52 Ways to be Green

Become more resilient. Live more sustainably. Reduce your negative impact on the environment.

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  • Bread. I've fallen in love with bread. For the last 6 months or so I've been making 4 to 8 loaves a week. I've been giving it to friends (pwyc) and it feels so good to share this skill with people in my circle.
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The bread we used to buy was okay but it always came in plastic. I know exactly what goes it each loaf (flour, salt, water, love) so there's nothing mysterious about its magical taste. It's pure, delicious awesomeness that takes me 30 minutes a day to craft.
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I also love that I'm not going to make a living doing this. It's not for commercial gain. It's for me. And for my friends. For my soul. To know that I'm doing wholesome and real and honest with no strings attached.
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I wish there was more opportunity to take actions like this in our lives.
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#52togreen #52waystobegreen #sourdough #makingbreadformyfriends #zerowaste #zerowastefamily #lowwaste #lowwasteliving #diy #baking #bread #wholefood #homemade #zerowasteirl #lessplastic #plasticfreeliving #sourdoughbread #community #connectwithcommunity #soulfood #goodforthesoul #justbecause #makingfood #fortheloveoffood
  • Week 38: Avoid Single Use Items⠀
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It’s no surprise to anyone that our culture has become one of convenience. But it’s time to take a serious look at the cost of that convenience. One of the biggest mistakes we’ve made is the almost constant overuse of plastic and disposable single use items. Coffee cups, plastic straws, and plastic bags are the first few things that come to mind but once you start to take notice, you’ll start to see single use plastics everywhere in your day to day life. https://www.52togreen.com/avoid-single-use-items/⠀
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Sign up at https://www.52togreen.com (link in bio) to get started on your path to becoming more environmentally conscious and eco-friendly.⠀
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#52togreen #52towaystobegreen #plasticsucks #lesswaste #zerowaste #lowwaste #singleuseplastic
  • Soaking vegetables: so here's the thing. Local versus organic versus plastic free versus affordable. It's really hard to keep all those factors in mind when buying food, especially in the winter in Canada. How do you prioritize?
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In our house we try and check all those boxes if possible but always go plastic free first, then affordable (because, you know... life...), then local, then organic.
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When local produce isn't in season, we shop at a local grocery store and then soak the veggies and fruits in water mixed with baking soda (thanks @zerowastechef!!) to get some of the pesticide residue off.
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It's not a perfect system but it works for us. As the warmer weather returns, it's so much easier to get produce from the farmers market!!
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#52togreen #52waystobegreen #zerowasteirl #zerowastefamily #zerowastehome #lowwasteliving #lowimpactfamily #lessplastic #organics #localfood #fruits #veggies #vegan #buylocal
  • Week 37: Lower Impact Vacations⠀
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So we’ve talked about riding bikes and carpooling. But you know what produces way more carbon emissions than a car? A plane. It’s pretty disgusting. While travelling is touted as a millennial “must-do”, I believe it’s important to consider the environmental impact of that travel. https://www.52togreen.com/lower-impact-vacations/⠀
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Sign up at https://www.52togreen.com to get started on your path to becoming more environmentally conscious and eco-friendly.⠀
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#52togreen #52towaystobegreen #sustainable #vacations #lowimpact #travel
  • Two jars moisturizer, one jar deodorant.
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Moisturizer: 1/4 cup shea butter, 1/4 cup coconut oil, 1/4 cup ground oatmeal, 4-5 drops essential oil (I had lavender on hand)
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Deodorant: 1/2 cup coconut oil, 2 tbsps baking soda, 2 tbsps corn starch, 10 drops essential oil (lavender again)
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Time to make: 15 mins
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Cost to make: $3 maybe?
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#52waystobegreen #52togreen #diy #homemade #bodycare #deodorant #moisturizer #coconutoil #essentialoils #lavender #zerowaste #lowwaste #zerowastehome #lowwastefamily #makeityourself #savetheplanet #lesswaste #nowaste #lessplastic #lessismore
  • Week 36: Carpool⠀
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When you think about the time we spend in our car, the money we spend on fuel, and the types of driving we usually do, it’s strange that we don’t consider carpooling more often as a means of community transit. Often people in the same neighbourhood make the drive to work, school, extra curricular activities, or even weekend trips without thinking about carpooling. https://www.52togreen.com/carpool/⠀
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Sign up at https://www.52togreen.com (link in bio) to get started on your path to becoming more environmentally conscious and eco-friendly.⠀
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#52togreen #52towaystobegreen #carpool #ridesharing #shareyourride
  • Cold weather laundry. This is our air drying set up. Our dryer kicked it earlier this year. It was second hand so we knew it had likely seen its last days. We priced out new washer dryer combo units (we only have space for apartment sized units) and decided to hold off until we had some more money to spend.
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In the meantime, that meant that we had to find a good solution for air drying clothes inside in the cold Canadian winter. This has been a pretty sweet solution. The hanging rack is from Ikea and hangs in the stairwell so it's totally out of the way. One medium sized load of laundry takes about 24 hours to dry, sometimes a little more, sometimes less.
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Air drying laundry is a great way to save some money by reducing your energy bill and also extend the life of your clothing!
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Do you air dry your laundry inside? I'd love to hear your experiences and if you have any tips or tricks!
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#52togreen #52waystobegreen #airdrying #hangyourlaundry #tinyhomes #smallspaces #goinggreen #intentionalliving #slowliving #saveenergy #ecolivig #ecominded #laundry #livelighter #livegreener #clothes #makeyourclotheslastlonger #ikeahacks
  • Week 35: Go Vegetarian⠀
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Ok, here we go – into controversial territory! I’m going to tell you something that you probably won’t want to hear, but I urge you to hear me through to the end. ⠀
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Eating meat is bad for the planet. There, I said it. I’ve done a lot of reading, a lot of research, and looking into sustainable animal farming for many years and I have yet to find an approach to eating meat that is better for our planet than just not eating meat. Here’s why: https://www.52togreen.com/go-vegetarian/⠀
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Sign up at https://www.52togreen.com (link in bio) to get started on your path to becoming more environmentally conscious and eco-friendly.⠀
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#52togreen #52towaystobegreen #vegetarian #goveg #vegan #eatlessmeat #beansforbeef
  • Making use of the Commons. We absolutely love the library. It likely saves us hundreds of dollars a year. The @guelphpubliclibrary has some awesome programs, a tech bar with 3D printers and virtual reality gaming, books, magazines, computer games, movies, console games, and even cassette tapes. For free. Pretty sweet.
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We are lucky in Guelph to also have a @gtoollibrary where you can borrow a huge assortment of tools for construction, kitchen, gardening, and repair. At $40/year, it's a pretty sweet deal.
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#52togreen #52waystobegreen
#library #lending #sharing #lendingisthenewspending #savemoney #shareyourstuff #buildcommunity #allthebooks

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  • Reduce Plastic,  Water,  Zero Waste

    Week 2: Drink Tap Water

    / May 23, 2018

    There’s been no shortage of reasons why people should turn on their taps rather than drink bottled water but that doesn’t seem to have changed enough minds out there. I have friends who…

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