by Mercia Tapping, President, GreenandMore.com

I just got last month’s electricity bill and it was almost half what it had been a year ago and a savings of $110 for that month alone! Since the energy savings were so dramatic, I reflected on what I had been doing bit by bit over the last year, to achieve that result. Yes, some of the stuff seems obvious and I am a bit embarrassed that I even had to think of changing our behavior - but here goes.

1. Of course, I have been changing light bulbs to more energy efficient ones, but more importantly, I religiously turn off the lights in a room when I leave if only for 5 minutes, and I certainly do not leave lights on in the house even in the hallway when I am out. Outdoor path lights blazing for the one unscheduled visitor a year are a thing of the past.

2. I have turned the fan on our furnace from ON to AUTO so the fan is not going all the time and we still get enough air circulating.

3. I do not use the dishwasher until it is a full load, and so we use the dishwasher half the number of times we used to.

4. We spend time in our summer home every weekend, so our primary residence is unused at weekends. I turn the heat way down as I leave and deal with the inconvenience of a chilly house on my return.

5. I told my husband at the end of last year that if I caught him turning on the built in wall space heaters this year when he watched television, or if he threw open the windows in our bedroom to air out the house all day and heat the outside- I would levy a fine of $10 a day. After coughing up fines a couple of times, he no longer opens the windows for a long time in winter and wraps himself up in a throw blanket rather than turn on auxiliary heat.

6. We no longer think it is our god given right to walk around the house in shorts in the dead of winter and dress in layers with silk undershirts to keep toasty. Our thermostat is several degrees lower than last year.

7. We turn the computers off when not in use, and unplug all unused appliances, even the lowly toaster, except the refrigerator, in order not to spend money on ghost energy.

The reality is we have achieved these improvements in our energy efficiency with a minimal effort on our part. Like many Americans, we were thoughtlessly guzzling energy without any thought of impact it might have on the planet. The best part for us personally is seeing that energy bill go down every month and being able to pocket the savings. It has now become a game as to where next we can effect improvements. There is still more we can do, but I feel we are on our way to being far more responsible about our consumption of energy than we have in years.

by Margie

The Going Green Expo in early February in Boston is now a distant green memory, but was well worth the visit. I tromped around wearing our very own juicebags solar backpack, which charges cell phones, mp3s and other portable electronic devices. A few people, including the green business reps, asked me to demo how it worked. I came with my own cellphone charger and phone inside the pack, and promptly brought it out upon request.

The thousands of folks who were walking around when I was there seems to be a good indicator that going green is important to Americans, especially in Boston. And now that our city was ranked the 3rd greenest in the US, we can have something to be proud of.

by Susan R.

New England winters can be hazardous for driving. I keep a large bag of clay kitty litter in the trunk of my car during the winter. This not only helps with added weight, but should I need traction on the roads, it will not damage the streets as the salt melt products do.

by Barbara

Hello from central Massachusetts!

I dragged my co-worker Sue out here last weekend for the 9th annual Garlic and Arts Festival. What is it all about you ask? Here is their mission statement.

The festival mission reads:
The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival is a celebration of the artistic, agricultural and cultural bounty of the region. The purpose of the festival is to unite North Quabbin people whose livelihoods are connected to the land and the arts, and to invite both local residents and those who do not live in the region to experience the richness of an area that is often overlooked. The festival emphasizes what is homegrown and high quality, as well as what helps preserve and support the environment. The festival is an engaging, fun and educational celebration for all ages.

Everything about this festival promotes environmental “green” design. This was the first year an actual wooden stage was built for the musical performers. Please note that the amplification for the sound system is solar powered.

We were able to purchase many different varieties of Garlic. One of our favorites is a Siberian Garlic that has a hot & spicy taste!

There were wonderful signs around the festival and this is also a festival that for the amount of people produced little trash! Last year for a two day festival that was attended by about 5000 visitors they produced 2 bags of trash. All else was composted. Even the “plastic ware” was a cornstarch based product that will decompose.

Of course this festival was definitely about the garlic! Anyone who knows Sue knows that she lives for good garlic! Yes, Super Garlic Man was there!

I was able to get exercise……AND pick out a new lawn mower.

In all it was a wonderful day and we left with arms full of good produce and crafts.

So if interested, this festival occurs in mid-September. Please check out more information at http://www.garlicandarts.org/

by Nicole

I almost always bring my lunch to work in a plastic MarketBasket bag and also give my 9 year old daughter one for her snack for school, now when I go to the supermarket I ask for brown paper bags (which I may add are also good for covering books, crafts and school projects) and both of us now have fabric bags that are reusable.

by Mercia

Like many people I have fallen prone to the convenience of the ziploc bag for food storage and I confess that after a couple or washings and reusings, they looked so cruddy, I would just throw them away. Now I bought at 2 for 1 sale - dishwasher plastic storage containers in a variety of sizes (a bit like the old tupperware but more sturdy). Still plastic of course, but they will last forever and no more ziploc plastic bags! Saves money to boot!

by Mercia

I finally decided that I could not stand it any longer, and now insist that my drycleaners recycle my metal hangers.I think they see me as a bit eccentric, but they are accepting them back any way. I am encouraging them to put a recycling bin out for all their customers to do likewise.

by Ira

While my kids have grown bigger, my basement seems to have grown smaller. As toys were used and then abandoned, they made their way to the basement creating great piles of stuff never to be used again in our household. Adding to the burden of discarded toys and clothes were household items displaced as my wife and I “modernized,” replacing long-serving dishes, pots and pans, etc. with ones that caught our fancy.

Desperate to reclaim basement space and reduce clutter, my wife and I considered tossing the lot out with the trash - recycling as much as possible, of course. Even with commitment to recycling, I felt awkward recognizing how much volume (clearly indicated by the piles in front of us) would be added to a landfill if we left the discarded items on the curb with the trash. We needed to find a way of getting reuse out of what would otherwise become refuse.

My wife contacted Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay and offered to donate what we needed to get rid of. The truck came, the goods were hauled away, someone else will get good use out of what we donated, and there will be no careless expansion to our landfill from our decision to reclaim our basement.

By Susan R.

I have not had a paper napkin in my house for over 20 years. Cloth napkins, are used by my husband and I and I make sure we have different napkins that sometimes will last us up to 3 days. They take up little room in the wash and create a wonderful table setting.

By Jeremiah

It may seem to be a small step, b-u-t, our office uses a mountain of sticky post-it notes every month. We are now writing on the front of the note, then, for writing the next one, folding forward the top of the same note. Doing this places the sticky strip in the correct position for also using the back of the post-it note, as if it were the front. Result: the note still sticks, and we use half as much (printed) paper!