5 Things I Do to Save Money and Help The Planet!
Ok. It’s really 3 money saving things I do now and 2 things I will do. But let’s not get nit-picky here… we’re talking money savings!
Big claim right? So reusing water and composting seem like microscopic drops of water in the bucket of the universe, but hey, if we all did a little bit wouldn’t the percentage of goodness grow? It just takes a small change of mind. Really, these things take seconds to do and you’ll feel better. “Great acts are made up of small deeds” ~Lao Tzu. Dude has a point.
Here’s the little things we do on the homestead to reuse and just feel better about living on good Ol’ Mother Earth:
- I almost always reuse water. Boil eggs? Didn’t finish a glass of H20? I pour those vessels of liquid into my handy dandy watering can (a.k.a. very old plastic pitcher) and give my potted plants a little drink. I’ve heard that the calcium from the boiled egg water is a plus so why not! Of course if the water is hot, let it cool. It’s truly amazing how quickly this grey water can fill my watering can.
Future plans on the homestead include grey water capturing systems but that will require a bit more brain power and a much bigger plastic pitcher.
Compost. Compost. Compost. Seems soil is my true love. If you don’t believe me see this post on starting a good foundation. Who knew there could be such an amazing transformation?! Yucky old table scraps, twigs, clippings, junk mail all tossed into a bin and heated by the break down of all this debris and Voila! It’s so science-y and it’s the best darn soil your garden could ever wish for. Seriously, I’m gaga for compost!
Lights. This is a touchy one in the 5 Dog Farm household. Your home may be a bit like mine. I’m a lights OFF person. I detest artificial light. Admittedly once LED bulbs were introduced I became a bit less
tyrannicalpushy about it. On the other hand, Mr. Bluejeans is a lights ON person (and a cabinet open person but that’s a different post). Yes, I follow him around shutting off the lights. It’s a daily task and I do have some concerns that when we go solar I will get pushy again.
Always thinking, I purchased these lanterns: Dietz Hurricane Lantern
No, it’s not just because I think they are cool looking. Ok, a lot of the reason is because I think they’re cool looking BUT they are super functional. What self declared homesteader doesn’t have a hurricane lantern or two? We have 4!
- Going Solar. The jury is out on this as of now. It’s a HUGE subject and for us, a massive undertaking. Positioning the house just so for passive solar. Buy the right windows, flooring, batteries, switches, toggles, alarms, widgets, who-ha’s and what-not’s. Phew! This is much more in-depth than a cool looking hurricane lamp. This is being added to the list as a to-do or really a will-do or maybe it should be a honey-do.
Speaking of composting♥….wink wink.
- Hold onto your suspenders. Yup, we are going the compost toilet route. You should’ve seen my face when Mr. Bluejeans handed me the Amazon package that had just come in with my name on it. Proudly he said “I ordered this for you”. Wow! For me? What could it be?! The excitement loomed large in my mind. Then I opened the package. Quite the change of look occurred on my face. It was The Humanure Handbook 3rd Edition by Joseph Jenkins. I’ve decided to return the favor and track down a do it yourself book on “How to Turn Off Lights”. Heh. Anyway, I dug in and by the end of the book I was sold! There are many You Tube videos on the subject but when I heard my heroes Doug and Stacy from Off Grid with Doug and Stacy explain the method and showed the finished product I knew we had to try it.
Now before you gag all over your keyboard, this is a probably a good place to mention that we will be using our finished product in our orchards only. The book says root vegetables can be planted in it but we already have that covered (see compost bullet) and I haven’t totally turned in my girl card so orchard fodder it is.
Yes, I’ve only touched on a few methods we will be using to save money on our homestead but remember we haven’t gotten there yet! Only a short time left! Once there we will discover many other ways to save money, be kind to Mother Earth and a certain someone will be learning to shut off the lights 😉
Do you have any tried and true money saving tips?
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Reusing water has been a huge one for me. I don't have a greywater system installed yet, but will in the next place I move to!
Using way less toothpaste (half peanut size or less), natural deodorant (coconut oil+baking soda), riding my bicycle, mulching, making my own granola and cooking in general, simplifying my diet (cooking less) and becoming mostly vegan, are all ways that I have saved money. You are probably using all of these already :D haha Nice post!