Tips on living more sustainably in an aparment

Note: these tips were selected to be of use for renters living in small spaces but will benefit others as well

(May 2012)

• Get a few house plants ~ Two house plants per hundred square feet will improve the air quality in your apartment far better than any air freshener or disinfectant spray will do.
• Grow your own food ~ Window boxes or a cold frame (if you have a balcony) enable you to be a little bit more self sufficient.  Between Home Resource and MUD, you should be able to get just about all the building materials and tools you'd need for these projects. Click here to view easy plans to build your own window boxes.
• Use less water ~ One way to do this is by filling a milk jug with stones and placing it in your toilet tank. This will displace the water and reduce the amount of water necessary to fill the tank.  A second way to reduce your water use is to instead of leaving the water running while washing your dishes designating two large containers for washing and rinsing dishes.

 

 

Take shorter showers.

(April 2012)

Keep an old waterproof watch in the shower to help you keep your showers shorter. According to the USGS the average shower uses 2 gallons of water per minute, which means that a 10-minute shower uses 20 gallons of water!

Bake your own bread.

(March 2012)

A loaf of bread from at the grocery store costs anywhere between $2.00 and $4.00. You can bake your own healthy bread at a fraction of the cost. The ingredients for 6 loaves of homemade bread costs approximately $5.00 and your house will smell like fresh-baked bread.  Click hereto view easy recipes.  

Use your own reusable coffee mug and water bottle.

(February 2012)

Every year, Americans drink more than 100 billion cups of coffee; of those, 14.4 billion are served in disposable paper cups … enough to wrap the entire earth 55 times end-to-end! Source: www.ecofriendlycup.com/ Americans buy 28 billion single-serving plastic water bottles every year, and 80% of those end up in landfills, according to the Container Recycling Institute. Meeting the nation’s demand for bottle water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel 100,000 cars for a year, the Earth Policy Institute estimates. Chicago Tribune

 

Learn to sew.

(January 2012)

Being able to sew gives you the ability to give life back to your favorite pair of jeans, socks, shirt, etc. that you might have had to throwout otherwise!

Try a thrift shop first. 

(December 2011)

Instead of buying new this holiday season, try shopping for presents and other items at your local thrift stores first.  You might just find exactly what you were looking for, at a much lower price, while supporting the reuse of materials.

Weatherproof your windows this winter.

(November 2011)
Taking the extra time to inspect your windows for cracks, gaps, and/or holes and then replacing cracked panes or sealing the gaps can help you save on your energy bills this winter!  Next you'll want to add weather stripping and seal your windows with caulk.  Plastic window-sealing kits are fairly easy to use and work surprisingly well and are worth the investment. 

Use one of MUD's cider presses.

(October 2011)

Pressing cider is not only a fun a cheap way to get delicious fresh cider, but also helps to prevent the bears from coming into your neighborhood.  

Build your own Rain Barrel.

(September 2011)

10 Reasons to Make/Have/Use a Rain Barrel
1.    It cuts down your water bill (if you’re metered).

2.    It provides non-chlorinated, oxygenated water for your garden. Plants love it.

3.    It reduces run-off into lakes and streams and helps keep them cleaner.

*Click here for more reasons why you should have your own rain barrel and to learn how to make it!

Source:Anne and Pat Little

 

Help reduce carbon emissions by using Alternative Transportation!

(August 2011) 

What better way to enjoy the end of summer but enjoying the outdoors as much as possible! The EPA estimates that there are approximately 19.4 pounds of CO2 emissions in every gallon of gas. That's going right into our atmosphere! Decrease YOUR carbon emissions by using the Mountain Line, carpooling, or hopping on your own alternative transportation vehicle, whether it be bicycle, skateboard, roller-blades or favorite walking shoes.

 

Source: epa.gov

 

Keep watering your lawn and garden to a minimum by planting native grasses and shrubs.

(July 2011)

Once native plants have been established they do not require routine watering, which helps to keep your water bill lower! Not to mention that they are aesthetically pleasing, help reduce air pollution, and provide sources of food and shelter for wildlife! 

Rain barrels are also a nice addition to gardens.  They are easy to build and can be placed at the base of gutters to store up water that you can use later in the summer. 

 

 

Bring your own reusable takeout container for restaurant leftovers!

(June 2011)

It's debatable how long polystyrene, better known as Styrofoam, takes to decompose. According to No More Trash,a Styrofoam container would need at least 1 million years to decompose. Keep polystyrene out of our landfills and water sources by refusing to use! Bring your own containers to restaurants for leftovers, and encourage local businesses to transition to compostable and biodegradable containers made out of sugarcane or corn, among others.

 

Source: No More Trash

 

Use Vinegar, liquid soap and a pinch of salt to reduce weeds in your garden!

(May 2011)

It's gardening season which means that weeds are popping up everywhere!  You can save money and be a little gentler on the environment by making your own weed killer.    According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture a 5-10% vinegar solution has been proven an effective herbicide for emerging weeds.   Adding liquid soap helps to prevent the solution from spreading to other plants and makes it easier to apply to desired areas.  While vinegar works to successfully eradicate the leaves and stem, salt reaches the roots and pulls water from the root systems and killing the entire plant.  Using too much salt can make it harder to grow plants in the same location in the future so some choose to eliminate the use of salt all together. 

 

Recipe:one gallon white vinegar, half cup liquid soap, two tablespoons of salt. 

Shake mixture and transfer to a spray bottle. 

Source: LIVESTRONG.COM

  

Use the library!

(April 2011)

Break out your library card rather than buying new books.  Or frequent used bookstores to buy and donate/sell your old books.  This month, MUD, the Missoula Public Library, and the Book Exchange have partnered to bring you a whole suite of sustainability focused books.  For the complete book list click here.  Be sure to check out the Children's and  Adult sections of MPL as well MUD's display in the basement!

 

 

   

 

Reduce CO2 Emissions by Washing Laundry on Cold

(March 2011)

Wash your laundry on cold. Washing your clothes in cold or warm water instead of hot prevents 500 pounds of carbon dioxide a year from being produced, according to climatecrisis.net. Drying your clothes on a clothesline six months out of the year would prevent the production of another 700 pounds.

Source: Chicago Tribune

 

 

 

CFLs Vs LEDs: Shedding Some Light

(February 2011)

Why Choose One Over the Other?

LED bulbs are...

1) More efficient: 60 W incandescent = 14 CFL = 6W LED.  This means for 90+% more efficient over incandescent, they produce the same light and almost zero heat.  Not producing heat is important for the summer to keep your house cool as well as for safety reasons. 

2)  Instant on - no warm up time like with CFLs.

3) No mercury unlike CFLs.

4)  MUCH longer life (usually 40k-50k hours).  Even though they cost ~ $30 per bulb, they are roughly equal in cost to either CFLs or incandescents over the life of the bulb.

 

For more information about CFL and LED lightes visit Green Options.