green principles

Disclaimer: This is not my green bathroom, unfortunately

photo courtesy of sunset.com

It sure is a lot easier to talk and write about going green than it is to actually do it, sometimes.  For the most part, I know what I should do, eat, buy, and so forth.  But what’s a woman to do when there is a gross ugly bathroom to be remodeled?  Picture this.

I live in a smallish (rather uglyish) 3 bedroom 50’s ranch house.  We have one bathroom.  One very old raggedy bathroom in the entire house.  The floor is rotted and it simply must be fixed.  Here are my 3 options…

1. Gut bathroom and expand to accommodate a jacuzzi tub and separate shower using inexpensive materials.  unGreen
2. Update existing bathroom using sustainable materials where possible and keeping size of bathroom as is but replacing tub, vanity, walls, floor.  Greener
3. Fix floor and walls that are damaged and leave the rest as is.  Use the greenest materials possible for floors and walls and spend the remainder of the bathroom remodel budget on other green improvements like new windows or gasp solar panels.  Greenest

Which one is the right  one?  Option 3, I suppose.  Which one do I fantasize about at the end of a long stressful day at work?  I’ll let you guess. 

This is going to be tough.  I need your help!  Please, tell me what to do.

In case you’ve just decided to be a little greener and you are not sure how, all you need to remember are the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle).

Reduce - use less of everything.  Start with using less energy by replacing your light-bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL’s) as they go out.  You can get them anywhere these days.  Even Walgreens sells them!  They are a little more expensive but they pay for themselves in no time.

Reuse - before you run out and buy something new, see if you can find somebody that’s getting rid of what you are looking for.  Craigslist and Freecycle are great for this.  The image above is my favorite freecycle find.  It’s a very unique and beautiful iron patio table with 4 chairs.  This picture was taken before I refinished them.  I’ll post an after picture someday.  I’ve also gotten and given away live plants on freecycle.

Recycle - start with newspaper and plastic. 

Every single green principle falls into one of these 3 categories so remember them and refer to them often. You’ll be surprised how easy going green really is. 

If you’re already there, what’s the very first thing you did to start Reducing, Reusing or Recycling?