It’s possible to recycle many more types of items than you might have imagined, as the following articles illustrate:
21 Things You Didn’t Know You Can Recycle
10 Things to Recycle That You Never Thought You Could
Items you Never Thought to Recycle
Recycling Guide - hardcore treehugger style
Then again, you might not be able to recycle the [...]
Bottled water has become ubiquitous over the last decade or so. In fact, in 2006, Americans spent $15 billion on bottled water. (via) Of course, as consumers have proved time and again, just because a product is popular doesn’t mean it’s a good thing for the planet, or even for their own health.
Every year [...]
One of the biggest water wasters in residential houses is the toilet. Your toilet may leak water silently, without being noticed, and can waste up to 100-200 gallons per day.
An easy way to check for this type of water leak is to simply drop a little food coloring or other type of dye into the [...]
Phantom load, or standby power, is the electricity used by electronic appliances when they are plugged in but NOT turned on. In the average home, 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off (via).
While unplugging such appliances will definitely keep them from drawing electricity, one [...]
68 ° F and 78 ° F in the wintertime is commonly recommended. According to the US Department of Energy, for every degree that you lower your thermostat you can save up to 3% of your heating cost. (via)
See 10 more thermostat tips here.
Paper or plastic? While both paper and plastic bags are recyclable, the best answer is to carry and use reusable bags. A couple points:
When 1 ton of plastic bags is reused or recycled, the energy equivalent of 11 barrels of oil are saved. (via)
Each year, Americans throw away some 100 billion polyethylene plastic bags. [...]
Earth 911 has a great search tool for finding a place to recycle near you. It’s on the Earth 911 website, right at the top of the page. It’s very helpful for locating a place to take recyclable items and materials that your local curbside program may not accept, like computer monitors, paint, batteries, fluorescent [...]
