What's your New Year's GREEN Resolution?

[greenTmom]

Here we are at the end of 2008 and on to a new Green year in 2009. There are many things we can all do to make the environment healthy, safe and clean as individuals and together in groups. Will you start a recycle campaign in your community? Teach your kids how to be eco-friendly? Start a Green Roof or install solar panels? Join an environmental group of your choice? Install an on-demand water heater or begin your own compost pile to grow your vegetables? To get more ideas on being Green for the New Year, check out http://www.greenearthfriend.com/2008/11/top-ten-things-you-can-do-to-be-greener/
What will be your New Year's GREEN Resolution for 2009?

[Rr_Salamander]

Same thing it always is--moderation, control my appetite (for food, drink, carbon, etc. )

Man, it's hard to be a restrained consumer in our rampant society!!! Moderation is enough for me to aim for, and sometimes too much for me to achieve.

[tigerlily78]

I don't really make "resolutions", but the new year does fill me with good intentions.

I plan to increase the amount of food I grow at home.

I want to establish a more efficient meal planning regimen so I can decrease food waste (even though most waste does get composted).

I want to cut back on clutter and further simplify my life in terms of material goods.

My big dream for the year is to finally get our crummy windows replaced.

[SgtMaj]

My big goal next year is to plant 7 trees in my yard (fruit and nut trees)...

Do the dryer intake reroute to the attic modification...

Install more insulation (possibly radiant barrier)...

Finish building section 2 (of 4) of my raised bed veggie gardens...

Increase my recycled waste percentage...

I don't know what else, yet.

[greenteadrinker]

Paraphrasing Scarlett "I will never be chilly again". (In 12 years, this house will be 100 years old)
I will beat back the leaks if it's the last thing I do!
I've added lots of insulation already but it's not enough. Bah! My goal is, by next winter, I won't
have to use the heater.
And expand my garden. I'm allergic to tomatoes, so maybe more bell peppers, broccoli and
asparagus. Yum.

[greenTmom]

My big goal next year is to plant 7 trees in my yard (fruit and nut trees)...

Do the dryer intake reroute to the attic modification...

Install more insulation (possibly radiant barrier)...

Finish building section 2 (of 4) of my raised bed veggie gardens...

Increase my recycled waste percentage...

I don't know what else, yet.

Building some raised bed veggie gardens is also one of my New Year's Green Resolution. Do you have any tips SgtMaj since you have already completed 2 of them?

[SgtMaj]

Building some raised bed veggie gardens is also one of my New Year's Green Resolution. Do you have any tips SgtMaj since you have already completed 2 of them?

Yeah... if you can afford it... hire someone!

If you can't afford it, buy a good back-brace.

The most important thing is to build a foundation just like a house... level the whole foundation out before you begin building. I used cinder-blocks on mine (I like the permanence of the cinder blocks, and the centers make perfect pots for strawberries to surround the garden).

I actually had a different raised bed here before (much smaller, made of wood), and I have to say, go big... go big and go wide. Make it big enough that you can walk between the rows, because the whole reaching in from the sides thing, just didn't work for me. You always have to get on your hands and knees to reach in, which often means procrastination of some light-duty chores, which results in lower harvests. Being able to walk on it, I can now stand over the row and just bend down to pick a weed, or that one early ripe veggie without soiling my clothes. I used un-treated wood, and that also deteriorated after about 3 years, which made it cost-prohibitive to re-build every 3 years, and I didn't want to put chemicals from treated wood into my veggie garden... so cinder blocks were the best choice, but man it's back-breaking work. I'm telling you. Get a good back brace if you go the same route. Of course, I also did not follow my own advice and level out the foundation first, so I ended up rebuilding two of the sides at least 15 times each before I got all the positioning correct.

Once finished, I filled the whole thing with compost (about 12" worth), and added a bag of aragonite sand to give the plants all the minerals (especially calcium for the tomatos) they need, and to keep the compost from clumping up too much. By that time the winter cold-weather had set in and I barely had enough time to plant onions and garlic before the first frost... but they are looking good already. Can't wait for spring to get out there and get my hands dirty again.

I'm actually working on #3 on the list right now (adding insulation). I finally decided on a solution for the attic that I think will give me the best results. I'm going with el-cheapo aluminum foil (found an even better deal on it than what I mentioned in that thread... $45 for 1500 sq. feet with $0 shipping, and in quantities as low as 75 sq. feet for the same price so I can even buy a little at a time. Then I've got some roughly 2mm thick shipping foam sheets that I will back the foil with (shiny side is going to face the roof in my situation), then that whole thing will be backed with 1/8th inch luan that will be screwed to the rafters to give the attic a finished look/feel to it... on the floor of the attic I'm installing R13 over the garage, then topping that with attic decking OSB so I can use the whole garage area for storage... I will also eventually paint this whole area with that fire-retardant paint with insuladd insulating paint additive, and add a solar powered attic fan... but that'll have to be for another year. This will be enough to keep me busy until spring planting... Oh, for the rest of the attic, I'll also blow in more insulation on top of what's already there (some of which will become compacted due to installing the radiant barrier). I'm not sure how much is too much though... does anyone have any suggestions on how much I should blow in over the rest of the attic?

In the crawl space, if I get around to it, I'll also install some more insulation... just some R-13 though, and face that out with some aluminum foil (shiny side down to keep out the summer heat).

[therockst4r]

I have a far smaller resolution than everyone else. I plan to convince 4 people that we need to change the way we live. Also I plan to make a composter for all of my organic waste.

[hillsidedigger]

I plan to grow at least 4 tons of food in my gardens this year just with a shovel, rake, hoe and buckets for tools utilizing no synthetic fertilizer nor pesticides, continue to learn seed preservation technigues for the following year's planting and continue to learn to prepare a healthful and satisfying diet from said produce and grains. I might get a couple of dozen guinea fowl but only so they can convert insects and garden forage into a useful soil amenity, no fowl eating here, eggs maybe.

[therockst4r]

I plan to grow at least 4 tons of food in my gardens this year just with a shovel, rake, hoe and buckets for tools utilizing no synthetic fertilizer nor pesticides, continue to learn seed preservation technigues for the following year's planting and continue to learn to prepare a healthful and satisfying diet from said produce and grains. I might get a couple of dozen guinea fowl but only so they can convert insects and garden forage into a useful soil amenity, no fowl eating here, eggs maybe.

How much farm space do you have? 4 tons is a lot of food for two people to grow. Your commitment to the green lifestyle is most impressive, and I commend you for it. I hope that one day I too will be able to grow and raise my own food.

[hillsidedigger]

I plan to grow at least 4 tons of food in my gardens this year just with a shovel, rake, hoe and buckets for tools utilizing no synthetic fertilizer nor pesticides, continue to learn seed preservation technigues for the following year's planting and continue to learn to prepare a healthful and satisfying diet from said produce and grains. I might get a couple of dozen guinea fowl but only so they can convert insects and garden forage into a useful soil amenity, no fowl eating here, eggs maybe.

How much farm space do you have? 4 tons is a lot of food for two people to grow. Your commitment to the green lifestyle is most impressive, and I commend you for it. I hope that one day I too will be able to grow and raise my own food.

Aim high and settle for what is produced. My gardening areas total something just less than an acre scattered over our 9 acres here. A good bit of the total production is from the established fruit trees and even if so much is grown it does not necassarily follow that all of it would be harvested.

In following seasons, I might have more time to work on it.

[EcoInteractive]

Spend less time on planes.

[therockst4r]

Aim high and settle for what is produced. My gardening areas total something just less than an acre scattered over our 9 acres here. A good bit of the total production is from the established fruit trees and even if so much is grown it does not necassarily follow that all of it would be harvested.

In following seasons, I might have more time to work on it.

Where do you live? 9 acres is a lot of land in my opinion. It must be wonderful to be able to grow much of your own food. Do you have a root cellar?
You my friend are living the dream. Nothing feels better than being self-sufficient.

[hillsidedigger]

"Where do you live?"

The Blue Ridge foothills of North Carolina on a steep, formerly-eroded, heavy clay soil site and I don't consider my gardening efforts to be a commitment to a green lifestyle. It's actually more of an economic and health matter. Also, I would like to demonstrate to some people (like step-children and grand-children) a very effective low-tech way to grow food.

You wouldn't believe the chorus of 'why donchu's' that I hear every year from the father-in-law, brothers-in-law, son-in-laws, neighbors, co-workers, etc.

like:

Why donchu use a tractor, a roto-tiller, synthetic fertilizer, etc., why donchu shoot them deer in your garden and the best one is why donchu apply poison to your food?

[therockst4r]

"Where do you live?"

The Blue Ridge foothills of North Carolina on a steep, formerly-eroded, heavy clay soil site and I don't consider my gardening efforts to be a commitment to a green lifestyle. It's actually more of an economic and health matter. Also, I would like to demonstrate to some people (like step-children and grand-children) a very effective low-tech way to grow food.

You wouldn't believe the chorus of 'why donchu's' that I hear every year from the father-in-law, brothers-in-law, son-in-laws, neighbors, co-workers, etc.

like:

Why donchu use a tractor, a roto-tiller, synthetic fertilizer, etc., why donchu shoot them deer in your garden and the best one is why donchu apply poison to your food?

I understand your reasoning completely. I used to grow much of my own food in the summer, until the neighbor's tree grew too big. Growing your own food is cheaper, safer and greener.
You are the perfect example of the solution. The solution is a change in our lifestyles and mindsets. People think it's weird to grow your own food, but this is a far more sustainable, cheaper, and safer way of life. We don't need people to try to be green, we need people to change the way they live to be more like you and grow their own food.
PS: I understand why you don't want to use things that would harm your family or the environment, but what is wrong with roto-tillers?