If you know a farmer, they are savers and re-users and even though we're hobby farmers, we are frugal folk in kind. Hopefully someday we can live off our land completely even if it takes us until retirement. In today’s world of gigantic supermarkets with food shipped from who knows where, the idea of living off the fruits of your own land is rare indeed. Somehow, this goal feels as organic and natural to us as using indoor plants as air filters in our house: they give off oxygen and clean the air and we give off carbon dioxide for them in perfect collaboration.
The latest Green Movement is everywhere you look nowadays and it is a good thing for the planet. Perhaps we have Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth movie to thank for the widespread adoption of this movement touting the ills of global warming and begging Americans to change their ways. Despite the disappointing fact that he uses a considerable amount of electricity in his own LARGE home, his message to clean up our act to ensure a better future for our kids is an important one.
Farmers and country folk have always seemed more thrifty and prone to recycling than the general population simply because they don’t make a lot of money and reusing and repurposing are essential. Living several miles from town and high gas prices have encouraged me to be even more creative in salvaging everything I can from what I already have. One less trip to town means more time, money, and effort I can spend on more essential things like making dinner for my family (even if that dinner consists of a smorgasbord of whatever we had in the cupboard that day). Paper towels are an extravagance in our home because I always feel guilty buying them despite their very practical ability to prevent hardened goop from forming on the bottom of the microwave. Still, I have high hopes of finally getting my kids to remember to put a plate underneath their food before nuking it.
There are some green trends we’ve adopted for health reasons like using readily available, non-toxic household cleaners and a vacuum cleaner with allergen filters, whereas other minor changes are for cost savings like replacing all our traditional filament light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones. Adding on a front porch last year surprisingly reduced our electricity bills by preventing very cold and hot air from entering our house (meaning less furnace and air conditioning needs). Adjusting our comfort levels by lowering the thermostat in winter (we keep it at 65 degrees during the day and 63 at night) and raising it in the summer (we keep it at 78) have helped us save on gas and electricity consumption even more – and lower bills make me very happy indeed! Keeping blankets around the house in winter and using ceiling fans in summer help keep the chills and sweats at bay. In the winter, I make dinner in the oven a lot and in the summer, I don’t, as we prefer to grill outdoors anyway. Adjusting our habits a little at a time has made a significant difference in our carbon footprint.
Another waste saving trick I use involves giving old leftovers in the refrigerator to our farm dog, Lucky, who happily eats anything you put in his bowl (with the exception of lettuce). I realize people food isn’t necessarily good for all pets, but our dog and cats are always happy to get extra treats and their digestive systems have not suffered, so I figure it’s a good way to keep the leftovers out of the trash. Leaves and pruned plant remnants go in the compost pile(s) I have along the back fence behind our house where the trees and bushes there flourish more each year. I do keep pulled weeds separate, as I don’t want their “seeds” corrupting my gardens any more than necessary.
So if going green seems too complicated, just start with one thing like your thermostat or waiting to run your dishwasher or washer until you have a full load. Those basic things will help you save energy and money. Once you get a taste of the frugal life, you’ll be hooked and opportunities to save money/energy will be everywhere you look. One day soon, you might even be proud to consider yourself a cheapskate (but tell your friends you’ve gone green if that feels better).
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