With the celebration of Earth Day fresh on our minds our family has been thinking about ways of how we can be more intentional in our efforts to conserve.  While we do our best to recycle we are not always very consistent about doing it.  Making small changes as a family can save a lot over the course of a year.

P&G Everyday Effect Program is brought to you by P&G and SheSpeaks! P&G believes the most effective changes start at home first by changing the way we think and making small steps to improve our lives by reducing, reusing, recycling, conserving and more.  Here are 10 specific ways our family has been working on changing so we can make a positive impact:

Adjust the Thermostat

By adjusting the thermostat only a degree or two you could save potentially several hundred dollars over the course of a year.  Also, when you travel, like we did in April for the girls Spring Break, make sure to adjust the thermostat even more.  If we are not going to be home we turn it up or down (depending on the season) as much as possible so that the HVAC unit is not working over time for an empty house.  Yes, we have come home to the house at about 90 degrees or in the high 40s but we have also noticed a significant decrease in our power bills those months too! 🙂

Picking Up & Recycling Litter

When it rains all the water from the street next to us runs down into the creek into our backyard.  After every rain storm we usually have to pick up a variety of trash that was litter on the side of the road.  One of the ways we decided to help is by making it a point to recycle any of the items we pick up instead of just throwing them away.  We have an aluminum can crusher in our garage which is one of the kids chores to sort and crush any cans that we have for that week.  Every couple months or so we take all the cans the kids have crushed to a salvage yard nearby and get some cash for the cans they have saved.

Using Reusable Water Bottles & Re-purposing Disposable Plastic Water Bottles Prior to Recycling

Our family typically has at least a few disposable plastic water bottles in our cars or lunches or a 24 pack in the house to grab quickly.  We are trying to use more reusable water bottles to take to school or work lunches and other places so we are not being wasteful.  If we get a plastic water bottle from an event we are making a point to reuse it for something fun (like the snack container pictured above or another craft) before putting it in the recycling bin instead of just throwing into the nearest trash can.

Water Conservative Shower Head & Shorter Showers

Sometimes we tend to take longer showers than necessary in our house.  While the occasional long shower doesn’t seem like a lot just cutting it back a few minutes can help us conserve a lot of water for a family of four!  We have put conservative shower heads in our showers so there is not as much water coming out as we take our showers which helps us save a little bit more.

Washing Our Laundry in Cool Water & Air Drying Our Laundry

Choosing to wash the laundry in cool water instead of warm or hot can help conserve energy too.  Also, when we allow items to air or line dry that saves energy on the drying cycle.  We have been more intentional about picking out certain items that would air dry nicely.

Turn Off the Water while Brushing Our Teeth

This is one that we have been working on at our house for a long time.  For some reason it seems like it is just so much work to turn off the water while brushing our teeth.  If we assume that all four of us brush our teeth for 2 minutes (recommended time) at least twice a day and the average bathroom faucet uses approximately 2 gallons of water per minute our family alone is using over 30 gallons of water a day just to brush our teeth! Yikes!  If we took the extra second to turn off the water then to turn it back on only to rinse we could easily cut that amount in half or more.

Grow Our Own Produce & Compost

We make it a point to grow at least some of our produce every year.  Usually we have a huge garden with surplus that we are able to share with family, friends, neighbors, and people from church.  We only water our garden when necessary and it is on a timer to prevent us from wasting the extra water.  This year we are doing a smaller garden because of several big events coming up but we are so looking forward to eating our juicy strawberries and any other plants we put into the garden this summer!  If you don’t want to grow your own garden you can buy produce from your local farmers market.  One of the big benefits of growing your own garden or eating a lot of produce is you have the opportunity recycle and make great compost for future gardens!

Turning Off the Lights

Here is another one that it seems like we have worked on for a long time especially with the kids.  They tend to bounce from room to room without even thinking about turning off the lights.  We have talked in depth about the importance of turning off the lights so we don’t waste extra energy.  Thankfully, the kids seem to be getting better with this one now too (although they have forgetful moments)!

Pack Our Own Lunches Instead of Eating Out

We have made a point of packing our own lunches for work and school.  It saves money by not eating out all the time plus we can use reusable sandwich and other containers as well as a lunch box instead of getting disposable wrappers and containers from restaurants or fast food.  I have noticed during the busy months I tend to be a little more relaxed on this one so we pulled ourselves together and stuck to doing this for most of the year so far and plan to continue it.  The food that we pack is much healthier, offers more variety, and is packed in more earth friendly containers.

Only Run the Dishwasher When it is Full

I have been known to run the dishwasher half full especially if it seems to be a little “stinky” smelling!  This past month we have been more intentional on how we load the dishwasher and only running it once it is completely full.

Even though you are only one family “everyday effect” can make a huge difference over time.  We only listed a handful of easy ways to conserve water, energy, power, take care of our environment and more, get together with your family and come up with a few more creative ways you can make a difference!

More about the EverydayEffect movement can be found:

• P&G website
• P&G Facebook Page
• P&G Twitter Page

A special thanks to SheSpeaks and P&G for initiating the Everyday Effect Program and sponsoring this post.  Any specific program information was provided by P&G and SheSpeaks, however, the opinions expressed in this post are our own.