your computer, do all the accessories turn off too? The monitor, the printer, the speakers? If they don’t they’re still drawing power.

You should of course not bother to even turn on accessories that you won’t be using anyhow. My printer is rarely powered on, for example, because I very rarely use it.

Get a Smart Strip or similar product rather than the usual surge protector. These still protect your electronics from power surges, but also turn off the power to peripherals when you turn the main item off. It’s great for computers and television sets. Just be sure that anything that should keep power is in one of the always-on plugs.

Alternatively, you can remember to turn off the power to your current surge protectors. That works too, just be sure that anything that needs to keep power isn’t on that line.

3. Consider a Laptop Computer

When the time comes to replace your computer, consider a laptop model rather than a desktop. They use far less power. There are some disadvantages too, such as keyboard size, but for most people a laptop is an excellent choice.

4. Make Recycling Convenient to Your Home Office

You may or may not make a lot of paper trash in your home office, but if you do, make sure you’re ready to recycle that paper. A bin just for recyclables is easy to put in a corner or under the desk.

Also have a place to keep your empty printer cartridges for recycling. Some places will pay you to bring them in. Check with your local office supply store.

5. Reuse Paper When Possible

How often do you really need a fresh sheet of paper. Most printing is done on only one side, and you may only need the printout a short time. Take advantage and save paper for a second use for those times that you don’t need a fresh sheet.

Don’t forget to buy post consumer recycled paper when you need new.

6. Take Advantage of Natural Lighting When Possible

Why turn on a light if the sun can do the same job for free? This isn’t a good idea all year – if the heating from the sun during the summer is making you need the air conditioner you’d be smarter to block it and use a lamp to see by, but otherwise enjoy natural sunlight.

7. Bring in a House Plant

Plants clean the air naturally. They look better than an air purifier too. Plants add a touch of beauty to any room and give you a chance to express your personality.

How Can You Make Your Summer Road Trip More Eco Friendly?

Summer is a great time for family vacations. The kids are out of school in most areas and the weather is great… so long as you aren’t after snow or something. Now you just need to find that balance between a fun vacation and being good to the environment, particularly with the Gulf oil spill much on our minds. You have a few options.

Staycation

A staycation is often the most environmentally responsible choice. Check out the fun things to do in your own area. Often people skip the tourist destinations in their own area because they’re always there. You know you can visit them eventually, and often eventually is really far away.

Use your staycation to do the fun things in your area. Visit local historic sites, parks, beaches, trails and so forth. Try out unfamiliar restaurants.

Local Road Trip

Next best is a local road trip. Find some nearby areas you can drive to visit and stay there. This can include camping, exploring sights a bit further from home, staying in a hotel and so forth.

Longer Road Trip

A long road trip can be a lot of fun for the family. Mine someday wants to do a long road trip up the California coast on the 101, camping whenever we need a break. It’s a great way to appreciate the natural beauty of a place.

If you’re driving for your vacation, short distance or long, make sure you inflate your tires correctly, remove excess weight from your car, use your cruise control and obey the speed limit. These tips should improve your fuel efficiency.

What About Buses, Planes and Trains?

This is a complex calculation. Which is the best depends on what’s available for your transportation, the distance and how many people are in your group and sharing the transportation with you. A full flight is going to be more efficient per person than a half empty one, after all! Depending on where you’re going, you may still need to rent an efficient car to get where you’re going. Most of us aren’t going to spend a vacation in the immediate vicinity of the airport.

Time is also a factor. Planes are fast, but may not be the most efficient option in terms of direct fuel cost. If you don’t have the time to drive, take a bus or train to wherever you’re going, that’s the option you’re going to pick, regardless of efficiency.

There’s a good review of the options at Scholars and Rogues that discusses the lifecycle cost of each type of transit. It has a lot of food for thought. It covers the issues from more than just the viewpoint of fuel consumed by each vehicle. There’s the entire complex lifestyle, and the results go against the usual calculations done based on fuel expended per person. It’s an interesting perspective.

Don’t Forget Bicycling

Bicycling isn’t an option for all family vacations. Kids can only ride so far, and may not be able to do distance riding safely. But of all options, it’s the most energy efficient and the best way to appreciate nature. If you’re going on your vacation by car, consider taking bikes along, remembering that the bike racks will decrease your gas mileage.

No option is perfectly environmentally friendly, but then living isn’t perfectly environmentally friendly. Think about your impact before you pack.

Is There Ever a Good Reason to Shop at the Dollar Store?

When you think of your local dollar store, you probably think of all the plastic and cheaply made crap they sell. Dollar stores aren’t exactly known for their high quality merchandise, and they certainly don’t aim at the environmentally friendly market. With that in mind, is there ever a good reason to shop at one?

I’ve found a few. They’re strictly limited, and I believe that if you can afford better options, do so. But sometimes even when you’re green you do what you have to do.

Budget

While much of what the typical dollar store carries is low quality, there are some reasonable things to buy there. Just what depends on which one you shop at.

I’ve found coloring books and workbooks for my kids at the one by me. These are things I can’t get at the library since the kids need to color or write in them. We don’t use a lot of coloring books as my kids would mostly rather draw their own pictures, but sometimes they want a coloring book.

The one by me also carries a lot of canned food. While I prefer to avoid canned foods, preferring fresh or frozen, for those things that I do buy in cans the price is often – not always- better than for the same thing at the grocery store. That means a lot when you’re on a tight budget.

The dollar store by me also carries fresh produce. Well, barely fresh produce. Sometimes it’s even organic. On a budget, buying produce that you know you need to use right away isn’t a bad thing, so long as you do use it. You have to be extremely picky to find the packages that have food in good condition, as too often the fruits and vegetables have already started to go bad.

That may sound gross, but there’s usually plenty of produce that is just fine.

What Shouldn’t You Buy at the Dollar Store?

If your goal is to be eco friendly, then the answer is “most of what they offer.”

Dollar stores serve a purpose, certainly. They sell a lot of stuff that didn’t sell at other stores. Most of it is things you really don’t need. Most of it is not remotely eco friendly.

The one by me sells tons of plastic containers. They have a lot of conventional cleaning supplies. They sell a lot of little party favors for gift bags. They sell a lot of cheap personal care items.

If you have a need, that’s one thing. But make sure it’s a need before you start buying even the highly discounted stuff at these stores.

If you need containers, for example, visit your local thrift shop, swap meet or garage sales first. You might luck into some cheap glass storage containers and get to avoid the plastic.

Much of your cleaning can be done with baking soda and vinegar, which are much cheaper when you buy them in bulk than what you’re likely to find at any dollar store.

If you’re throwing a party for one of your kids, skip the plastic party favors. If you really need to give the guests something, have it be a craft they can do at the party. We had a blast one year with the kids planting seeds in little pots they could take home. They loved it.

Think about where you’re spending your money. For a lot of reasons, the dollar store isn’t my first choice for shopping. But if you keep it sensible and really need the assist on your budget, do what you have to do. Just avoid the junk.

Encourage Your Kids to Be Active

From a young age, most kids are very active. They love to run around the house and play. It’s a lot for many of us to keep up with, especially if we haven’t been particularly active ourselves.

But as they get older, TV and video games slow many down. Sitting around takes the place of active play. As a parent you know you should encourage more activity, but it’s not always easy to decide what to have your kids do.

Have Them Take the Lead

Signing your child up for an activity is an easy way to encourage activity, but it can also be frustrating for kids. Many parents choose activities for their kids based on what they would want to do, not the child’s interests. This can lead to frustration.

Find out what your child would like to try. Don’t limit options to just team sports; there are a lot of alternatives out there. My own children love karate. It’s a good workout, and they progress at their own rates.  There’s no guilt for not being the best player on the team.

Don’t stress if they find they don’t like a particular sport or activity. Just agree to try something different next time. Swimming, karate and dancing are all good activities, and don’t have to be done on a competitive level.

Remember That They’re Children

A big mistake many parents make in signing their kids up for activities is forgetting that they’re children. Parents can expect their child to put in unreal amounts of practice in the hopes that they will excel. Some parents have dreams of their kids going into a professional career in whatever sport they’re playing as an activity.

It doesn’t matter what your dreams are for your child, or even if he or she agrees that they want to do their sport professionally. As a parent, it is your job to make sure that they don’t do more than is good for their bodies. That means no over training. That means leaving time for other things in their lives such as playing with friends and relaxing.

Overdoing is a huge mistake. Children can permanently injure their bodies trying too hard in their sports. Their bodies are still growing and really are not ready for intense training.

Don’t be the screaming parent watching your kids either. You’ve probably heard the reports of parents getting into fights at their children’s games. Your job is to encourage your child. You don’t need to do that by yelling at them, their teammates or their competition. You’ll do better to teach good sportsmanship.

Get Involved

There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be getting active yourself. It’s better for your health to be active, and you’ll probably have fun.

This is a wonderful, non-materiel gift you can give your children. Participating in an activity creates great memories, which will be remembered for many years. It also helps to create healthy habits.

How involved you get depends on the time you have available. You don’t want to overdo it – kids need to learn how to do things on their own too – but you should be there to help them practice sometimes and as needed to get them to their activity. It also might help you to remember how much fun being physically active can be.

11 Eco Friendly Ways to Keep Cool During the Summer

Summer’s here in full force and it’s not always easy to keep cool without using the air conditioner. While sometimes that really is the only way, there are other ways you can cool yourself and your family that won’t add so much to your power bill.

What works best for you will depend on the conditions you live in. Some tips aren’t so great for areas with high humidity, for example. Try things out and see what’s right for you.

1. Damp Washcloth on the Neck

Soak a washcloth or bandana with cool water. Drape it on your neck. It feels great.

You can also wipe the cloth across your face and wrists to feel cooler. It’s amazing how much of a difference such a small thing can make.

2. Turn on the Fans

Before you resort to your air conditioner, turn on your ceiling fan, standing fan or any other fan you have. The motion won’t make the air any cooler in reality, but the moving air will help you to feel cooler. Plus fans are cheaper to run than air conditioners.

3. Eat Spicy Foods

It may sound contrary, but it works. Spicy foods can help you to feel cooler due to your body’s reaction to them.

4. Get Your Hair Wet

Damp hair helps you to feel cooler too. Use the coldest water you can stand, and towel dry as little as you can stand. Most people aren’t going to enjoy going dripping around the house, but on a really hot day that effect won’t last for long.

5. Spray Yourself with Water

Fill a clean spray bottle with water. Spray yourself lightly with water wherever you have bare skin. The evaporation of the water will help you feel cooler. You can even spray a fine mist into the air and walk through it.

6. Cover Your Windows

Windows are a major source of heat for your entire house. Let the sunlight through them and you’re going to heat up.

Closing curtains and blinds should be a basic step, but you can do more. Cardboard boxes look ugly, but they block a lot more heat. Covering your windows with blankets is an alternative, as is using mylar sheets to block out more sunlight.

7. Open the Windows

Different times of day, different solutions. If your nights are cool enough, an open window can cool your home nicely while letting in a breeze.

8. Eat Raw Fruits and Vegetables

These won’t cool you directly, but they’re quite refreshing on a hot day. Keep them in the refrigerator until it’s time to eat. Cucumbers are particularly popular with my family.

9. Enjoy a Frozen Treat

I make popsicles out of fruit smoothies, but any sort of frozen treat is going to feel good on a hot day.

10. Wear Cool Clothes

Dress right for the weather. Wear lightweight cotton clothes as much as you can. If not, at least go for short sleeves.

11. Adapt

Your body can adapt wonderfully to a range of temperatures. It can cope well with hot days if you don’t always demand a thermostat set at 72 degrees F.