The Little Green Things We Do
"We can not do great things. We can only do little things with great love." ~ Mother Teresa

The little things we do…

  • Spend our dollars on the most sustainable products we can and constantly research to
    make sure they stay that way

  • Eat local, sustainably produced food as much as possible and support grocery stores
    who offer it

  • Ride our bikes as often as possible

  • Compost everything we can:
  • Paper towels
  • tissue
  • dryer lint
  • cat litter (made of corn or wheat)
  • cello bags (biodegradable ones of course)
  • Biobags®
  • Latex gloves

  • Write to Congress people, corporations, and producers to tell them what we want

  • Request earth friendly packaging with every order we place that requires shipping

  • Take any styrofoam peanuts  to the post office to be reused

  • Use cloth napkins

  • Slow down - live with less - DO less

  • Use essential oils (real ones) rather than chemically produced fragrances

  • Make our own environmentally friendly cleaning products or use Seventh Generation®,
    Bon Ami®, or other environmentally friendly products

  • Buy used clothes, books, or other "stuff" at resale shops

  • Repair clothes and buy natural fabrics when purchasing new

  • Eliminate dry cleaning

  • Buy everything local as much as possible

  • Practice sustainability practices in our businesses (Medical waste is a NIGHTMARE)

  • Foster Community

  • Support & practice Permaculture

  • Use 100% post consumer waste, processed chlorine free paper products

  • Print 2-up (2 pages per sheet) and duplex (both sides of the paper) which gets 4 pages
    of a document in each sheet of paper

  • Use junk mail 8 1/2 X 11 sheets of paper with a blank side to print one page documents

  • Use a programmable thermostat

  • Getting rid of the "lawn" (Did you know that grass is the number 1 crop in the USA and
    for what?  To be thrown "away."  Where exactly is away?)

  • Building a financial portfolio based on totally sustainable companies

  • Use the most energy efficient "stuff" we can - LEDs are up and coming

  • Use rechargeable batteries

  • Limit cosmetics

  • Donate hair for hair mats (they are great mulch and can clean up oil spills)

  • Dispose of hazardous waste properly (CFLs especially because of the mercury) - The
    city of Elgin gets an A-plus here!

  • Cook and eat at home, ferment my veggies, and share meals with others

  • Use a Mystic Wonders, Inc® laundry ball - look here!

  • Hand wash dishes, carefully (so as not to waste water)

  • Use the library instead of purchasing books  - Gail Borden Library ROCKS

  • Investigate companies, including charities, to make sure they REALLY share our values

  • Be conscious every time we spend my money

  • Stop all catalogs and other junk mail

  • Give massage gift certificates for Christmas (If everyone did this we'd really have world
    peace ;-))

  • Teach others who want to learn

  • Talk to our brokers about sustainable investing (they're a hard sell those brokers)

  • Short showers

  • Use plants for natural air purifiers

  • RARELY user air conditioning

  • Use sustainably produced personal care products

  • Read EVERY label and ask producers to fill in the blanks where necessary

  • Try to influence my family without abusing them

  • Make little scratch pads from junk mail

  • Recycle everything that doesn't compost

  • Support local CSA farmers

  • Drive instead of fly for vacation

  • Refuse housekeeping while in hotels

  • Bring our own toiletries when traveling

  • Bring our recycles home when traveling

  • Use reusable grocery bags (kinda like wheels on suitcases, what took us so long to
    figure this one out ;-))

  • Use LED headlamps to really cut down on using lightbulbs ;-)

  • Dry clothes on a drying rack - This one is nice as it expands to almost 38 inches wide:
                 Honey-Can-Do Expandable Drying

  • Promote snuggling by keeping the thermostat low at night.