Home Tips
Food
- Garden – try to grow as much food as you can at your house, neighborhood park or community garden. Cold frames or greenhouses will help you to produce food all year.
- Organic – Try to eat organic, it reduces the amount of pesticides that are poisoning the earth and those who live near farms
- Farmers Market – Support your local farmers. This helps improve local food security and your local economy.
- Eat foods when they are in season
- Stop eating at fast food restaurants
- Compost your scraps instead of sending them to the landfill. In the landfill they create methane gas and burp up chemicals.
Travel
- Reduce your airline travel.
- Try to reduce your commute if possible.
- Use public transportation.
Finance
- SRI – Keep your investments in Socially Responsible Investment funds.
- Credit Unions/Local Banks – Keep your money recycling locally and out of corporate banks.
Smart Consumer
- Shop locally.
- Try to get things made locally.
- If imported, try to get it fair trade.
- Stay away from big box stores as much as possible.
- Buy it used if you can via http://santafe.craigslist.org/
- Get it free if you can, check out Freecycle http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreeCycle_Santa_Fe/
Green Building
- Use green materials for remodels or green building.
- Seek non-toxic materials for your building projects.
- Try to reuse materials, reduce the amount of construction waste going to landfills.
Water
- Harvest your rainwater for your landscape.
- Zeriscape with native plants.
Energy
- Generate energy locally through solar PV, Solar Thermal, Wind, or Geo-Thermal with PV.
- Reduce your energy usage by changing light bulbs to Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL). Please make sure to recycle your used CFLs because they contain the toxin mercury.
- Dry your clothing on racks or on clotheslines, they use zero electricity. Dryers account for up to 25% of your energy usage.
Community
- Connect with nature. Give yourself the treat of having some quite time hiking in Hyde Park, Dale Ball Trails, Pecos, or in the Jemez.
- Take your family camping or backpacking.
- Spend at least one hour a day outside.
- Find work you love and that makes a difference.
- Make time for friends, family and loved ones.
- Make time for people you don’t know yet.
