Who wants to wash dishes? It is a chore everyone tries to avoid, but in an effort to make house cleaning less of a chore, we are polluting our earth with garbage that won’t go away. Help your environment by limiting the items you throw away.

You might be perplexed as to how to go about that. If you don’t throw away the garbage, you might be concerned that your home will become like a landfill. Don’t worry! The solutions for decreasing waste don’t in any way involve foul smells or piles of trash in the kitchen.

It does however involve a change of mind and attitude about your home and the environment. Technology has brought us quick and easy ways to fix meals, store items and clean up. Unfortunately, those items are not always eco-friendly.

Let’s take our meal utensils. Most homes have at least one roll of paper towels, a pack of Styrofoam or paper plates, and a stack of disposable cups. When we throw these things away, they end up in the garbage heap. The chemicals used to make these disposable items can leech into the water table and then into our drinking water.

That’s not all either. Disposable water bottles will sit in the landfill as well, poisoning the soil and the water. What about batteries? We throw them away and the stuff inside of them leaks out. That’s nasty business.

Saving the environment is saving us. Help your family to reduce their disposable waste with reusable products. Reusable products save money at the grocery store and keep trash to a minimum. Here are a few suggestions.

1. Use real plates and silverware when eating. Yes, someone will have to wash dishes and that can be the automatic dishwasher which is more energy efficient than a person. You’ll notice your trash volume will decrease immediately.

1. Use old clothes and towels for cleaning. When your towels start to look like Swiss cheese, remand them to the cleaning pile. Wash and dry your cleaning rags to be used over and over again.

1. Use cloth napkins and handkerchiefs. These can also be laundered. Buy them in packs instead of as a single to save money.

1. Refill reusable water bottles. If you go to the gym or like to drink water, invest in a durable water bottle. For those who want filtered water, add a Brita or Pur water filter to your faucet.

1. Create your own cleaning products. Use natural herbs, plant extracts and water or vinegar to clean. Use reusable bottles and refill them when you run out.

Your family can do a lot to save the environment with very little effort in fact. It does take a change of mind but if you keep each other accountable, it can be done. Honestly, there’s no excuse for not reducing your waste as a family when you think about how easy it can be.

As other statistics seem to get worse and worse, Americans actually used less energy overall in 2008, compared to the amount used in 2007. What energy was used also had a greater amount coming from renewable sources. This information comes from a report published by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The report states that the United States used 99.2 quadrillion BTUs, or “quads” of energy in 2008, which was down from the total of 101.5 quads used in 2007.

The transport and industrial sectors of the economy used slightly less energy, but the residential and business sector used slightly more. “Green,” or renewable energy usage grew, with the largest amount coming from hydroelectric power generation. Hydroelectric sources were responsible for 34 percent of the renewable energy generated last year in the Untied States. Even so, the hydroelectric energy generated was only 2.4 quads in 2008.

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With the rising cost of utilities, there has to be a way to stem the flow of money out of your home. I’ve got good news – there is. Create an energy efficient environment in your home and the utility companies won’t get so much of your money, plus you’ll be helping the environment.

Energy efficiency affects everybody. Using less fossil fuel means less pollution, something that bothers us all in one way or another. Energy efficiency also saves you money and there isn’t anyone who couldn’t use more of that. Products that use less electricity, water and heat are good products to have in your home.

Most people don’t know where to start when it comes to checking their homes for places where they can tighten up. Call your local power company. Many offer free home inspections for energy efficiency. They will give you a report and might suggest ways to solve your energy problems.

Here are a few ways that you can help with that process.

1. Look at your energy bills. Many give you a breakdown of how much energy you use each month. They also compare that energy usage with the same month a year ago. If your energy has increased, something needs to be done. If you energy bill was already too high, find ways to bring down the cost.

1. Take inventory of your daily activities around the home. Do you wash dishes with the water running? Are you washing clothes even if you don’t have a full load? Do the lights and televisions stay on all the time? All of these things add up to energy inefficiency.

1. How are the seals around your doors and windows? Old houses have single pane windows that are not as energy efficient as double or triple paned ones. If you window forms condensation when you cook in the kitchen, that’s a sign that the air is coming in contact with colder air somewhere and forming droplets. Check all entryways and windows for drafts.

1. Turn off lights when not in the room. We are all guilty of forgetting to turn off a light when we leave a room. It takes practice to get in the habit of turning off appliances, lights, fans and computers.

1. Use ceiling fans. To cool the air in the summer, keep your thermostat set at a constant temperature and use ceiling fans to circulate the cool air. You will use less energy than if you crank up the air conditioner.

1. Clean vents. In bathrooms it’s easy for vent fans to get clogged with dust. In air ducts, change the filter every three months to avoid too much dust in the air. The air conditioning has to work harder to cool the home if there is a dirty filter or the vents are not cleared of dirt and dust.

1. Use gas logs. Wood burning fireplaces can be messy and dangerous if not properly maintained. Natural gas is more efficient and you still stay toasty on cold nights.

An energy efficient home saves money. Everyone can do their part to lower bills and reduce the use of fossil fuels. Take a trip through your home and see what ways you can start right now.

Have you ever noticed how some people have beautiful, vibrant flower gardens or grow large, scrumptious looking vegetables almost with ease? They might have a green thumb, but chances are it better that it’s their soil. If you use compost, your soil has a richer composition that is better for your veggies and flowers. This healthy and sturdy soil produces those gorgeous flowers and mouth-watering vegetables we all wish we could have in our own gardens. Guess what? Now you can have them. It just takes a little know-how about composting.

Composting is not hard. The entire family can get in on the act. If you have a family garden, composting will be quite helpful to you. Let’s discuss the benefits of composting as well as how to create a compost pile that can enrich your soil naturally and produce those growing beauties.

Composting is Healthy for the Environment

Creating compost reduces the amount of trash in the landfill. We throw away a lot of food which is the majority of our waste. Using those food scraps in compost gives precious nutrients back to the soil instead of the garbage heap.

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