Making the Most of a Rainy Day

Get a rain barrel:

• Install the rain barrel at least six feet from your house. Locating it near an area you’ll be watering the most makes for convenient use later
• Ensure that your rain barrel has an overflow at least as large as your inflow-for example, if you have rigged it so that water is collected directly from your eaves’ trough downspout, your overflow valve should be as large as your downspout as well. This will allow your rain barrel to get rid of excess water as fast as it collects it, which might be necessary if you live in a city with crazy, unpredictable weather like my brother does.
• If you are using the rain barrel to water your garden, consider using a soaker hose. You can attach the hose to the rain barrel and then run it through your garden so that it covers the area you’d like. Now, every time you see a rain cloud, you’ll get really excited!

Saving the Planet One Paper Towel at a Time

    Do you really need to use so many paper towels? One roll will last me at least one month at home. I have a whole shelf of well-used dish rags that started out their life as a nicely embroidered fabric and now are much more useful to me and the planet! Ditch the paper towels and facial tissues. Tea towels and dishcloths work pretty much everywhere you’d use a paper towel, and you can employ newspaper for the truly gnarly messes. As for facial tissue, toilet tissue works just as well at a fraction of the cost and without separate packaging. Why buy something twice?

A Friendly Eye

Offer to take care of a neighbor or friend’s home, yard, or pets while they are away on vacation. They will be comfortable knowing their valuables are in good hands.

Open Your Home

    I think that once the pandemic is truly over, it's time to start thinking about treating ourselves to vacations. The gift economy is a really helpful concept for the budget-conscious, and it can help you, too. It may be time to reexamine everything you thought you couldn’t do and see if there is another way. Vacationing is a good example- you can trade homes and explore what you could not afford before, while offering the same in return. This free accommodation exchange will give you a really unique and much more personal view of a new place as well as a way to connect with people who live there. The idea is not new; Servas International (servas.org) was founded in 1949 and is recognized by the United Nations as a hospitality network. Check out the wildly successful and well organized CouchSurfing (couchsurfing.org) and Hospitality Club (hospitalityclub.org). And take time to look around the web; there are many similar, smaller initiatives online catering to the budget traveler or people wanting to take a volunteer vacation in another hemisphere.

Dryers Are Energy Vampires - Clotheslines Are Better

    Hang dry your wet laundry. By doing so, you’re saving energy and preserving the fit and color of your clothes!

Have a Good Neighbor Policy

    If you live next to an elderly couple or someone who is disabled, volunteer to help them around their yard by raking their leaves or mowing their lawn. Consider it good exercise and a good deed.

Moving and Grooving

    Moving? Use clean sheets, pillowcases, and towels to pack breakable items dishes and framed artwork. The soft material will help cushion your breakables, reducing or eliminating the need for bubble wrap. As an added bonus, linens and kitchen items are usually among the first things you'll need to unpack at your new place, so using one to help pack the other means you'll find everything you need in one box. Clever, eh?

Ditch the High-Maitenance Front Lawn and Plant Natives

    As a Northern Californian experiencing a serious drought, I am thrilled to see more and more gardens being cultivated with plants that need no water. This method is called xeriscaping and is gorgeous and has enormous variety. If you're tired of the constant mow/water/fertilizer cycle of your lawn, consider getting rid of it altogether. It's not as bizarre as it sounds. Some water conservationists estimate that up to 40% of a household's water usage during the summer months is spent on outdoor watering, so ditching the lawn altogether can save you time and money, not to mention a precious resource. One eco-friendly option is to replace that turf with plants indigenous to your region, which will require less water and look far prettier than any ol' square of green grass could ever. Start a xeriscaping movement on your street

Making the Most of a Rainy Day

    Get a rain barrel:

    *Install the rain barrel at least six feet from your house. Locating it near an area, you'll be watering the most makes for convenient use later.

    *Ensure that your rain barrel has an overflow at least as large as your inflow- for example, if you have rigged it so that water is collected directly from your eaves' trough downspout, your overflow value should be as large as your downspout as well. This will allow your rain barrel to get rid of excess water as fast as it collects it, which might be necessary if you live in a city with crazy, unpredictable weather like my brother does.

    *If you are using the rain barrel to water your garden, consider using a soaker hose. You can attach the hose to the rain barrel and then run it through your garden so that it covers the area you'd like. Now, every time you see a rain cloud, you'll get really excited.

Breathe Easier

    Having plants around is great for where you live and where you work. Not only are they lovely to look at, they improve the air you breathe! The following air-purifying plants look great, produce oxygen, and can even absorb contaminants like formaldehyde and benzene (commonly off-gassed from furniture and mattresses). The best part? Nary an electrical cord, nor a battery, in sight. Ahhhh.

    *Spider plant

    *Peace lily

    *Snake plant

    *Elephant ear

    *Weeping fig

    *Rubber plant

    *Bamboo palm

Be a Fixer-Upper (Plus Weeding is Good Therapy)

    Assist seniors near you with tasks like raking, shoveling, or doing minor home repairs through Volunteers of America's Safety of Seniors Handyman Program (voa.org). I pull my 98-year-old neighbor's weeds and it is a good exercise for me, it benefits the neighborhood, and she appreciates the weekly attention she and her yard enjoy!

Be a Good on Your Own Block

     Make a list of small things you can do around your house and place of work to conserve energy and water, stop waste, and increase recycling. Then start doing them!