Biggest Green Sin Poll Results
It’s the end of May and time for the unveiling of our Biggest Green Sin poll results! Thanks to all 89 of you who took the poll. It was fun to have so much participation. And have you ever noticed how much an electrical outlet has a surprised look?
From least to most popular green sin:
Recklessly use the printer — 2% of all votes
Don’t buy recycled office paper — 2% of all votes
Don’t recycle anything — 3% of all votes
Never buy organic foods — 3% of all votes
Still use detergents with phosphate — 3% of all votes
Don’t bother getting off junk mail lists — 4% of all votes
Buy a lot of stuff I may not need cause I love to shop — 4% of all votes
Refuse to carpool to work — 6% of all votes
Use Raid on spiders — 8% of all votes
Eat convenience foods with too much packaging — 12% of all votes
Drive an SUV (choice added by reader) — 15% of all votes
And the Biggest Green Sin was . . .
Leave unused appliances/chargers plugged in all day — 36% of all votes (That’s also the one I voted for.)
It’s good to know so many of you are recycling! That choice received very few votes. If you need to work on not leaving unused appliances plugged in all day, try a power strip AND check out Jennifer’s post — One Small Step: Solve One Green Sin (At Least Partially).
As you’ve probably noticed, we’ve been writing about these green sins all month. Here are the posts in case you missed them:
Using Dishwasher Detergents with Phosphates
If we left out something you wanted us to cover, let us know. And please look for the new poll very soon.
Are you surprised by the poll results?
Image via stock.xchng.
Green Sin: Using Dishwasher Detergents with Phosphates
May 27, 2008 by Peggy
Filed under Green Cleaning, Green Home, Poll
In conjunction with our popular green sins poll in the sidebar, we’ve been discussing your green sins this month, and this particular green sin actually causes a green mess! However, only 4% of voters say they still use detergent with phosphate. Round of applause.
Makers of laundry detergent in the United States, Japan, Canada and some European countries no longer include phosphate as an ingredient. I know many people with clean clothes, so phosphate-free laundry detergent must be working.
Including phosphates in dishwasher detergent is still popular in the US and other countries. That doesn’t make sense to me. The practice was widely discontinued in laundry detergent since the phosphate was causing algae blooms that smothered aquatic life and otherwise made lakes and streams unhealthy and smelly.
The good news is that some US states are starting to ban dishwasher detergents with high levels of phosphates.
If you’re still buying dishwasher detergent with phosphates, look at the alternatives. I’m currently using Ecover tablets and love them, but I’m going to try them out a while longer before posting a review. I have reviewed Seventh Generation’s powder, and Jennifer reviewed the gel.
Method is another alternative, but I haven’t tried their automatic dishwasher product. Jennifer is planning a review of Biokleen dishwasher powder. Other phosphate-free dishwasher detergents are available as well. If you’ve tried a phosphate-free detergent you liked, please let us know.
A word of caution: Always read the ingredients in any product claiming to be “green,” “eco” or “earth-friendly.” A true green product will list its ingredients, and bleach, which can irritate your lungs, shouldn’t be one of them.
Visit our other green sin posts this month: Read more
Why Buy Recycled Paper
May 16, 2008 by Peggy
Filed under Poll, Recycled Goods
One of the options in our green sins poll in the sidebar is “Don’t buy recycled office paper.” Only a few of you have chosen this option, but it can’t hurt to discuss how essential it is to consider your paper choices.
Some important facts:
•The United States has the world’s highest paper consumption rate.
•Half of the trees that are cut in North America (12,430 square miles worth each year) are used to make paper.
•Making recycled paper produces 74% less air pollution and 35% less water pollution than producing virgin paper from trees.
(Info source: Big Green Purse)
That’s convincing enough for me. Reducing your use of paper and recycling what you do use is important. After that, buy recycled paper.
And be sure to suggest purchasing recycled paper at your office. You can send a link to this post, or just simply ask, “Would it be possible for us to switch to recycled paper?”
Recycled office paper is available at most office supply stores, and even at stores like Target. Recycled construction paper is available from Office Depot. You can also order recycled paper online at Greenline Paper Company, which sells only recycled and tree-free paper.
Where do you purchase recycled office or construction paper?
To read other posts related to our green sins poll, go to Solve One Green Sin, Tip on Avoiding Recklessly Using the Printer and Reasons to Carpool.
Image via stock.xchng.
Tree Hugging Family – Week In Review
May 12, 2008 by Jennifer
Filed under Uncategorized
It’s the second week of May here at Tree Hugging Family. Here’s what’s been happening this last week.
Contest fun:
We’re right at the start of our summer fun contest – your kids can win some great green toys! Also watch for a new contest launch later today! This one is for pet owners… oooo what could it be???
Our major events this month:
Our Paper Towel Challenge – have you joined yet? If not there’s still time to get on board, this challenge will be happening all May. So far many of you have joined in, but there’s always room for more.
Green wedding month has been going pretty well!:
- Your Green Wedding Gift Registry – Where to Register
- No Disposables: Rent Your Wedding Dishes and Napkins
- Where to Find Earth Friendly Wedding Gowns
- Quick Eco Wedding Tip: Greenest Wedding Gown
- Eco-Wedding Ring Options
- Green Wedding Planning – Engagement Party & Wedding Invitations Go Digital
- Green Porno with Isabella Rossellini
- Hug This Tree: Pear
- Homemade Anti-Tree Hugging Beauty: Bacon Soap!
- Tip on Avoiding Recklessly Using the Printer
- How What You Eat Affects the Environment
- Homemade Organic Liquid Handsoap
- One Small Step: Stop One Annoying Issue
- DIY Veggie Wash
- Reasons to Carpool
- Homemade Beauty – Lemon Bath Cookies
- One More Reason to Eat Meatless – ha, funny stuff this one.
- Reduce Your Fertilizer Use with Grasscycling
Green product reviews & product suggestions:
- Review of Method Dish Soap — Go Naked & Cucumber
- 23 Refillable Liquid Hand Soap Pumps
- Paw Luxury & Coupon Code
- Green Product Review: Seventh Generation Chlorine-Free Ultra-thin Pads with Wings
- Organic Chocolate Bar Review: Chocolove 61% Cocoa
- I Need New Reusable Bags & Hate Shopping (sos… help!)
- Two Great Kid Craft Links & One Green Puppy
- Green Up the Toy Issue
- Green Toys – Cookware & Dining Set
- Spring Nature Photos
- Cute Preschool Age Book – My Bag and Me!
Don’t forget that you can subscribe to Tree Hugging Family by RSS or sign up for posts by email by filling out the quick box in the sidebar. As always you can contact Peggy or Jennifer, with questions about living green, post ideas, or tell us about products you’d love for us to review.
[graphic from stock.xchng]
Reasons to Carpool
May 8, 2008 by Peggy
Filed under Transportation
As I mentioned in my printer post, we’re reviewing some of the choices in the Biggest Green Sin poll going on now in the sidebar. We’ve gotten several votes so far, and a few of you have said you refuse to carpool. So, let’s look at some reasons you should perhaps change your mind.
I understand the annoyances of carpooling. Right now I work from home, but for a couple of years I carpooled to work with my husband. While it was fun to have someone share the driving with and to talk with on the ride in, I would sometimes get annoyed if he wasn’t ready to leave in the afternoon when I was. And perhaps that’s the biggest challenge in carpooling to work, finding someone who fits your schedule.
Carpooling doesn’t just apply to work though. Moms can group together to pick up kids from school. Of course, negotiating around extra-curricular activities can be the challenge with school.
Whatever the challenges, carpooling is worth it for the benefits to the environment and some personal benefits you may not have thought about.
If you can’t walk, take public transportation or a bike, carpooling is the next best thing. Here’s why: Read more
100 Ideas
February 2, 2008 by Jennifer
Filed under Uncategorized
There are so many great ways to contribute to a healthy planet. Some steps are larger than others; some are quick and some eco-friendly ideas take substantial planning. We’ll eventually talk about all these ideas at length but just to get you thinking here are 100 various ideas that can help your family go green.
Buy less stuff.- Fix that leaky sink
- Change one regular old light bulb to an energy efficient bulb
- Visit the library instead of buying books
- Buy in bulk
- Grow an egg carton herb garden
- Invest in a kitchen compost
- Hand down clothing from bigger kids to smaller kids
- Eat at least three vegetarian meals a week
- Use a flea comb on the family pet instead of toxic chemicals or try this method
Rotate the tires every 8,000 miles on the family car- Recycle old school notebooks
- Look for the star
- Grow your own container lettuce — click on the picture to see more cool container ideas!
- Just say no; to Post It Notes (come on, you know you have scratch paper around the house)
- Attend a beach or neighborhood clean-up as a family (note: this will open in pdf, but is a great resource)
- Install a low-flow shower head
- Have a green picnic
- Power toys with rechargeable batteries
- Stop using plastic baggies
- Use cloth diapers
- The next time you go to a park take five minutes and clean up some trash that other people left behind
- Play material free; think hide & seek, leapfrog, and tag
- Quit buying coffee filters
- Buy recycled pencils for school kids
- The next time you feel like redecorating try rearranging your current stuff instead — you may not need to buy any new items
- Take your ink cartridges to a recycling center (better yet, mail them — no gas)
- Get your next load of veggies from a local farmers market
- One evening this week turn off all the lights and the television; light a candle and tell spooky stories
- Put homemade pudding in the lunch boxes instead of pre-made pudding packs
- Find your perfect green home
- Make Halloween costumes out of items you already have at home
- Make a natural air freshener instead of buying a commercial product
- Use both sides of a piece of paper
- Mamas, if you wear make-up try going natural one day a week
Live within your means- Buy organic apples
- Decide what you want before opening the fridge
- Visit a forest
- Make popsicles and eliminate cardboard and plastic waste
- Buy recyclable toothbrushes
- If you build a home, build green
- Cancel the newspaper if you don’t honest to god read it
- Gather up used plastic easter egg containers and reuse them next year
- Quit singing in the shower
- Purchase Fair Trade coffee
- Shop for household items at a thrift shop
- Weatherize your windows
- Invest your money using green sensibility
- If you need a Christmas tree get a living tree
- Spend 10 minutes a day discussing green living issues with your children
- Forget the yellow pages
- Find out what birds are local to your area
- Make sure empty toilet paper rolls make it out of the bathroom and to the recycling bin
- Buy or make organic baby food
Cancel two magazine subscriptions- Paint the kitchen toxic-free
- Buy unsliced American cheese instead of individually wrapped slices
- Use both sides of and then recycle your tin foil
- Look into greener transportation
- Donate your old glasses
- Take a walk, late at night with your kids (does nature look different at night?) what does it sound like?
- Quit using drinking straws
- Color hair naturally
Give a hug and some time instead of a new toy to a child- Use baking soda to freshen your toilet
- Cancel your junk mail
- Introduce yourself to one new neighbor this month. Ask them if they like the idea of a neighborhood clean-up, pot-luck, or other community event.
- Use refillable shampoo bottles (most co-ops have this option)
- Spend less; work less; and be with your children
- Design, your own art instead of buying new
- Visit five other green-minded blogs (see my sidebar for ideas)
Make soup from scratch using some leftover item in your fridge before it goes to waste- Support at least one green business
- Plant a tree for each child in the family
- Be a breastfeeding family
- Visit a butterfly conservatory
- Read TreeHugger and learn something wicked cool every day
- Use the sunshine to make fruit roll-ups
- Throw away mothballs and use cedar blocks
- Turn off the lights when you go to bed
- Make every long distance phone call count
- Share an electric or push lawnmower among neighborhood families
- Carpool to work and school
- Create or join a community garden
- Go see what’s new at the local recycling plant (call ahead)
- Stomp around in the rain and see how many worms you can count
- Take off your shoes in the house
- Stop using real bleach
- Give used toys to a good cause like a woman and children’s shelter
- Play eco-friendly kid games on the computer
- Purchase bulk peanut butter in your reusable container from the co-op
- Stay put if possible; relocation is not very eco-friendly.
Use fewer fabric sheets; see if one half works as well- Install solar outdoor lighting
- Build or obtain a rain barrel and paint it a beautiful color
- Kids; become an official planet protector!
- Learn what size of footprint your family makes on the planet
- Read Tree Hugging Family (I had to go there)
- Dream that a greener planet is possible in your children’s lifetime
What are you already doing as a family?
100 Ideas for Your Green Family
September 6, 2007 by Jennifer
Filed under Change the World, Earth Friendly Living Ideas, Eco Kids, Recycle, Sustainable Building
There are so many great ways to contribute to a healthy planet. Some steps are larger than others; some are quick and some eco-friendly ideas take substantial planning. We’ll eventually talk about all these ideas at length but just to get you thinking here are 100 various ideas that can help your family go green.
- Buy less stuff.
- Fix that leaky sink
- Change one regular old light bulb to an energy efficient bulb
- Visit the library instead of buying books
- Buy in bulk
- Grow an egg carton herb garden
- Invest in a kitchen compost
- Hand down clothing from bigger kids to smaller kids
- Eat at least three vegetarian meals a week
- Use a flea comb on the family pet instead of toxic chemicals or try this method
- Rotate the tires every 8,000 miles on the family car
- Recycle old school notebooks
- Look for the star
- Grow your own container lettuce — click on the picture to see more cool container ideas!
- Just say no; to Post It Notes (come on, you know you have scratch paper around the house)
- Attend a beach or neighborhood clean-up as a family (note: this will open in pdf, but is a great resource)
- Install a low-flow shower head
- Have a green picnic
- Power toys with rechargeable batteries
- Stop using plastic baggies
- Use cloth diapers
- The next time you go to a park take five minutes and clean up some trash that other people left behind
- Play material free; think hide & seek, leapfrog, and tag
- Quit buying coffee filters
- Buy recycled pencils for school kids
- The next time you feel like redecorating try rearranging your current stuff instead — you may not need to buy any new items
- Take your ink cartridges to a recycling center (better yet, mail them — no gas)
- Get your next load of veggies from a local farmers market
- One evening this week turn off all the lights and the television; light a candle and tell spooky stories
- Put homemade pudding in the lunch boxes instead of pre-made pudding packs
- Find your perfect green home
- Make Halloween costumes out of items you already have at home
- Make a natural air freshener instead of buying a commercial product
- Use both sides of a piece of paper
- Mamas, if you wear make-up try going natural one day a week
- Live within your means
- Buy organic apples
- Decide what you want before opening the fridge
- Visit a forest
- Make popsicles and eliminate cardboard and plastic waste
- Buy recyclable toothbrushes
- If you build a home, build green
- Cancel the newspaper if you don’t honest to god read it
- Gather up used plastic easter egg containers and reuse them next year
- Quit singing in the shower
- Purchase Fair Trade coffee
- Shop for household items at a thrift shop
- Weatherize your windows
- Invest your money using green sensibility
- If you need a Christmas tree get a living tree
- Spend 10 minutes a day discussing green living issues with your children
- Forget the yellow pages
- Find out what birds are local to your area
- Make sure empty toilet paper rolls make it out of the bathroom and to the recycling bin
- Buy or make organic baby food
- Cancel two magazine subscriptions
- Paint the kitchen toxic-free
- Buy unsliced American cheese instead of individually wrapped slices
- Use both sides of and then recycle your tin foil
- Look into greener transportation
- Donate your old glasses
- Take a walk, late at night with your kids (does nature look different at night?) what does it sound like?
- Quit using drinking straws
- Color hair naturally
- Give a hug and some time instead of a new toy to a child
- Use baking soda to freshen your toilet
- Cancel your junk mail
- Introduce yourself to one new neighbor this month. Ask them if they like the idea of a neighborhood clean-up, pot-luck, or other community event.
- Use refillable shampoo bottles (most co-ops have this option)
- Spend less; work less; and be with your children
- Design, your own art instead of buying new
- Visit five other green-minded blogs (see my sidebar for ideas)
- Make soup from scratch using some leftover item in your fridge before it goes to waste
- Support at least one green business
- Plant a tree for each child in the family
- Be a breastfeeding family
- Visit a butterfly conservatory
- Read TreeHugger and learn something wicked cool every day
- Use the sunshine to make fruit roll-ups
- Throw away mothballs and use cedar blocks
- Turn off the lights when you go to bed
- Make every long distance phone call count
- Share an electric or push lawnmower among neighborhood families
- Carpool to work and school
- Create or join a community garden
- Go see what’s new at the local recycling plant (call ahead)
- Stomp around in the rain and see how many worms you can count
- Take off your shoes in the house
- Stop using real bleach
- Give used toys to a good cause like a woman and children’s shelter
- Play eco-friendly kid games on the computer
- Purchase bulk peanut butter in your reusable container from the co-op
- Stay put if possible; relocation is not very eco-friendly.
- Use fewer fabric sheets; see if one half works as well
- Install solar outdoor lighting
- Build or obtain a rain barrel and paint it a beautiful color
- Kids; become an official planet protector!
- Learn what size of footprint your family makes on the planet
- Read Tree Hugging Family (I had to go there)
- Dream that a greener planet is possible in your children’s lifetime
What are you already doing as a family?