Going Green in Comfort

(Photo by Chotthanin Udomwariyawat / FreeRangeStock.com ) Thanks to the generosity of friends and family, having a baby six years ago didn't bring financial disaster to my husband and me. We got many necessities (and a few non-essentials) at the baby shower, and we have received tons of hand-me-downs my oldest niece had outgrown and a very generous collection of garage-sale finds from one of my best friends. Within months of my daughter's birth, we, too, we're amassing a pile of out-grown clothes and things our daughter had outgrown. I had no idea what to do with them all. At first, we put them back, thinking maybe, just maybe, another baby might come along. When that didn't happen within the first couple of years, I started thinking about what to do. Thankfully, my younger sister soon had a daughter of her own, and everything I had that was still usable found a new home. I know passing along clothing, especially among people with growing children, is a commo...

(Photo by MJ / FreeRangestock.com ) My kitchen faucet has had a slow drip for months, but because my husband and I were worried about the cost of getting it fixed, we kept putting off calling a plumber. You know how it goes: You think to yourself, "I'll take care of it as soon as I can But one day last week, our backyard faucet started dripping, too, and we felt we couldn't ignore the problem anymore. My husband made an appointment to get both faucets fixed, and now, for the first time in about half a year, we can sit in our living room without listening to the drip, drip, drip coming from the kitchen. The repair was recent enough that we have no idea if it will make a difference in the amount of water we use every month, but I've heard that even a slow drip can really add up . I found a calculator on the U.S. Geological Survey website that can tell you how much water is wasted by a dripping faucet. All you have to do is plug in how often the faucet drips...

(Photo by Jack Moreh / FreeRangeStock.com ) One day last week, my daughter said to me, "Plastic is bad for the environment." I was surprised she knew this. Even though I've been trying to reduce our plastic use, I've never really said a whole lot to her about why. So I told her she was right, but added, "How did you know that?" "Octonauts," she said. For those who might not be familiar with "Octonauts," here's a quick explainer: It's an animated series featuring a troop of anthropomorphized cats and vegetables who travel the ocean saving sea creatures. Episodes include facts about the animals being rescued, such as feeding habits or how they breathe, etc. One episode my daughter had watched earlier that day featured the main characters saving sea creatures from a "garbage patch" in the ocean and mentioned how animals can inadvertently ingest plastic and get sick. The next time my daughter had a ...

Could you do without your refrigerator? (Photo by Chance Agrella / FreeRangeStock.com ) Let me just say right up front: I’m not ready to try this. Not even a little bit. But I have been mulling it over. What would it take to get rid of my fridge? The idea came to me when I was googling whether unplugging electronics when not in use saves a lot of electricity or if the savings are only minuscule. (Note: I never found a definitive answer, so I figured I’d give it a shot and see for myself.) Several of the sites I stumbled upon contained discussions on whether a refrigerator could be unplugged overnight. That is not an option in my neck of the woods. It can get way too hot, even at night, to trust that the food within would stay safe to eat if the fridge were unplugged for eight hours or so. But it did get me thinking: The fridge is probably in the top 3 electricity users in my home, if not the biggest. Could I get by without it? Technically, yes, I could. I know this beca...