10 Ways to Go Green This Week

1.  Fall may be starting this week, but weeds can still be a problem.  “To kill the grass and weeds that come up in our sidewalk cracks we use the boiling water from prepping for our dinner,” Jason Raddenbach of North American Manufacturers, said.  “Boiling corn or noodles requires quite a bit of water and we just dump it down the sink anyway. Now we dump it on the sidewalk weeds and they are dead in 2 days.”

2.  Think before trashing your old electronics. “Call2Recycle provides a free and convenient way to recycle old cell phones and used rechargeable batteries found in cordless electronic products such as laptops, camcorders, digital cameras, cordless power tools, mp3 players, PDAs and more,” Briana Papa of Call2Recycle, said.

“There are more than 30,000 retail, community and business collection sites enrolled in the program throughout the U.S. and Canada. Consumers can simply drop their used rechargeable batteries and old cell phones in branded Call2Recycle collection boxes at participating retailers such as Best Buy, Target, RadioShack, The Home Depot and Lowe’s. Call2Recycle is operated by the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC), a nonprofit, public service agency dedicated to recycling used rechargeable batteries.  For more information on the program and to find a comprehensive list of collection sites, please visit www.call2recycle.org.”

3.  Rather than spending your Sunday mornings clipping coupons, only to leave them at home when you go to the store, why not keep them close in a convenient way?  Try TheSavingsPost.com, “a local coupon site that allows consumers to text message local coupons to their cell phones.”

“Consumers always have their cell phones with them so they always have their coupons with them,” Dan Sexton, president of TheSavingsPost.com, said.  “Consumers are not only saving on paper, ink, etc….but they are also saving money while they shop locally.”

4.  Want to wish your friends and family “happy birthday” and stay green?  There’s an option for that now with BirthdayDialer.com.  This “new website allows the user to select from a menu of fun musical birthday greetings and send one directly to their friends’ phones for free,” Heidi Glauser of www.birthdaydialer.com, said.  Fun, free and green.  That’s hard to beat.

5.   Are you drowning in foil, plastic wrap and paper towels?  Make your household a little greener and “look for glass containers that are sturdy, sealable and reusable and use cloth napkins,” Shelby Zadow, marketing director for BioAg.com, said.

6.  Want to make your razor last longer? “Corrosion causes most razor heads to go bad not dullness,” Raddenbach said. “My wife and I use manual razors with disposable heads. After each shave we use a spray bottle to clean the heads out thoroughly and blot it dry with a towel, and we don’t leave the razor in the shower.”

7.  We plan our hectic schedules around our work, so why not our errands as well?  Group your trips for less stress, both on you and the environment! “Whether it’s by car or public transit, planning your trips to the store or to run errands can be most efficiently accomplished with the least environmental impact if you make sure you’re not backtracking or running one errand a day,” A.J. Dax, green lifestyle expert, said.  “Best of all, of course, is planning you errands so you can do them by walking or bicycle whenever possible.”

8.  Similarly, Dax recommends planning your cooking.  “Because I have an electric stove, I time my cooking with how long the burner will remain hot so I’m not letting the heat from the burner go to waste.  I also recommend Staub and Le Creuset cooking pots (or similar enameled cast iron).  Once these pots get warm, they retain their heat and cook similarly to a slow cooker.  So you don’t have to have the burner turned up on a higher setting until the cooking is done.  That said, people should also remember to use lids properly when cooking.  So many people forget that if they’re boiling water or other items, they will heat faster and use less energy if you put a lid on the pot to hold the heat in.  Those old fashioned tips really do work a lot.  Grandma knew her stuff!”

9.  Start thinking “functional chic” when you shop for your home rather than “fashionable chic,” Zadow said.  “I think the biggest change has been in my mind set.  Areas I would typically want to redecorate (remove out dated tile etc), I’ve decided instead to find ways to decorate around instead of creating more waste.”

10.  Clothing and shoes, however, can be another deal entirely.  You can still be fashionable and green.  Dax created and continues to follow his own shopping rules. “If I see a great new pair of shoes and those shoes aren’t replacing a pair that has worn out, I buy them.  But when I go home, I have to pick a pair of shoes that will be donated to charity.  The same goes for clothing.”  This is a great way to recycle your clothes and shoes for a greater purpose while still buying what you want.

Thanks to all of these great ideas from the HARO contributors!

Have green tips for SocialYell?  Tell us today at SocialYell or tweet about it to SocialYellBlog on Twitter!

Ashley Strickland is a senior majoring in journalism at the University of Georgia.  She loves reading the green tips people send out!