Living Green

"I am passionate about being good to the earth. She gives so much to us and we take, take, take!

"It reminds me of the book "The Giving Tree" ... only we as people are the little boy and the tree is the earth. Eventually we will take all she has and we will be sad, and it will be too late.

"I have two little boys and my goal is to teach them to respect their environment. Their daddy teaches them about animals and hunting and fishing. I try my very best to teach them about recycling, saving energy, and above all, to appreciate the beauty that surrounds them. As a daily practice, as a family, we do all of the following;

1. Recycle all paper, including the "Daily Reflector." And plastic, glass, anything that can be recycled, we do it. The kids know what is to be recycled and help out by putting it in the recycling instead of the trash.

2. We use power strips at our house. We plug the TV and other appliances into the power strips and turn the power strip off when we're not using the appliances. This helps the energy bill quite a bit, by not using the stand-by mode that is actually using energy when the appliance is off.

3. We wait until the dishwasher is very full to run it.

4. We wash all clothes on cold and only wash full loads.

5. We use environmentally friendly cleaning products. We use Mrs. Meyers or Planet; both are sold right here in Greenville at Harris Teeter or Kroger. They are great, too, for use around children.

6. We use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins or paper towels as much as possible. If everyone did this we could save millions of trees every year!

7. We use those energy-efficient CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light) light bulbs.

8. Her magazine readers, take a look at the paper litter around the ATM the next time you're using it. With technology today, no one really needs a receipt at the ATM, we can check our balances online. All those ATM receipts end up accounting for millions of trees every year! If that is the only change someone is willing to make, they would still be helping to save the planet!"

— Nikki Blount, 35, Greenville

"Try to combine all your errands in one trip. Walk and/or bike to stores, pay bills, visit friends.

"Use canvas totes when shopping. Keep them in the car so they are always handy.

"Keep the car parked one day week.

"Use a home water-filtering system and personal water bottles instead of purchasing bottled water.

"RECYCLE!!!

"Limit purchases of new items to only when absolutely necessary. Instead, buy used items from Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, consignment stores, neighborhood yard sales, church bazaars/flea markets.

"There is a local Free Market held in Greenville on the first Sunday of each month at Elm Street Park in the shelter closest to the tennis courts. You can bring items that you and your family no longer need and swap it for things you do need. Make it a habit to check out these places before automatically heading out to the chains and big box stores.

"Check online for used books, CDs, DVDs, etc. Even better, use the public library for your family's reading and video needs.

"Before cranking up the heat, make sure your family members are all dressed in long-sleeved (turtleneck) shirts, sweaters/sweatshirts/undershirts/long johns, slippers and socks. Have lots of throws and afghans around to cozy up in while reading/watching tv/listening to music. If everyone is still chilly, then you can feel better about raising the thermostat. Limiting the amount of forced, overheated air that your family is exposed to can lessen respiratory and skin problems as well.

"Keep some slippers/socks for guests by the entrance to your home. This can go a long way in creating a warm welcome!"

— Lynn Caverly, 50, Greenville

"Kermit the Frog said that "it's not easy being green" and I believed him. I thought that it would take an enormous amount of effort to "Go Green." I refused to consider the possibility of my small part helping out this big world and continued on as normal. I walked out of rooms leaving lights on, fans running and disposing of all trash in one can. Easy. Simple.

"Wake up call ... I went to a landfill and saw the massive amount of garbage. I researched Web sites where trees were being cut down to make way for more landfills. I realized that I had to do my part to help.

"I started with the simple things: cutting off lights when I leave the room, setting the TV on a timer so that it would go off if I happened to fall asleep, using the plastic bags from the grocery store as wastebasket bags in my office and room, not letting my water run the whole time that I was brushing teeth. I save money and I am helping the earth. Cool. Simple enough.

"Now I am on stage two. I have partnered with a nonprofit agency in Elizabeth City. They are collecting aluminum cans as one of their many fundraisers to build a youth center to keep kids off the street and to teach them proper social skills. I thought to myself, I drink Diet Dr. Pepper all of the time. I can help and it will be easy. I started separating my cans and putting them in a pile. I then asked others around me to save their cans, and my friends and coworkers are doing their part to go green. Each week I pick up the cans and take them to the nonprofit. I feel good because I am giving back to my community.

"I have a long way to go, but my small step is helping others make small steps. If we all took the little steps, steps that don't interfere in our everyday life, then our world would be a better place to live."

— Keisha Brown, 31, Greenville

"I've been making a list of all the different things my husband and I do to help protect the environment, both inside and outside the house. Amazingly enough, a lot of the things we do also helps us save money. A few of the suggestions are common ones, the others may be different.

"Use yard waste such as grass clippings, leaves, etc., as mulch around trees, shrubs and in natural areas.

"Save coffee grinds to put around plants that need high acidity levels.

"Use bone meal and/or blood meal as natural organic fertilizers as opposed to chemical ones for plants. Blood meal will also work to repel snakes and animals naturally.

"Recycle paper, cardboard, plastic, cans and bottles.

"Reuse coffee cans as storage containers, dryer lint buckets, etc.

"Use fluorescent light bulbs in place of the regular bulbs.

"Reuse plastic grocery bags for scooping used cat litter or dog waste into. Can also be used as small trash bags.

"Use a permanent coffee filter instead of paper filters.

"Use environmentally safe products, such as Shaklee's, for your house and dishwasher. They keep chemicals out of your house and the environment and are safe to have around children and pets.

"When you're running water to heat it up for a bath or shower, use the bathroom sink. It will cut down on the amount of water being wasted.

"Instead of using plastic utensils and styrofoam/plastic plates and or bowls, use acrylic utensils and dishes instead. They work just as well on picnics or to keep at work for meals there. Replace paper napkins with cloth ones. They can be washed with the bed sheets or towels.

"Replace paper towels with Viva reusable cloth towels (or something similar) for wiping up spills and cleaning. They can be rinsed out and reused over and over.

"Use washable micro-fiber cloths to clean windows and mirrors instead of paper towels or newspapers.

"Make sure vehicles receive scheduled maintenances to optimize fuel efficiency (save gas) and reduce emissions."

— Susan May, 35, Washington, N.C.