A more environmentally Savvy South County Household

I signed up at work last month to partner with "its the little things", an organization that promotes small changes that actually effect the environment around you in a positive light.

For the next year it will be a goal of mine and my households, to try and make 4 changes over the next 12 months:

1. Wash laundry in cold water.
2. Use re-usable shopping bags for all purchases.
3. Try to reduce the amount of bottled beverages we consume at the store (soda, water, juices, etc)
4. Buy/ Use recycled paper products.

Since i'm part of a group movement, those 4 were chosen for us as a group to tackle one at a time. I actually do a few of those things already so I may try and take them up a notch when I get to that one in particular, but the website also has an individual monthly plan where they email you one small change you can make each month. 

So, starting November 1st, I'll be tracking how many loads of laundry I was in cold water (normally all of them) and compare them to my hot water usage.

Since this is something I normally do anyway, (wash in cold water), I think i'm also going to make a point of being more water wise and laundry observant. Even though we don't get a monthly water bill (or a usage chart since this expense is included in our HOA fee) I'll try my best to be more water mindful (maybe washing things in the delicate cycle if they are my clothes and washing the hubby's separately since his always need a good wash through.

Here's also a few interesting tidbits about cold water washing:

• Cold water actually cleans just as well as hot water does... and it saves energy, water, and fabric color.
• If you wash whites and you want to make them brighter, you can always wash on cold and add lemon juice or baking soda, or Oxyclean if you want to buy a product... If your worried about disinfecting things, apparently they are products out there like Pursue from Amway that disinfects in cold water (you can google it and buy it online from the Amway site). Plus there is always cold water and bleach, but we don't really use bleach that much here... but if you must, bleach and cold water instead of bleach and hot water.

Some other great tips for to reduce your energy bills:

• Do full loads of laundry only
• use shorter cycles for gently worn clothes
• clean the lint dryer after every load
• separate heavy drying items (like jeans and bath towels) from lighter ones to make the dryer more efficient.
• Hang dry when possible
• and if you have a newer dryer, use the auto dry setting so the machine stops when the clothes are dry. :) 

If anyone wants to join me out there and try and use cold water for more of their laundry, I'd love to check in with you and note your progress too. Just write a comment or email me at Southcountygrl@gmail.com