Green Living on a TIGHT Budget?? Is it possible?

[Close2MyHeart]

I like the idea of green living... but it seems so foreign to me... and EXPENSIVE.

Things I do that are "green":
Mama products
Cloth Diaper
Compost


What are some tips? Ideas? Thoughts? We live on an extremely tight budget, so I'm not sure living green is even a possibility for us. :blush

[ArmsOfLove]

what about making your own cleaners? most are really cheap.

[2sunshines]

I've actually found that it's much cheaper to live green. :shrug

I bought a bunch of cloth napkins at a garage sale and we use those for everything -- instead of serviettes and paper towels, which saves us a ton.

Using vinegar for many cleaners is MUCH cheaper.

[milkmommy]

I think so part of green living in my opnion also included reducing amount of what we own and buying local. we d0/did

Cloth diapers
mama pads
use mostly vinager and baking soda to clean
enviromental cleaning products for what the above wont work
resuable items such as cloth napkins reuable plates even when out huge reduction in tossable storage and such
buy local from farmers markets for produce
support local bussiness and made locally as much as possible for gifts (less travel means less wear on the enviroment)
reduce use of gas for driving and energy used to heat and cool home as much as possible.
keep personal things such as games toys and clothing reduced
donate and recycle gift foward what we don't use
grown our own herbs and when we could veggies and fruits
have in the past bought farmers shares to get meat eggs and dairy (was much cheeper than buying in store)


Deanna

[blessedwithboys]

We just do what we can. We eat organic food when we can buy it for a good price, or grow our own/buy from family who grows it. We use cloth diapers and wipes, and I use mama cloth/a diva cup. We use rags instead of paper towels most of the time, but not all the time. We use vinegar and baking soda for a lot of cleaners, but I sometimes use non organics if I need to. I don't stress about it. :shrug

[rstump]

I forgot about cloth. We went almost completely cloth. I keep one roll of paper towels on hand but it can last for months.

Cloth Mama Pads (& daughters too) will last for YEARs.

My Fuzzi Bunz CD stash has last thru 3 kids and is still going strong.

I made cloth napkins out of a cheap set of kitchen towels I found on sale for a $1 a pack. When they get to ragged when are used as rags for cleaning.

Oh...food storage. We have been working on getting rid of using all plastic. you can find glass & corningware lots at thrift stores, garage sales & freecycle. No plastic tuperware to keep buying, disposable bags and containers. It takes more storage space but it has really save us a lot.

[Close2MyHeart]

Wow! Great answers so far! :rockon
Some more questions, if you don't mind. :blush

How can I make vinegar cleaners smell better? :think DH really, really hates the smell. :shifty

Also... any ideas how to make mama pads? I have 2 liners that I wear w/ my diva, but I have to use regular pads as well for a few days because it's so heavy. I'd like to switch to cloth pads entirely, but don't have the extra $ to buy any.

Cloth napkins... I hadn't thought of that. We do use towels (cloth) to clean up most messes... it wouldn't be a huge switch to do cloth napkins too.

How about baby wipes? I make mine out of paper towels... what do you use for baby wipes?

[rstump]

How can I make vinegar cleaners smell better? :think DH really, really hates the smell. :shifty

You REALLY only need a tiny but of vinegar to water ratio...they add your favorite EO...I use tangerine and lavender.


Also... any ideas how to make mama pads? I have 2 liners that I wear w/ my diva, but I have to use regular pads as well for a few days because it's so heavy. I'd like to switch to cloth pads entirely, but don't have the extra $ to buy any.

You can find LOTS of easy patterns on the internet. I have even seen some period panties...made by sewing in lots of flannel into your panties for those really heavy days/nights.
Fabric can be buoght cheaper on cloth co-ops but also don't forget to look at your 'stained" or "old" clothing for extra fabric. An old sweatshirt or flannel shirt can be made into LOTS of pads and wipes.


How about baby wipes? I make mine out of paper towels... what do you use for baby wipes?

We use baby wash cloths and little flannel squares that have been serged. I have a friend that made me a TON with a few yards of baby terry and flannel. It took her maybe an hour to cut and sew up about 50 of them for me. You could even use old cotton t-shirts or flannel. If you have a serger you can fix the edges, a quick turned hem or just use sewing shears to keep the edges from fraying.

[Niphredil]

I'm going out, but I want to remember to add my two cents later.

[dovergirl]

I think the basic tenets of green living - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle fit perfectly in a frugal lifestyle. Buying less is key - fewer disposables, fewer packaged foods (cheaper and better for your health) less packaging to throw away. Buying basic grocery staples in bulk saves on trips to the store and reduces waste - it's also waaayyyy cheaper. You can use washcloths for cheap, everyday cloth napkins, you can usually find packs of a dozen pretty inexpensively. Some cleaning recipes use cheap vodka instead of vinegar (some say rubbing alcohol but I don't like to use it - petroleum based, toxic in large quantities). Walking instead of driving whenever possible saves on gas and emissions. I use wide mouth mason jars for just about all food storage - from half pint size to half gallon size, I can usually fin a size to fit my needs. You can also put them in the freezer. Mason also makes one piece plastic screw lids to use instead of the metal two piece lids - I find these handier to use for everyday storage. I like to use a peri bottle of plain water with my cloth wipes - I never liked the idea of them sitting in a wipe solution for days at a time - afraid of bacteria or mold. HTH

[bananacake]

:popcorn

[Close2MyHeart]

dovergirl... you have some great ideas. I didn't know you could freeze in glass. It doesn't break?? :scratch

Also... been thinking about the cleaners again. DH reminded me that we did that once and it got really slimy in the bottle?? Like slimy/stringy/wouldn't squirt out and was all nasty. Why would that be? Did I use too much vinegar? And where do you buy EO's for cheap? I've seen them before and they tend to be spendy. :think

I'm going to switch DS to cloth wipes after this bunch is done. I like the idea of the perry bottle. :tu However.. I don't have one. :doh i threw it out in a cleaning rampage. :blush

I'd also like to use reusable grocery bags... but I think I want to make them. Has anyone tried and are they difficult?

I ask too many questions. :blush This is just all so new to me.

[milkmommy]

Our groccery sells cloth bags for about $3 each nice and roomy. Then you get .25 cents off your purchace each time you use them (total not per bag). So about every 2 months I earn back the cost of a bag its a small thing but everything counts.
For cleaners I put distilled watter a little white vinager and sometimes some EO in a spray bottle that ussually lasts us about a month.
I alos keep plain baking soda in a shaker (think parasam cheese) and microfiber clothes rock.

[rstump]

By the way...I freeze in glass all the time.

Lots of brands are made for freezing....some pint ball jars, corningware, pyrex containers....these come in lots of different sizes with nice snap on lids.

[milkmommy]

We also freeze in glass mostly pyrex type. :rockon

Deanna

[Niphredil]

I think the basic tenets of green living - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle fit perfectly in a frugal lifestyle. Buying less is key - fewer disposables, fewer packaged foods (cheaper and better for your health) less packaging to throw away.


Well, no need to come back and sum up my thoughts, as this is exactly what I was thinking. Like, word for word. :rockon

We've found that by switching from paper - toilet paper, paper towels/napkins & paper plates we've saved ooodles of money. The initial cost of a few yards of fabric wasn't even that great either. Less than an 8 pack of paper towels, for 4 yards! You just have to wait til it's on sale ;)

[Close2MyHeart]

So what kind of fabric do you use? :think I have a tote FULL of fabric and am wondering if any of it would work to make napkins, etc with?

thanks for the tip on the grocery bags. :tu Our local store has them for sale, but I never paid much attention to them since I'm trying not to buy things we don't need or I think I can make. I found a website that gave me ideas for making some... so I might try that.

[Niphredil]

So what kind of fabric do you use? :think I have a tote FULL of fabric and am wondering if any of it would work to make napkins, etc with?



I just used flannel with a serged edge. I use my kitchen ones very all purpose - like you would paper towels. I keep them in a basket and just grab as I needed. They are about 12" x 12" and thin, easy to use & rinse or use & chuck to be washed. Whenever I do a load of anything besides dipes I just empty the towel bin in with it. Super simple. Plus I *never* run out. Bathroom ones I heap in the diaper pail right there by the toilet & wash with the dipes. I think I got my fabric for 1.99/yd at JoAnns. They run that snuggle flannel on sale all the time.

Oh, and I use white for the kitchen/general cleaning and yellow for the bathroom so there's, err, no confusion. ;)

[Close2MyHeart]

Thanks Lindsay. :giggle on the color coding. I'd do the same... tho i really can't switch to cloth in the bathroom yet. :shifty

I have a lot of flannel... some in fun patters that I bet the kids would love using to clean up with. :tu My sewing machine is broken, tho. :hissyfit I think I'll just sew up the edges by hand and see how that works.

Thanks for all the ideas. :tu I'm learning... slowly...

[bananacake]

Thanks Lindsay. :giggle on the color coding. I'd do the same... tho i really can't switch to cloth in the bathroom yet. :shifty


Me, either. I suggested this to my husband a few weeks ago, and it didn't go over so well. It was in the context of a conversation where I asked if he needed regular bread that week or if the pita we had would suffice, and then I suggested we use cloth instead of TP. That's when the jokes started about using pita as toilet paper :giggle

[Niphredil]

Thanks Lindsay. :giggle on the color coding. I'd do the same... tho i really can't switch to cloth in the bathroom yet. :shifty



;) Anytime.

This is a pointless post, really... I'm just so stinking close to 1000 I'm making silly posts to get there...go, go, go!

[Close2MyHeart]

;) Anytime.

This is a pointless post, really... I'm just so stinking close to 1000 I'm making silly posts to get there...go, go, go!


:lol Only 7 more to go! :grin

[hsgbdmama]

Here is a site full of patterns and instructions for making your own pads: http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~obsidian/clothpads/links_make.html

We work at the 3R's too, and I continue to find ways to reduce/reuse/recycle. For cloth napkins, we've actually been using washcloths -- the ones that come 12/pack and you get them at either WM or Target, and come to $.25/each. Dh came up with that idea and it is working well. :yes :tu

Cleaners -- dh cannot stand the smell of vinegar either, but if I can find a way to get it to smell better then I can switch to more natural cleaners.

For my Swiffer WetJet, I had a couple of pads made out of microfiber by a friend and those work great! I also use my own solution of very diluted PineSol (had dh get the cap off of the bottle), and I actually have a cleaner floor than using the Swiffer solution & Swiffer pads. :shrug If I can find something natural that cleans as effectively I'm willing to go with that.

[righteous mama]

We do Shaklee cleaners and save a ton of money because they are very concentrated. I've tried homemade cleaners and for the most part I'm not impressed. There are some things I continue to do that aren't Shaklee related, but mostly I love my cleaning stuff. ( http://www.ecofriendlyhome.net )

Because that isn't too expensive I'm finding living green to be very inexpensive and easy. We do not have AC, we don't run the heat unless it's necessary, we do run the washer/dryer but that's because I haven't put up a clothesline yet. We compost in our green trash can (our city recycles).

[MrsLisaE]

working on a cloth only home...though if we ever have another child...not sure if i'm brave enough for cloth diapers...as far as cleaning, vinegar and baking soda cost us about 5 bucks a month here....I do still use laundry detergent and dishwasher packs because focusing on the earth can't take me away from focusing on my family, homeschool, business...gotta have a little wiggle room in my life