<p>I just finished replacing 9 recessed floods in our kitchen w/ compact fluorescents. The light is a little whiter, but not bad. Since we have 9’ ceilings, I’m looking forward to not having to haul out the tall step ladder to change bulbs – which happened fairly frequently w/ regular bulbs.</p>
<p>What have you done to go green?</p>
<p>We don’t use a ladder, but have a bulb holder on the end of a long pole (made for this purpose). It’s quite a cool thing (I think from HD).</p>
<p>We probably don’t look so ‘green’ because we still use the old bulbs (I don’t like the new ones yet), we prefer plastic bags (our dogs help us recycle them), and we have a pick up truck. </p>
<p>But we try to get the bigger choices right. We fly a lot less than we used to. We bought an energy-efficient house that is small by American standards. We cycle to work often. We don’t leave the water running or the lights on. We keep our cars in good shape and hold them for at least 10 years. We’ve reduced our consumption of beef. We recycle almost everything. We purposefully live within a short walk to shops and a bus line and moved most of our appointments to walking distance (e.g. dentist and doctor). We try to buy and eat locally grown food. </p>
<p>But not everyone can do these things; often it depends not just on individual will but the system and community in which one lives. We just happen to live in a place where these things are more normative and supported, so it’s more practical.</p>
<p>Besides things already listed…</p>
<p>I don’t buy books, I borrow them from the library instead.</p>
<p>I rent hybrid cars when traveling, where that option exists.</p>
<p>recycle everything…and all last summer, we “saved” the water from the shower (during the time in the beginning when it warms up), and used it to water flowers outside. The new bulbs are getting better (don’t take so long to warm up) and have softer light. We are shifting almost entirely to flourescent bulbs…except those on dimmers—can’t use dimmers w/ flourescent bulbs.</p>
<p>My son is very involved with this movement- we have all CFL’s (kind yuck) I don’t like that light in some rooms. Recycle books from school. They had a carpool day at their school everyone who carpooled rec’d free drink in the cafeteria. We have completely written off styrofoam. I try and use all environmentally friendly cleaners- but the showers still need the serious stuff!! He made a movie about how to save green and it was amazing how shorter showers, a bike ride or walk instead of drive, turning off things like your computer, outside lights, tvs that are all on standby can really save. They have 3 soda machines at school and they did a study and would save $1000 dollars a year if they had “vending misers” on them. It really is one of those things where a little bit from everyone would add up to a whole LOT!!!</p>
<ul>
<li>Turn off the lights my D leaves on whenever she’s home</li>
<li>Turn off my sprinklers for the week if it rains enough </li>
<li>Work from home sometimes - save the commute</li>
<li>Commute at unusual non-peak times - reduces time on the road and engine running to about a third the time</li>
<li>Drive an old car (saves a lot of energy in the cost of building a new car)</li>
<li>All the normal trash, yard waste, etc. recycling</li>
</ul>
<p>Programmable thermostat. Recycle. Mostly compact flourescents. Compost. Replaced all the windows in our house. Live fairly close to work. (15 min commute for dh, down the stairs for me.) Mulch grass and leaves. Pulled up the front lawn and planted groundcover, bulbs and low-maintenance plants. Through the wall A/Cs that we only use when it’s really hot.</p>
<p>No car. I keep my home around 60-63 degrees in the winter. Try to eat less meat (not none, but less). Buy everything possible at the farmer’s market from May-October. My new floors will be bamboo.</p>
<p>Mostly compact fluorescents. Programmable thermostat set no warmer than 65 in winter (60 at night), recycle as much as our locality will take, bring plastic bags back to the supermarket to recycle, trying out an environmental friendly cleanser for bathroom, unplug some appliances whenever possible, follow S#2 around shutting out lights when he forgets. It’s nothing big, but we’re trying.</p>
<p>Oh yeah - live in San Diego - less heating in winter and less cooling in summer. :)</p>
<p>Vegetarian. And bought a hybrid when the old van died. Recycle. Online banking and bills (saves lots of paper statements). We could always do better though.</p>
<p>Speaking of paper - read soft-copies of documents rather than printing them out then reading the paper. I’ve noticed that the older a person is, the more likely they are to want to print a document and read the paper rather than just reading it on their monitor even though it’s perfectly legible to them - no offense intended to anyone on this forum.</p>
<p>Hybrid car. Walk to work, and every else possible. And bike. CFL’s–I’m looking for goldish shades to warm up the light. Compost. Grow veggies plus belong to a CSA. Fair trade, shade-grown organic coffee. H makes bread from wheat he grinds, plus beer and mead. use Eco-friendly cleaning products (and less, a little dirt never hurt.) Thermostat down. looking into solar panels for new house. Wash dishes by hand. Lights off whenever possible. Carry shopping bags; recycle those I end up with despite efforts. Buy less; re-use more. Teach Environmental course in local college.
Keep trying harder.</p>
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<p>We’ve switched nearly every light in the house and we’re finding the flourescents don’t always last as long as promised. Most have lasted a year and a half and are still doing fine, but several went bust before a year was up. Stinks to pay $5 to $7 for a bulb that doesn’t last as long as an incandescent! Someone said the new ones warm up faster…any particular brand? I haven’t paid much attention to brand thus far, but the ones in my garage, in particular, take so long to be useful I find myself leaving them on if I know I’m going to be in and out. Kinda defeats the purpose.</p>
<p>I crochet beach/pool bags out of plastic shopping bags.<br>
And I keep my house at around 78. OK, OK, I live in Florida.</p>
<p>I buy used whenever possible.</p>
<p>I borrow or trade whenever possible (library books, rent equipment for infrequent use, etc.).</p>
<p>We keep things until they are worn out – and not change them for fashion trends. My kitchen was built in the 50’s. Except for a new counter, and appliances (when the old ones die), we have the originals. People ask me why? I even work with a remodeling company. There is absolutely no reason to change them except for “looks”. They are well-built and quite functional. Why fill the landfills? Our ref’g was nearly 20 years old before it died. Our oven is the original! I had to have it repaired, and the repairman laughed at me. But since it is built into a brick wall, and new units do not fit, it would have been a nightmare to replace. Plus, it works fine again …but I’m not a gourmet cook either 
Our stereo speakers are from my father! Okay…it is time for them to go.
Our second car (domestic) is over 10 years old, and nearly 200,000 miles. Still looks and works fine. Why should I change it?</p>
<p>Buy well-made local products when you can, however, I’m not as good at following this advice as often as I should.</p>