Green Ideas
5. Use less gas. When assessing her home’s waste, Johnson considered how efficient she was being with her transportation. She grouped car-essential errands on a single day. There was no car-sharing service near her Northern California home, but for big-city dwellers, these programs can be used for weekly shopping and the occasional weekend getaway. All of these combined actions reduce fuel consumption and get more cars off the road.
4. Use bulk body-care products. As with cleansers, navigating the world of marketing claims related to beauty products can be confusing. Fortunately, many cosmetic brands sell their products in bulk at health food stores, eliminating all that plastic packaging. These brands’ products are also (often) made from simple ingredients, so if you are motivated, you can experiment with a few of your own creations.
3. Simplify cleaning supplies. Johnson makes cleaning supplies from a small number of bulk ingredients to eliminate disposable plastic spray bottles and other nonrecyclable or nonreusable materials. “I don’t have to read labels to determine which cleaning product is toxic and which is safer,” says Johnson. “We just use Castile soap and vinegar, and on occasions baking soda if something needs a scrub.” She found that by simplifying cleansers, she could simplify her cleaning routine, making it easier to do on a weekly basis.
2. Create fewer surfaces for junk. Johnson reduced the amount of furniture in her house and minimized horizontal surfaces that collected dust and junk. Then she rid the pieces that remained of collectables and decorative pieces that required dusting. “People always say my house looks so clean, but it is not because I am a clean freak,” she says. “I only clean once a week. That’s it. My house just looks cleaner, because we have eliminated clutter.” She points out that the more furniture and collectibles a home has, the more surfaces there are to clean.
Complex systems. Finally, to use greywater with multiple timed zones, there are complex systems. There are several of these on the market: proprietary systems with their own computerized controllers, capable of high-efficiency timed irrigation to multiple zones, with rain sensors and with automatic back-flushing of filters so you don’t have to clean them.
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