Unplugged: 60 Energy-Free Activities

1. Bike somewhere
2. Play any sports
3. Outdoor games (i.e. tag), races
4. Roll in the grass
5. Make a blanket fort
6. Read a book
7. Walk to the library
8. Play an instrument
9. Sing
10. Organize your closets
11. Declutter and clean your house
12. Garden
13. Give a massage (or get one)
14. Brush your teeth
15. Look at photo albums
16. Yoga on a mat
17. Read outloud to a child
18. Draw or color
19. Walk to a thrift store
20. Play dolls or action figures with your child
21. Brush and put sponge rollers or clips in your hair or your child's
22. Play finger games (itsy spider, etc.)
23. Go to the park
24. Write a story or journal
25. Write a poem
26. Do stretches
27. Knit
28. Sew by hand
29. Walk to the gym
30. Make homemade lotions
31. Write a children's book and illustrate it
32. Try origami
33. Get your hair cut or cut your child's hair
34. Play cards
35. Trim and buff your nails
36. Volunteer
37. Help a child with scout activities
38. Donate to good causes
39. Memorize scripture
40. Talk to someone and listen
41. Have a picnic with homemade food
42. Prepare lessons
43. Do exercises with free weights
44. Take the stairs
45. Put on a play
46. Give yourself a honey facial
47. Make a craft and save it for a gift
48. Play hopscotch or chinese jump rope
49. Learn sign language
50. Take a class
51. Explore a new place
52. Play a board game
53. Play party games
54. Do chores (i.e. hang your laundry to dry)
55. Take care of a pet
56. Hold a yard sale
57. Visit someone (walk to their house)
58. Meditate
59. Pray
60. Run outside (do an errand)

Any other ideas?

Top Green Cars and Why I Love Air Pollution, Don't You (Cough, Cough)?

I live in a big city and oh how I love to breathe in that dirty polluted air....

I mean, who wouldn't (cough, cough)?

It is so worth it to have all of those dirty factories making unnecessary stuff to clutter up people's homes (like my 30th pair of shoes!).

And the traffic. The traffic is GREAT. It totally makes sense.

I mean, I definitely would trade a few years off my life due to the air pollution and accept all of the accumulative affects of climate change for traffic and clutter.

I mean, what a pain to use the subway, bus, ride a bike or walk when I could take my SUV!!

I get to sit in comfy comfort all by myself in my huge castle-like car. It is like being a queen I swear!

It's all for a great cause. My comfort.

I get to relax in a temperature-controlled environment (my cozy car) while I drive across town to buy some awesome shoes on sale, even if it means that the world's future generations have to endure skyrocketing temperatures and mass flooding.

OUCH! What was that for? You are totally rude.

What did you say? Somebody needed to get my attention?

OK... make your point.

My shoes are ugly and I am a selfish what?

OK normally I would be offended by this, like most people, but for purposes of this blog post I will see the light....

I know. You are right. I should care about other people. Climate change will cause a lot of suffering. And the truth is that air pollution really sucks and I hate traffic. I suppose I can take the subway back to return the shoes. But what if I need to take a car sometimes?

So, what you are saying, is that I can still keep a car to use when necessary, but I should make a better choice?

What choice is that?

What? Buy a used Honda CRX, shove a built B18 or fresh K series engine into it, and achieve performance better than a Tesla, with a much MUCH smaller carbon footprint, and all for a fraction of the price?

That is WAY too confusing for me. What about new cars?

New cars are not the best choice because they use up natural resources and a lot of energy to manufacture? However, they often have better safety ratings, so if I want to go new here is the list to choose from?

The List

Rank	Vehicle	ACEEE Green Score
1.	Honda Civic GX	57
2.	Toyota Prius	53
3.	Honda Civic Hybrid	51
4.	Smart fortwo	49
5.	Toyota Yaris	46
6.	Nissan Altima Hybrid	46
7.	MINI Cooper/Clubman	45
8.	Chevrolet Cobalt XFT/Pontiac G5 XFE	45
9.	Honda Fit	45
10.	Chevrolet Aveo/Aveo 5	44
11.	Toyota Camry Hybrid	44
12.	Kia Rio	44

^{Source: ACEEE's "Green Book: The Environmental Guide to Cars and Trucks"}

Cool. OK well maybe I will trade in my SUV for one of these....

but do you promise I will still feel like a QUEEN?

No, but I might feel like a responsible person with a brain?

Wow. Thanks.

My Sustainable Home: Turn off the Lights.... Turn on Your (significant other)!

Is my home an oasis of sustainable love?

We live in a nice, mid-rise apartment. I already have points going for me here because multi-family housing is more sustainable than large, single-family homes. This is simply because less-energy, space, and water is being used per person. (Some of you may be thinking- well that is nice for you, but we have kids, so we could never live in an apartment, but it's OK... we have kids too!) Read why single-family homes are obsolete here.

The other great thing about apartments is: no lawn care! No mowing= more free time. If I feel like I need a yard I can go to a park or forest or hike up a nearby mountain.

My apartment is located in walking/biking distance to the grocery store, post office, library, hair salon, schools, work, movie theater, thrift store, subway station, bus stops and restaurants. We don't even need to own a car. We chose our location well.

Inside my home; however, I could do better. All of our furniture was new when we bought it. Sustainability didn't cross our minds during our furniture buying frenzy. It would have been better to buy used furniture. However, my husband would sooner set himself on fire than sleep on a used mattress, or own a used couch. So, what to do? We could shop from a store that uses wood from sustainable sources and other recycled materials such as Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams or the Inhabitat Shop or 2modern. We could also look into refurbishing old furniture.

Next, lets move into my kitchen and bathrooms. A great resource for greening your kitchen is here. So... are we equipped with all energy and water saving appliances?... NO....why not? Because we don't own our apartment or our major appliances- so our hands are tied in many respects. As far as our small appliances (mixer, blender, toaster)... I try to keep them unplugged and to limit their use. We would love a more energy-efficient refrigerator and dishwasher, but we have to endure the status quo. We even have a funky water faucet that doesn't fit any water-saving faucet aerators. Nor can we switch out our current top loading washing machine for an energy-efficient front-loading one. Nor can we install an awesome new eco-friendly toilet...

BUT we can try this and I will have to look more into this.

Also, I need to replace our bathroom shower heads with these. (Hmmm...Christmas wish list?). A great website of information to really green your bathroom is here.

Another thing for my wish list is a dryer rack for our balcony- this would cut down our use of the dryer, which is a huge energy-suck!

Since we don't own our apartment, we also can't install a programmable thermostat for our home. However, we can dress appropriately for the weather and manually keep the heating and cooling down a bit. Another thing that helps us is closing the blinds when it is really hot or cold.

Other items on my wish list are some power-saver strips (such as these). These devices are great because they connect to computers and TVs getting rid of phantom power that is totally useless anyway!

Moving on through my home, we do have sustainable lighting throughout. It was very easy to replace all of our burned out light bulbs with new energy-efficient CFL lights. We also try to keep the lights off when not in use. It's more fun in the dark anyway!

Other factors that affect sustainability is water pollution. How do I pollute water? By using chlorine bleach and toxic cleaners in my home. There are so many eco-friendly cleaners out there that it really isn't a problem, except when you have a house cleaner who insists on toxic crap and when you give her eco-stuff she complains and complains. So, then perhaps you put your foot down, but your husband rebels and secretly goes out and gets her what she wants. So that's my house, but when I clean- it's vinegar and lemon juice or just plain water.

The other thing I plan on doing to be more sustainable is start a small organic fruit and vegetable garden out on my deck. This will be completely experimental- and I plan on watering with left over bath or shower water. In the future I'd like to hook up a drip water system using gray water. One step at a time I suppose.

Even if I can't do everything I would like to do now, there are some things that I can do and at least I know what to do when we own our future home. See below for my check list....

Buy Now

• more dishrags, so I don’t need paper towels
• more cloth napkins, so I don’t need paper napkins
• reusable plastic covers (they resemble shower caps), so I don’t need plastic wrap
• reusable lunch sacks and containers, so I don’t need disposable items
• four large trash cans to separate my glass, aluminum, paper, plastic
• small glass containers and cups, so I don’t need plastic ones that don’t recycle easily
• extra thrift store dishes and silverware, so I don’t ever need disposable stuff
• SIGG water containers for adults and kids
• “green” cleaning products for general cleaning, dishwasher and washing machine
• more compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), replace all old kind
• low-flow showerhead
• tank bags for toilets
• organic shampoos, conditioners, soaps, deodorants and lotions (no petroleum)
• reusable toothbrushes and razors (only replace the head)
• organic cotton towels, curtains and clothes
• recycled toilet paper
• organic, local food
• in-shower timer to keep showers short
• dryer racks, so I can use the dryer less often
• organic seeds and fertilizer
• cloth grocery bags
• smart strips (power-saving strips)
• recycled paper

To Do List

• repair leaks
• stuff cracks for better insulation
• recycle everything that I can
• close blinds in winter and summer
• unplug small appliances
• use tap water (filtered if needed), instead of bottled
• reuse towels a few times before washing
• lower the temperature of hot water heater
• use natural light whenever possible
• buy in bulk and items with low-packaging
• compost and garden
• use microwave over using an oven
• don’t wash dishes by hand, use a sponge before filling dishwasher instead of rinsing
• reuse paper and don’t print unless you have to
• don’t buy it
• get energy from a renewable source

Buy Later (when we own our home)

• energy and water efficient (Energy Star) large appliances, including convection oven, dishwasher, refrigerator, front-loading washing machine
• faucet aerators
• eco-toilets or adjustable flappers/dual-flush
• tankless hot-water heater
• bamboo, cork or sustainable wood flooring
• VOC-free paints, stains, caulks, grouts
• formaldehyde-free cabinets
• secondhand fixtures and accessories
• window caulk, door snakes, heat-trapping blinds or curtains
• used, refurbished or sustainable furniture
• programmable thermostat
• trees for around our home for cooling shade