Let's just put this out there now, both Kevin, my fiance, and I are college students about to begin living together without help from our loving parents. Money is tight! Eco is pricey! We are on an adventure to be green and save some green at the same time.
Yesterday at Oakland University, it was eco day. A nice size tent was set up in the main area of campus to celebrate this day and bring awareness to the students. There were many things to do and knowledge to be gained. For example, I dyed my first shirt today! And the best part was that the shirt is 100% organic cotton and the dye was eco friendly! There was also potting of plants available in 100% recycled material pots. I planted beautiful Marigolds! Henna tattoos, free organic cotton t-shirts with recycle logos, free facials with organic products from Origins, and fliers for free fabric tote bags from Trader Joe's lined the tent. Options such as canoeing with the Six Rivers Regional Land Conservancy and areas around the University to buy reasonably priced eco products were available. What a wonderful setup!
Kevin and I are looking for an apartment to move into in September after our wedding. We have both been doing massive amounts of research on where we would like to live. I feel that being green in a very important factor in our process. The apartment that we currently are hoping to get into suites the bill overall. Sure we won't be able to get everything we are looking for but there is great promise and we are willing to do our part as much as possible.
Appliances are big energy hogs. The appliances in the apartment aren't the newest gems, however, the management are replacing them as they break with new and better efficient brands.
How to get your kit
These will just be a few of the changes we will be making in out quest for green energy.
I love to paint! I'm an artist to begin with, so give me paint and I will go to work! I love color and I think that all homes need a bit of color to add to the mode of the rooms. So paint is a big deal. Paint can be a hazardous chemical supplier though. Of course I did some research.
What we want in paint is: VOC Free, glycol Free, solvent Free, odor Free, no dubious chemicals, entirely non-toxic, and of course we want to minimize our Carbon Footprint. Now on a low budget this is a lot to ask for.
For more options, check out: Eco-Friendly Paint, The Complete Guide
That's all for now. Let's go paint the world green!
On a side note. When washing a new tie dye shirt, first soak it in a cup of vinegar and half gallon of ice cold water (without the ice) for about 2 hours. This helps set the dye in the shirt so it doesn't bleed in the washer. Hang to dry. Once dry, wash in the coldest water in the washer by itself the first time through to help as well.
ReplyDeleteThough always washing all of your clothes in cold water is a great energy saver, you should also always wash in full loads too to conserve the water. I don't know how else to wash the tie dye shirt the first time through unless it is by itself. If you really feel that washing it by itself once is a total waste, maybe if you wash it with all black clothes, you won't see the bleeding. However, I wouldn't advise it unless your feeling lucky because I don't know if it would work for sure.
"Yet another way to keep chemicals out of our waters. Try an all natural fabric softener! Most liquid fabric softeners contain ammonium chloride, which can harm marine life. An alternative is a quarter cup of white vinegar or a quarter cup of baking soda (NOT BOTH) into the rinse cycle. Each will soften your clothes without any bad odors."
ReplyDeletethe KOG
http://livinggreenwiththeking.com/2012/04/make-your-own/