The Green Scene

[VampirexxxGirl_]

I was thinking about the enviornment a lot lately and just thought since this is the board where people talk about things other than neopets, what do you guys think about going green?

[cloakofstars45]

I love the idea. All of my cleaning products that i use in my house are 100% natural and of course the bottle is recyclable. The stuff is called green works and it's actually better than a lot of other cleaners I've used in the past. I also have energy saving light bulbs. It's expensive to go completely green so I'm taking it at a leisurely pace .

[xsunshinelollipopsx]

I use greenworks too. It's not any more expensive than other cleaners and it doesn't have an awful smell, it's very natural, no pun intended! I also recycle as much as possible, try to buy greener things like the low volt lightbulbs, not use lights much, etc. I'd love to have solar power one day, but I'm trying to just afford college right now

[cloakofstars45]

I totally understand I also would love to have solar power one day!

[VampirexxxGirl_]

Solar power is awesome! We were actually going to get a solar heater for our pool, but haven't got one yet. It's too bad that solar power costs so much though. This is kindof random but why is it called going "green" shouldn't it be called going "blue", I mean the oceans do make up 70% of the earth after all!

[devindemel]

I would love to have a solar-powered house! Some of our neighbor's houses are solar powered, but it's extremely expensive =(. But someday I intend to buy a hybrid car when I can afford it and when the technology is better. The grocery store I work at is very "green-friendly". We mostly sell a lot of green/organic products and we're soon going to be only using canvas bags instead of paper and plastic bags which is cool! =)

[xsunshinelollipopsx]

My dad is talking about solar power but it's about 20000 dollars to get the panels put on our roof to have enough to actually give back power to the power company, and it would take about ten to fifteen years to pay for itself, but it's still a thought. I'm totally encouraging him, but it's a lot of money!

[BunnyRabt]

We've been slowly replacing all the light bulbs in the house with those cute little screwy shaped ones. The little ones actually look a bit like flower centers in my kitchen ceiling fan glass shades. I don't usually buy bottled water..we have a filter on our refrigerator for water and we have reusable containers to take with us. We watch how many lights we have on, and we've turned down our water heater. I make sure my dishwasher is totally full before I run it. Those are little things but they all add up. We pay attention to the ratings on appliances, like our refrigerator and dryer when we replaced them. Some may be cheaper but they use tons of energy. I've always had to watch what I use to clean with, as we have a septic and a finger system and you can't put caustic chemicals down the drain. Well you CAN...but then you have to call a guy with a big truck and this long hose and he pumps it out and it is nasty.

[VampirexxxGirl_]

Hahaha ya. Any little thing even like just turning the water off when you brush your teeth helps! Or taking 10 minute showers instead of 15! I watched something on the national geographic channel once called "the human footprint" and I was amazed at how much stuff we use over the course of our lives!

[fullbloom720]

I try somewhat to stay green... I'm very conscious of unplugging appliances when they're not in use, turning off my computer/putting it in my sleep mode when I'm away for a short time, and I don't really use water bottles. If I do, I use the same ones, just wash em out. There's a lot more I can do, but hopefully I will accumulate good habits over time.

[daisy1961]

We recycle all cardboard, aluminum and whatever plastic and glass we can. We also recycle newspapers. I unplug and turnoff all unused appliances and lights. I like to park as far away from a store as possible and walk rather than look for a close spot. I try to combine all my errands into one run instead of several trips saves on the gas but also the environment.

[xsunshinelollipopsx]

It's great that everyone seems to be aware and trying to do things that will help! I have a hard time with my parents, they're always throwing boxes away in the trash instead of recycling and newspapers, bottles, etc, even though we have a recycling trash can RIGHT NEXT TO the regular one!! They just forget a lot, and I try to remind them or jokingly chide them for not recycling something if i see it. I put everything I can in the recycling, even things that they might not recycle, but it's worth a try. Christmas got me thinking about it a lot, there are boxes and trash bags still piled up in my garage that will hopefully be recycled! I gave a lot of presents to people that I didn't wrap, mostly because I didn't have time, but it became sort of a joke and I would say I was going green and wrapping paper is unnecessary, haha. Next year I might do something like wrap gifts in reusable shopping bags.

[BunnyRabt]

That would be a good idea.

My friend Terri has these two shopping bags that she keeps in her purse. The fold into themselves and make a little bag that zips up that is only about four inches long. But you unzip it and pull it out of itself and it's a pretty good sized grocery bag. Reusable, and easily stuck in your pocket or purse. I do reuse the plastic bags I get from the store as mini trash bags, or wastebasket liners. But the reusable ones she has are really handy and you don't have to throw anything away.

[fullbloom720]

Lately I've been noticing more and more stores trying to get green by adding the option of those reusable shopping bags right in the store. You can purchase them so you can use them every time you shop. Walmart has its own bags, Giant Eagle, and other stores I'm sure...
For now using these new bags is optional but I'm thinking in the future stores will start to completely get rid of paper and plastic.