A more earth-friendly Spring: Easy tips to get you started

Spring is the time when we start thinking about getting active, after making excuses all winter. We drag out the stuff we don’t need and hold a garage sale. We wash, fold and store all those winter sweaters. We get on top of all the new growth in the yard, and flood the garden center looking for tiny flowers and vegetables, dreaming of the lush yard of late summer.

If you’re looking for ways to be greener in the warm months to come, we have some suggestions … and they’re not even very hard to incorporate into your life:  

Cool, meatless meals. The production of feedlot beef takes a lot of energy, from the grain diverted to feed the animals, to the water they drink and the fuel to transport them from ranches to feedlots to processing to market. You can cut down the environmental impact in a couple of ways, primarily by having a meatless day at least once a week. Can’t sell the family on that? Try buying grassfed beef from ranchers in your region for cattle with less of a carbon footprint.

A meal made and served cool is refreshing on a hot day – and keeps the kitchen cooler, too, which will save you on your electricity bills. Try VegetarianTimes.com for some recipes.  

Spring cleaning with a green touch. You’ll save money by making your own cleaning products using common, inexpensive ingredients like white vinegar. Put your cleaners in re-usable spray bottles and you won’t be throwing away the empties at the end.

Here’s a good article on what you need to get started. And don’t forget to skip the paper towels. Use rags for cleaning, throw them in the wash and then out on the clothesline. Or consider an investment in a few chamois, which suck up lots of water, wash easily and air-dry in a jiff.  

Greening your garden. Eliminate the use of pesticides and herbicides by using tried-and-true methods organic methods for controlling weeds and pests. Get as local as you can by planting a garden  and starting a compost pile. That compost pile will give you free mulch while diverting trash from the landfill. And even a couple of tomato plants in a container will help to eliminate the “food miles” it takes to get that red orb from field to plate. (Big bonus: Home grown tomatoes always taste better).

Plan your landscape to take advantage of the sun when you need to – and block it otherwise. Study your yard to see where best to situation those vegetable plants: Some like it hot, and some don’t.  

Free shade trees from SMUD continue to be one heck of a deal. In just a few years the shade will cut down on the energy required to cool your home. Your property and your entire neighborhood will benefit from the attractiveness of street trees. Some neighborhoods get together to have a single big tree planting day. There’s no reason yours can’t be one of them. Check out the information here.

Plan your errands. Take advantage of the cool tmornings o walk or bike if you can. Even if you can’t, you’ll do better by the earth by consolidating errands into a single morning trip without turning the air conditioning in your vehicle.  

It  has never been easier to get started with biking. Bike lanes and helmets make it safer, and new “commuter models” with comfortable seats and shock absorbers – and front and rear baskets. Those Lance Armstrong wannabes will blow be you, but who cares? You’re enjoying the view.

Share with others.  Sometimes going green means slowing down, chilling out and reclaiming old-fashioned values like thrift and avoiding waste.  

Sharing what you know and what you have is a wonderful way to get the green on for your friends and neighbors. If you’re growing veggies, grow a few more and give them away. If you’re running some errands, ask if you can pick up anything for your neighbors. Invite folks over to share meals, with everyone making a cool summer dish.

Give away what you don’t need and don’t have time to sell. Freecycle will get your goods into the hands of people who dearly want them, and out of your way forever. Having less stuff means less stuff to take care of, and more time to figure out more ways to enjoy an easier, greener life.