Going Green at home and at work

As part of Sean's and my Simplicity and Frugality life style, we have made the effort to 'Go Green' in as many ways as possible.  For example, we recently added on a carport to extend the protection for our vehicles as our one-car garage barely fit one of our big vehicles in it. It was added on late January, and so far it has been a blessing for us, and our neighbor.  It has and will block out that HOT afternoon sun, keeping our home cooler in the afternoon, keeping the AC from running less (of course in MT, we have yet to really see this as we just had 3" of snow drop on us this past week, but this summer, it will pay off!). It has also blessed our neighbor as she had the bright idea to extend the roof line a few more inches to let all the rain and snow melt fall onto her side of the property line, thus watering her beautiful trees for free! 

As we are getting close to gardening seasons, we have tried to figure out ways to cut down on our watering bill. I know--plants need water to grow--but our pocketbook doesn't have to suffer from it!  We have set up 2 of our drain spouts to let the snow and rain gather in big 75 gallon containers.  It will be a little more work to transfer the water back and forth instead of just turning on the spigot, but it will be much more rewarding knowing we are using the resources that God has freely given us!  Our next goal: solar panels!

 

Sean's motivation to be frugal and Green around the house has inspired me to take this lifestyle to work.  I work for a construction company--currently I manage 2 projects on the Air Force base, where we are building new homes for our military. The first Green move I am making is to ride my bike the 3 miles to work as soon as the temps warm up :).  One of my two dogs also makes this 6-mile round trip with me daily! It's an easy way of saving on gas and getting my daily exercise in! 

The second way I'm bringing the Greenness to work is by recycling!  It is the easiest Green move a company can make! As part of our contract, we demolish the existing homes. That means there is TONS of debris making it's way to the landfill daily.  Not very green.  But I have been able to set up agreements between my company and small local companies or individuals which has led to these people coming into the homes prior to demolition and salvaging as much as possible out of them.  The wood flooring, copper piping, the furnace and AC units, all the kitchen appliances, water heaters, cabinets, doors, windows and garage doors are all being taken out of these units and given or donated where they are needed.  

In the offices, I've set up different bins for the different products that we trash daily--plastics and paper. There is even one little bucket for produce (our breakfast and lunch waste) that makes it's way into my compost pile at home weekly. I've also convinced my company to spend a little more on special recycle bins for the scrap wood and scrap metal we produce while building the new homes.  When these bins fill up, they go to a recycle center instead of the landfill.  A definite Green plus here!