Go Green Challenge

Keep Checking back for more details....

The families did it and with some excellent results, but most importantly a great eye-opening experience!

The Abegglen Family Results, personal story and pictures!

I am also including some pics of our recent updates to our new greener life.

#2342 is the barrel we got that we are turning into a rain barrel to help out with watering around the house. 

#2341 is our compost bin...lots of fun. 

#2340 is hard to see but it's the clothesline we put up to help with the cost of drying clothes...

Household Water Use

Initial Audit    11,030 gal/month

Challenge        7109 gal/month

Biggest changes –

1170 g/m         Toilet IA

936 g/m           Toilet Challenge

I don’t think we can take any credit for this one. TMI, I know, but multiple family members were having tummy troubles during the week of the initial audit. We did have the flu here during the challenge, but that was only for one day. Admission: WE MADE NO EFFORT TO REDUCE FLUSHING

            3000 g/m         Shower + tub - IA

            1602 g/m         Shower + tub  - challenge

            738 g/m           Faucet – hands and teeth - IA

            306 g/m           Faucet – hands and teeth - challenge

            1822 g/m         Faucet – dishes and cleaning - IA

            810 g/m           Faucet – dishes and cleaning - challenge

2145g/m          Washing machine - IA

1650 g/m         Washing machine - challenge

We are celebrating these numbers! These are habits we worked on as a family.

Notes to self: We think we can bring this number down further by:

            1. further shortening showers

            2. one fewer laundry load per week

            3. maybe even less water for cleaning/dishes

Household Food Consumption

Initial Audit

            20% Local

            0% Organic

            100% Non-organic

Challenge Results:

            30% Organic

70% Non-organic

            27% Local

Biggest changes: 

Week one of the Challenge brought few food changes to this house. After a disappointing weekday trip to the West Allis Farmers’ Market, we just gave up for a while and stuck with our regular routine.

By week the second week, however, we let go of a few extra dollars and bought organic strawberries, carrots, lettuce, carrots, and cauliflower from Pick-n-Save. The carrots were not that much more (if I was willing to peel and cut – I’ve grown too used to those precut baby carrots!), and the strawberries were also a decent price. The lettuce was significantly more than what we normally get, but VERY good. We also visited the Menomonee Falls and Brookfield Farmers’ Markets and brought home rhubarb, mushrooms, radishes, and eggs. The gentlemen with the eggs said his chickens were in an organic environment, but he was not certified because that would drive his costs up. We didn’t count these in our totals, but it was in interesting conversation. 

Purchasing of meat, milk, cheese, and juice has stayed the same, though we’ve been stretching our meat farther and have stopped buying OJ in paper cartons. We have also found that we are eating very little pre-packaged food, which was change we’d been hoping for even before this challenge! There’s been lots of grilling, homemade pizza dough, and plenty of rhubarb crisp. If we can keep this up, it is certainly enjoyable. Honestly, we haven’t found these changes to be too difficult, but we have had to be better about meal planning. WE WASTE SO MUCH LESS!

Notes to self: We think we can improve our eating habits while balancing the costs of purchasing more organic foods by:

1.      Continuing our new organic purchases

2.      Eating less meat each week

3.      Enjoying our summer CSA adventure

Waste and Recycling

Initial Audit:

            460 lbs/month             Waste

            192 lbs/month             Recycling

Before I go any further, I’d like to list the initial audit totals MINUS yard waste. I’ll explain in a minute.

            310lbs/month              Waste

            42 lbs/month               Recycling

Now, the totals from the Challenge:

            67 lbs/month               Waste

            114 lbs/month             Recycling

These numbers just didn’t seem right to me. This is why I’ve taken the yard waste out of the equation. First of all, the yard waste that was wasted was garlic mustard weed. This is the only time each year that we through away yard waste. We also burn brush, but have started to chip brush and wood this year. Looking at the numbers without the yard materials makes the comparison more manageable to me.

Still, total waste + recycling for the initial audit was 352 pounds/month. Total waste + recycling for the challenge was only 179 pounds/month. That’s a difference of 173 pounds Where did the rest go?

Our biggest change was in food waste. We were not so careless these past two weeks. I frequently allow potatoes or veggies to go bad because we are throwing meals together at the last minute and not planning ahead. This week we did have some meat we had to shame, but for the most part our only food waste was kitchen scraps. This is a huge change. Our initial audit had us down for 120 pounds/month of food waste. The challenge numbers had us down to 6.4 pounds/month food wasted and 21.4 pounds/month food recycled. That’s over 92 pounds difference in food wasted per month, and most of it gets buried in the backyard. (I think we’ll need a composter by wintertime!)

Paper recycling and just plain old lowering of consumption has also made a big difference in our numbers.

Household Energy Use

Initial Audit – 3430 kWh

            Challenge – 3128kWh (not sure if this is right)

I’m still working on the math behind this one, but our changes so far include:

1.      Changed twelve 60-watt bulbs to CFL bulbs

2.      Changed four 100-watt bulbs to CFL bulbs

3.      Freecycling our “kids” computer (we found that they really used the family computer more anyways, and the other one would just be running)

4.      Sent humidifier, record player, and one lamp to Goodwill

5.      Putting the TV, DVD, receiver, Playstation, and CD player all on a strip that is unplugged unless we’re using it (less than  2 hours/day)

6.      Router has been unplugged and put in storage

7.      Unplugging toaster, washer, dryer, baby receiver, battery charger, treadmill, paper shredder, pencil sharpener, basement lamps, VCR, basement TV and boom box unless we’re using these

8.      Turning off the computer overnight

9.      We turn off the lights (novel idea, I know)

Notes to self: We would still like to:

1.      Get all the computer gear on one strip that we pull out when not in use

2.      Get better about unplugging more items / getting more items on strips

3.      Get rid of the iced tea maker (b/c we don’t use it – but I was always going to try!!!)

Buy Recycled Challenge

Initial audit – 12% products purchased were environmentally friendly

Challenge – 13.6% products purchased were environmentally friendly

Over the course of the challenge we purchased 22 non-food related items. Of these, only three had contained current recycled content or previous recycled content.

To be honest, though, I’d have to admit that I padded the numbers with some TP bought not because we needed more, but because we were in the middle of the challenge (and all these others “necessities” seemed not to fit the bill).

We did choose to try to do without a few things, though. For instance, it is high allergy season right now.  It is not abnormal for me to go through a box of Kleenex every few days during the month of May. Instead of buying more tissue, I switched to old-fashioned handkerchiefs this weekend. And you know what?! They’re easier on my nose! We did pick up one more box of tissue for kids and guests.

I’m also trying to use rags instead of paper towels. We have one more roll left in the basement, and I’m trying not to by any more. I found that old t-shirts worked just fine on window (well, a few streaks are better than baby slobber anyway).    We’re also out of plastic baggies and are conducting a little family experiment to see what we’ll do without them.

We have eliminated using plastic bags at any checkout! ...still working on those produce bags, though. We’re avoiding buying water….yea! That’s been a goal for years!

Irony of the week: 

1.      The boxes that the CFLs came in were not made of recycled materials. 

2.      Someone dropped a big bag of plastic bags on our driveway on Sunday. What’s up with that?! 

In sum, I guess we’re saying that it has definitely been a challenge to buy recycled.  You really have to look hard to find the environmentally friendly products. (i.e. searching online to find where things are sold).  We think we’ve made better progress at consuming less, and we are hoping to add to our repertoire of environmentally products that we use regularly.

The Levine Family

This challenge has been very eye-opening for the Levine Family. We may not have made the biggest changes among the other families, but we did see some very interesting things.

For example, our water usage spiked during this audit because it was the same week we opened the pool for the summer. If you have a pool, you'll know that you have to put water into it before it is opened for the season. While I could've left that usage off of my totals because it's only a once-a-year thing, I included it so I could estimate the total number of gallons that went into the pool. Of course, we use no water in the winter for outside, so there is a balance.

We did what we could to lower our energy usage and while we didn't make any drastic changes, we remembered to turn off lights when we exited a room and left the lights off a little longer before it got dark in the evening. We know our energy usage is being zapped by our inefficient refrigerator, but we'll be replacing it in due time. It's also being drained by our computer if it's left on accidentally during the day, so we became much more aware of that.  

When it came to buying recycled and organic products, we did make some strides there, but I wasn't going to compromise our budget. We're on a fixed budget when it comes to weekly spending. In an example I recently posted on this blog, I could've purchased a HALF gallon of organic milk for $4.15 or bought a WHOLE GALLON of regular milk for $1.99. Based on my budget, I didn't go with the organic milk. I found it difficult to find some products that were made with a percentage of recycled material. I found paper products made from recycled materials, but I wasn't in need of them during this challenge, so I didn't buy them. We are making more of a concious effort to buy these types of products. In fact, I just found a coupon for Reynold's recycled aluminum foil! I am very excited that it is now a possible item for me to buy.

Shortly before we were chosen for this challenge, I had done my once-a-quarter stock up shopping, so I was in need of very little while this challenge was going on. This, of course, led to some skewed numbers on my part. If you could see my figures 3 months from now, I'm sure you'd see a big drop in many of them because I am now fully aware of my purchases and usages.

We tried to be more diligent than ever about what we throw away and recycle. We decreased the amount of food waste by saving more as leftovers or not making quite as much to begin with. Some of our food waste could've been composted, but with a yard project looming, we weren't about to put a bin in a miscellaneous spot. It's to come.

There are herbs and vegetables planted in patio pots for this summer. However, they were only seedlings as the challenge was going on. And our local farmer's market was only open during hours we couldn't visit, so we wait for it to be open on weekends after July 2. It made no sense for me to waste gas for a trip to a neighboring community's farmer's market. We'll definitely be buying local, organic  food to support our farmers and will eat what we grow on our patio.

One thing that wasn't part of the challenge, but that we also became more aware of was how many car trips we went on and how much gas we wasted. Now, we make 1-2 trips per week to run our weekly errands, rather than every night after work. Plus, when our son needs to be at his extra-curricular activities, we make an errand run at the same time. This saves time and money! We've also been trying to walk more. We each take a daily walk, either with or without our dog, as long as the weather tolerates. It would be so easy to forget about it and be lazy at home, but walking has gotten us more fresh air, caused us to use less energy at home (when we're not there, the lights aren't on, the TV and computer isn't used, etc.), and allows us to get healthier and thereby reducing our trips to the doctor or the store for medicine.

We've been enlightened by this challenge and hope that are new habits stick with us for years to come!

Thank you,
Rebecca Levine

The Larson Family

More to come....Winners to be annouced this week!

After our meeting on Monday May 11 we had a lot to talk about!  Our families had a real eye opening experience with their initial audits.  Many families thought they were doing good and were already environmentally friendly but found out that there is always room for improvement. 

The families and I brainstormed on simple steps and actions that they can take to make an improvement to their ecological footprint at home and here is what we came up with:

Water: 

I wanted to see each family reduce the water use by 20% so we figured they needed to decrease the usage by about 2,000 gallons.  Here are the strategies our families are going to try.

• Turn off water when brushing teeth each time.  We calculated that if each family did this simple step they would save: 3 gallons for each minute the water is running  so families could save 30 gallons of water each day! (3 gallons x 5people = 15 gallons x 2 times/day =  30 gallons each day)   So that equals 840 gallons each month (30 x 7 = 210 gallons each week and 210 x 4 = 840 gallons each month)! 
• Turn off the water while washing hands.  Most people let the water run for about one minute while washing, but if you turn if off while you lather up you can save (3 gallons x 5 times washing hands = 15 x 5 people washing hands = 75 gallons per day x 7 = 525 gallons each week x 4 = 2100 gallons each month!

These simple steps will save over 2940 gallons each month for a family of 5!

• Reduce the laundry by 2 loads per week.  This may seem hard, but we talked about  putting away clothes or restriciting how many times your children are allowed to change clothes each day!  Also we discussed having children wear pj's 2 nights before they are washed, using towels to dry off more than once before washing, changing sheets every other weeks instead of every week, also in general wearing clothes more than once before washing. If each family could reduce laundry by 2 loads per week that would equal 440 gallons each month (55 x 2 = 110 gallons/week 110 x 4 = 440 gallons/month) **Note this was for a top loading washing machine**

This simple step will not only cut back on work for each family but can save over 440 gallons of water each month

• Reduce dishwasher runs to 1x/day and avoiding prewashing dishes as much as possible.  If each family could cut back to running the dishwasher once each day that would equal 25 gallons/day or 100 gallons/month!  How can you reduce the amount of dishes you use?  We discussed simple steps such as having the children use the same glass all day and just rinsing it between uses and loading the dishwasher more efficiently to maximize space!

This simple step will not only cut back on work for each family again and will save over 100 gallons each month!

•   Reduce the time in the shower by 5 minutes (so from 20 minutes to 15).  The shower running equates to about 5 gallons/minute (depending on your showerhead, but we will be conservative), so a 20 minutes shower = 100 gallons of water.  By cutting that shower down to 15 minutes each family (counting 2 adults) will save  560 gallons per month ( 5 x 2 = 10 gallons saved for each shower x 2 people = 20 gallons/day x 7 = 140 gallons per week x 4 = 560gallons per month)!

Another simple step that can work for every family and what a difference 5 minutes can make!

So with just these steps we are already saving 4040 gallons of water each month!  That is a lot of water that can easily be conserved!

Let's move on to Energy

As this is a little more difficult to track I asked families to do a couple of simple tasks to reduce their energy consupmtion by 20%.

• Change 5!  Each family will change 5 lightbulbs to the CFL lights which use 80% less energy and last 10x as long.

• Power Strip.  Each family will put commonly used appliances and electronics on power strips so that it can easily be unplugged during the day and at night, this can reduce you energy use by up to 20% alone!  Each family will count how many appliances/electronics are power stripped and unplugged when not in use!

• Recycle (donate) at least 2 electronics or appliances that have not been used in the last 3 months (and are rarely if ever used anymore).  Just removing the excess stuff and giving it to someone who can use it will reduce, reuse, and recycle while reducing you energy load.

Let's Move onto Food.

As most families (especially these days) are looking to save money, usually local and organic foods are out due to costs.  Although we need to try to look beyond that and think about our health and the health of the living planet.  The following twelve fruits and vegetables are at the top of the list based on their pesticide exposure and contamination.

12 "Must-Buy" Organic Foods

1. Apples
2. Cherries
3. Grapes
4. Nectarines
5. Peaches
6. Pears
7. Raspberries
8. Strawberries
9. Bell Peppers
10. Celery
11. Potatoes
12. Spinach

•  For this challenge (due to the fact that most families have less than 10% organic/local) I have asked all families to "Take Two", select 2 fruits or vegetables and start to buy them organic (so if they buy 10 different fruits and vegetables each time it will equal 20% of the fresh fruits and vegetables).

Why do I suggest to only take two, in my experience it is easier to start small and build up.  Buying at least two items organically will get each family looking at organic products, price comparing, and also eating at least some local/organic foods!

Lets move onto Waste and Recycling

Most of the waste for the families was food and yard waste and even some was recyclable (such as paper).  There was also large amounts of items such as animal waste, diapers, and some single serve items (juice boxes, etc...)  Some of our solutions were as follows:

• Composting.  As most of the waste was food and yard waste composting was the obvious solution.  Most families contributed waste to organic materials that could be recycled through composting.  Although this does require a financial and time investment, the outcome cuts organic waste from the landfills by up to  (1 lbs/person/day = 1 x 5 people = 5 lbs of food waste each day x 7 = 35 lbs each week x 4 = 140 lbs each month. 

• Recycling - it seems so simple and obvious but there are still families who do not recycle everything they can.  We figured if all families made an effort to make sure they recycled everything they could, that could reduce their waste by up to another 1 lb/day  (or more)  = 28 lbs/month.

Composting and recycling would easily cut own each families waste by 20%.

• Other strategies include not buying any single serve items such as juice boxes, single serve meals and single serve snacks.
• Avoid using any throw away products such as dixie cups, paper plates, paper napkins, plastic utensils.  Just reuse your plates, cups, and silverware and use cloth napkins.  This little effort goes a LONG way for everyone.

These actions do not require much, but perhaps a thoughtful change in habits!

Lastly, let's think about the products that we buy and how environmentally friendly they are!

Most families had less than 10% of the products that they buy from recycled materials or eco-friendly.  This action is probably the easiest to change once you start to pay attention, there are so many more products on the market today that has also helping to keep the prices competitive.  Here are some ideas of what to look for with packaging and products.

• Try to buy products that are packaged with recycled materials
• Try to buy products without excess packaging (do not buy single-serve items!!)
• Look for the EPA or Sierra Club labels on products
• Try new eco-friendly products such as Seventh Generation
• Buy 100% recycled paper that is at least 40% post-consumer waste
• Try to buy products that are recyclable (there are a lot of plastics used that are not recyclable - do not support those products or companies)
• Remember, we as the consumers are in control of the market - if we demand more environmentally friendly products, companies will follow that demand!

Do you have anything to add to our simple Go Green strategies?  Please post a comment or email me at rebecca@thelittleenvironmentalists.com

What is next for the competition?

Each family will implement these strategies to reduce water, energy, and waste by 20% and increase the local/organic foods and eco-friendly products by 20%.  The families will begin implementing and tracking on Monday May 18 and will track for 2 weeks until Monday June 1.  

All families are required to submit their tracking sheets electronically by Tuesday June 2 and the winners will be selected at a final meeting on Wednesday June 3 at 6:30pm!

GOOD LUCK GO GREEN FAMILIES and all of you at home!