Win with Lipton

There seems to be a great deal of interest in using rainwater for showering applications. I noted in another post that you want to be careful in using rain from the rooftop to bathe or drink unless you have a filtering system in place.

Your rooftop has is not a clean surface as bird residue, and other bacteria can be washed away during a storm right into your water collection system. Primary usage of this water would be for your garden, car or powerwashing applications.

>>>Friday 14th July or Friday 17th July ?

By shutting down and unplugging unused electronic devices you will pay for and use less electricity. Reduce energy consumption - shut down your computer when not using it or hibernate it. Plug your mobile phone and other electronic chargers into multiple powerboards so you can turn several devices off with the flick of one switch.
Less power = less use of resources in the community.

Washing your clothes in cold water. Using cold water instead of warm, saves money and the environment. I started using half the dose too it worked even on my cloth nappies (why i did it ;) )

Fill your reusable bottles with tap water or choose a greener solution by using a reusable bottle and filling it with filtered tap water if you don't like tap water. Some filters can be recycled .Saves bottles in land fill and think of all the energy needed to make and transport them , plus saves the wear on the hip pocket. Drink more tea ...if you don't enjoy water.

We sprinkle our ground coffee from our coffee machine around our herb and vegetable garden, it's perfect for keeping pesky insects off your home grown foods. No pesticides or harmful chemicals needed, and you have delicious and beautifully organic herbs and veggies.

My son is still at the age where he needs a night light, nothing too bright just a soft glow. Rather than plugging something in the powerpoint, we have a solar light in the garden just outside his bedroom window. With his curtains pulled across slightly the glow from the solar light and sometimes the moonlight is just enough to make him feel safe and secure.

There are lots of little things that all add up - from using a washable hanky instead of tissues, to taking the time to separate waste, to freecycling unwanted items rather than sending to landfill. Choose products with the least packaging, always using your own shopping bags and reusing/repurposing as much as you can. using grey water for the garden is really effective.

We resuse our Coffe Grinds in the Vege Patch to ward of insects.
We use reusable shopping bags.
I started a Recycled Kids Clothes Business and all my kids clothes are second hand.
We recycle using our Yellow Bins
We put a jumper on instead of putting the heater on.
We compost...
So much more but thats a start :)

What a great give-away for a tea lover like me. We try to do a lot of green things around our home. My favourite tips would be:
Have a vegetable garden
Get some chooks - they produce eggs, eat almost all food scraps, and produce fertlilizer
Install rain water tanks. If not possible collect water in the shower or kitchen sink to water gardens.
When it comes to tea I tend to use each tea bag or loose-leaf tea twice, then the bag or leaves are added to our compost bin.
Use green cleaning products
And DEFINITELY reduce or eliminate plastic wrap, bags, and paper towel.

Libby

Don't use paper towels for drying things, instead have a tea towel and a hand towel in your kitchen, sounds obvious doesn't it, but what happens at your workplace, if its like mine its paper towels because no one wants to clean the tea towels, so set an example and bring your own.

Wash up in a basin in the sink and then reuse the water on your garden.

Don't throw out your food scraps into landfill, set up a compost bin or get a worm farm.

Liptons tea bags make a great refreshing cuppa and they are recycled in my home as I soak the used tea bags in water and use this weak tea, to damp dust all hard surfaces, internal walls and floors and even outside paths as this was a practice taught to me by my mum who was born back in 1910.
Back then, the reasoning for this method of cleaning was that it cut back on the dust and it was great for cleaning most hard surface floors.

Today scientists have proven that this home cleaning tip from the past is as relevant today as ever. In this age of resurgence of bed bugs and increase in house dust mite and the allergy it can cause, the cleaning habits of our parents are being put under the microscope and explanations of why they work are being found and we are being advise by researchers that not only does the weak tea solution stop dust becoming air born when we sweep, mop and dust, but it actually has the power to kill house dust mite and bed bugs without leaving any chemical residue in the air or on surfaces in the home, that might harm us.

I now add this weak recycled Liptons tea bag solution to a spray bottle and spray my mattress lightly with it, and I alsospray the internal surfaces of wardrobes, when I am having a bedroom lean up and airing or springcleaning.

Since remembering my mum's cleaning routines and returning to the Liptons recycled weak tea solution for for all hard surfaces and any soft surfaces that will not stain, I have found a member of the family who had chronic bronchitis, aggravated by house dust mite allergy, has recovered and now sleeps soundly instead of coughing most of the night.

Since we currently board there is very little we can do to provide dramatic changes however we do what we can:
- All lights and lamps use energy efficient light globes.
- Worm farm using Can ‘O’ Worms has been established to use scraps.
- Timer in shower to reduce water usage and in times of dry weather, put containers to catch the water to garden with.
- Shop locally (eg: farmers markets) and use what we have first before buying more. I’ve always surprised myself what I can make using things in the pantry and being a little more creative!
- A few nights a week we create a romantic atmosphere by turning off the lights and using soy based candles and just talk to each other.
- Grow whatever vegetables we can in pots.
- Get to know our neighbours and form a small neighbourhood watch system.

As you can see, we do pretty much what everyone else can do, however I’d like to add that we try and laugh every day and smile more. Sometimes that is just enough to make life a little nicer. Oh, and when we have excess that we know we can't use - we share it around with others.

I put a stick on 3 minute egg timer in the shower. The kids have fun measuring how long they are in the shower and they are motivated to turn off the water when the time is up