Reducing your carbon footprint.

[kaisersozei]

Originally Posted by md4958

I also try not to let the water run un-necessarily and shut off lights not being used, but again for cost savings. When you start paying utility bills you understand why your parents were always up your ass about stuff like that.

I think my parental admonitions--from pretty much the time I could walk--are more of a reason I do the things I do, rather than any sort of altruistic motivation to "save the planet." The planet is going to be here long after my great-grandchildren are gone.

My wife always complains that "we're not living in the Great Depression," but there are just some habits I can't shake. To that end we:

recycle everything we can--our bins are almost always more full than our trashcan
turn off the lights when leaving a room
turn off the water when brushing teeth
take short showers (at least I don't turn the water off when I'm soaping up, as we used to do when growing up. or when camping.)
wash pretty much all of our laundry in cold water
have natural gas heating, water heater, range & oven
use an environmentally sound, oxygen-based sanitizing product in my homebrewing equipment
upgraded all appliances to energy efficient models in the past 4-5 years
drive cars that get 20+ mpg (but no Prius/hybrid crap)
eat leftovers
compost really old leftovers

And I'm trying to build a nuclear-powered home generator, but these unmarked helicopters keep circling.