Green Talk®

Whole Body, Healthy Home, and Sustainable Garden Inspiration

 Get Inspired.  Sign Up for Our Free Newsletter

  • About
    • Press
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
  • New Here?
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Hire Me
  • 5 Reasons to Subscribe!
  • Build Green
  • Gardening
  • Green Business
  • Green Living
  • Green Home
  • Recycling
  • Tech

Budgetnista Green for the Home, Part II

May 8, 2009 By: Anna6 Comments

Use leaves for mulch. Green Budget Tip

Yesterday, I listed a ton of suggested ways of how you can green your home on a budget.  I had to break the article up into two posts because the ideas just kept flowing out of my head, making the article way too long.  Today, I am focusing on water conservation in the home and gardening low cost tips.

The Garden:

  • Don’t throw your coffee grounds away.  Use them around your plant.  They (and worms) love them.  (Incidently my coffee grounds story is the #1 story on my site. It keeps getting stumbled since everyone loves the concept.)
  • Use your left-over water from your potatoes, vegetables, or spagetti to water your plants.
  • Use egg shells when you plant your tomatoes and supposedl, they repel slugs.
  • Use banana peels for your roses.
  • Consider using containers to grow your tomatoes and other veggies if you don’t have space for a garden.  My friend grows tomatoes and many herbs in containers since  growing a garden was out of the question due to the deer.  Not only will your food taste better, you will be lower your foods’ footprint.  Food sometimes travels countless miles to get to your plate.
  • Consider growing plants from seed as well as saving the seeds from your plants for next year.  I grow all of my plants from seed and it is  much more affordable than buying the plants.  Plus, I don’t have to dispose of any plastic pots.
  • Use newspaper rolls as seedling holders.
  • Use your old warped screens to cover plants for some shade in the summer.
  • If you don’t grow your own, buy organic.  If organic is too expensive, consider buying only organic for those fruits and vegetables which contain high pesticide residue.See here for more information.
  • Use your leaves as mulch. They are free.
  • Compost your veggies and fruits.  Less waste, happier plants.  I have a little container by my sink and a black composter in my yard.  Everything goes in the composter except dairy and meat.

Water:

  • Consider licking your baking dishes clean rather than washing them.  (For dishes using eggs this may not be the wisest idea.  You can use the following egg replacement recipe from here or buy an egg replacement package from the health food store.)
  • Buy a low flow shower head to reduce your water consumption.  See Eartheasy for a discussion between the difference between a nonaerating or aerating ones.
  • Buy a faucet aerator to reduce your water consumption.
  • Turn the water off when you are brushing your teeth.
  • Reuse your cooking water, left over water in your glasses, and left-over water in your botttles for your plants.
  • Reuse your shower water for your plants. Put some bucket in your shower to catch the extra water.  Be careful as to the type of shampoos and soaps you use if you are going to reuse your water. Only use environmentally friendly soaps and shampoos. Check the Skin Deep Database before you buy any personal care product to access its safety for you.  Also, see here for more information on the reuse of grey water.  (Personally, I would not use this water on my veggies or fruits unless you collect it before you shower.)
  • If you can’t afford to replace your toilets in favor of  dual flushing or low water consumption ones, put a liter bottle full of water in the tank.  See more information about ths practice on  Tiny Choices (the site of my friend, Jenn.)

Don’t forget to Read Part I and then add your tips.  Who says you can’t be green without breaking the bank?

Similar Posts:

  • Fresh Food Hacks To Take Control of Your Food Supply.
  • Freeze Your Tomatoes to Reduce Spoilage and Save Cash.
  • Mother Earth Intended Food to Be Eaten From the Vine
  • Get Your Red Hot Heirloom Tomatoes and Veggies
  • EWG’s Shopping List Limits Your Pesticide Exposure

Grow From Seed Mini Course

Grow From Seed Mini Course

About Anna

Anna Hackman is the editor of Green Talk, and owner of The Naked Botanical and a avid (okay obsessed) gardener. She also loves video and podcasting and hosts Green Talk TV and Green Talk Radio. Her most important role is being a mother of four boys.

Chat with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest , and Google+.

Comments

  1. 1

    Lisa says

    May 9, 2009 at 10:27 am

    Great article. Here’s EnergyCircle’s video on low-flow showerheads: http://www.energycircle.com/st.....jg8vK1Q%3D

    Reply
  2. 2

    Jeff9 says

    June 5, 2009 at 11:26 pm

    Save money and the Earth and be clean at the same time! Get serious and add Bathroom Bidet Sprayers to all your bathrooms. I think Dr. Oz on Oprah said it best: “if you had pee or poop on your hand, you wouldn’t wipe it off with paper, would you? You’d wash it off” Available at http://www.bathroomsprayers.com with these you won’t even need toilet paper any more, just a towel to dry off! Don’t worry, you can still leave some out for guests and can even make it the soft stuff without felling guilty. It’s cheap and can be installed without a plumber; and runs off the same water line to your toilet. You’ll probably pay for it in a few months of toilet paper savings. And after using one of these you won’t know how you lasted all those years with wadded up handfuls of toilet paper. As for water use a drought is always a concern and must be dealt with prudently but please remember that in the big picture the industrial water users always far exceed the water use of household users and in the case of toilet paper manufacture it is huge. The pollution and significant power use from that manufacturing process also contributes to global warming so switching to a hand bidet sprayer and lowering your toilet paper use is very green in multiple ways. Blog; http://jeff9.livejournal.com/932.html

    Reply
    • 3

      Marie M. Bennett says

      July 31, 2012 at 3:14 am

      “The pollution and significant power use from that manufacturing process also contributes to global warming so switching to a hand bidet sprayer and lowering your toilet paper use is very green in multiple ways. ”

      For me, much better if every house will have their bidet in their toilet bowl to reduce toilet paper consumption. I recommend using a bidet at home. (Editor’s note: link was removed.)

      Reply
  3. 4

    kimberlee says

    December 2, 2011 at 2:44 am

    I saved my water all summer for the garden. Whatever cooking and drinking water was going to be dumped down the sink, I made it go into a pitcher instead. I never had to use the hose to water my little tomato garden.

    Reply
  4. 5

    Oscar Cifuentes says

    April 25, 2012 at 3:24 pm

    Can I really use the spaghetti water for plants? I cook it with veggie oil to make sure it doesnt stick together. I actually prefer using the dog poop from my chihuaha/dont know for flowers.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Going Budget Green for the Home | Green Talk® says:
    December 22, 2011 at 1:32 pm

    […] So I decide to write this article to list some of my own going green on a budget ideas for your home for everyone to add their favorites.  When I first drafted the article, so many ideas spilled out of my head I decided to break up the article into two.  Here is my first installment of budget green ideas.  Read tomorrow’s green budget friendly garden and water ideas: […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Shop from Anna’s Farm– The Naked Botanical– Farm Fresh Teas, Salts & Body Products

The Naked Botanical " Click HERE

Save Money By Growing Your Plants Indoors.

Three Must Have Equipment "

Grab My Free Mini Course

Connect with Me

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Popular Posts

  • Organic Color Systems: Wash those Grays Away with a Safer Hair Color
  • Coffee Grounds in the Garden: Friend or Foe?
  • Celery Leaves: Cook or Discard them?

RSS Green Talk Radio

  • An error has occurred, which probably means the feed is down. Try again later.

Popular Posts

  • Organic Color Systems: Wash those Grays Away with a Safer Hair Color
  • Coffee Grounds in the Garden: Friend or Foe?
  • Celery Leaves: Cook or Discard them?
  • Freeze Cucumbers & Learn How to Use Them.
  • Hydrogen Peroxide + Ears = Bye to Colds. A Remedy that Works

RSS Green Talk TV

  • The Naked Botanical's Gift Boxes
  • The Naked Botanical salts
  • The Naked botanical hydrosols
  • The Naked botanical herbal salves
  • Welcome to The Naked botanical teas

Copyright Green Talk © 2021 · Website Designed by Clever Kiwi