Put Your Clothes On A Line!

Its Summer and its hot in most places. This Season is probably one of the hardest to eco-ofy. The reason is its hot which means people are going to be cranking up the AC and running water hoses 24/7. Every time I see a water hose left out running in the grass it makes me flinch and I think how many gallons of water are being wasted! Anyway, I have found a great way to save some energy (and money!) that will hopefully make up for some of that water being wasted! Instead of drying clothes, just hang them up on a line to dry. This will help cut your energy bill quite some bit! The problem with this tip is that it really only works in places that are dry and hot instead of humid and hot (sorry Floridians). But, there is a way to save money and the Earth even in those humid climates. It may not work to hang out your clothes (considering it'll take a good three days for them to fully dry!) so try drying (and washing) during off-peak hours. Off-peak hours are the hours that are priced cheaper because they aren't being used as frequently. To figure out the times click here.

Filtered Water Bottles

When I'm at School I like to bring a reusable water bottle so that way I'm not wasting plastic. I have a 24 ounce water bottle and I found that sometimes I will drink all of the water in the bottle before I get to my third hour. I usually just refill my bottle with the water from the water fountain and I'm fine. I'm not too picky with what water tastes like so the flavor doesn't really bother me, but I know it does bother some people. I was shopping at Target and I found this new thing called a Filtered Water Bottle. It has a filter that is connected to the lid of the bottle and the water goes through the filter before you drink it. It is made with BPA Free plastic and its proven to remove 90% of chlorine, bad taste, and heavy metals. So that mineral taste that you get when drinking from a faucet or water fountain will be almost diminished. Its good for 200 uses or three months, if your not much of a counter you will be able to tell by the taste of the water when its time to change the filter; the water won't taste as pure. The water bottle itself comes with one filter and costs 13 dollars and the replaceable filters cost around 11 dollars, which isn't to high if you think about it. You would have to buy four filters a year which would be about 44 dollars. Think how much you would be spending if you bought a years worth of bottle water, there is a major difference. So not only are you keeping thousands of plastic water bottles out of landfills BUT you are also saving yourself hundreds of dollars! If you want to check out the water bottle click here!

Would You Like A Spot of Tea?

Now, I am a huge tea lover. I like it iced, hot, sweetened, unsweetened, anyway you can make tea I drink it! So for all you tea lovers, like me, I'm going to share a few eco tips about tea! One is, if your gonna drink it opt for organic. The reason you should drink organic tea is because other teas have the possibly of being treated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The conventional way of growing tea is pretty harmful to the environment as well, it leads to soil erosion and disease. Not to mention that the pesticides being sprayed on the plants are harmful to workers who have to harvest it. Teas that are certified organic do not treat the soil with pesticides or anything harmful to the environment. A few great brand of organic teas that I recommend are Tazo, Yogi, and Stash Teas. If your not into any of these brands check out your local Trader Joes or Whole Foods. All of their teas on the shelf are organic! Another great way to go green with tea is to compost the tea bags! They make a great natural soil for your garden! Using tea will allow your flowers to flourish without the need of any chemical fertilizers.