In our quest to be "green", our family is looking at our entire home to look for ways to improve our environment. We don't expect that any one item will save the planet, but every little bit helps. The process of green is not some panacea to make everything better, but a series of incremental steps that all work together.

One of our goals is to come up with ideas, and solicit ideas from readers. When we get an idea we will try it out on our own home, if practical. We have to be able to manage the project and also afford the cost. Low or no-expense items will come first. We want to help save the planet... not sponsor it!

In the home area, we are going to look how we can reduce our negative impact on our environment. We are looking at the garbage we produce, water used and energy required to sustain our family of five. One goal is to see if we can go for certain stretches of time with no garbage (recycled items excluded).

Some items we discuss will seem pretty basic, but they are not always so quick and easy. As a family of five, frankly, we are just busy. With daughters in elementary, middle and high school, we are well occupied with academics, sports and music. As parents, we also have our own interests.

Follow us as we work to be better... remember... it's OK 2 Be Green™!

 

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Solar Gable Fan Installation   [2009-05-12 14:17:02] We have been looking for ways to save some energy and cool down our home. We found a solar Powered Gable Fan, which works great and costs nothing to run! To show you how easy it is to install, we created a short little video. To BUY-BUY-BUY... click the fan!

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Composting   [2008-11-01 11:46:42] I've been reading a lot about compost piles lately, and decided to take the plunge. There are several things about a compost heap that appeal to us at Ok2BeGreen.  It reduces waste, improves the environment and we hope can save money. We are constantly looking to reduce our waste and one goal is no yard waste tossed into the garbage. We accomplished a lot of this in our series on mulching (click here) but we still have remaining materials. I also hate how much we push down the garbage disposal every day. We want to use this waste and not just toss things into the sewer system or garbage pail.   (more)

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Electric Bill Savings   [2008-10-20 19:04:02] Like many folks, we wince as we open our electric bill each month. Our power comes from Florida Power and Light (FPL) and they were recently granted a 16% increase in rates (click here). With the cost of energy rising so fast, our next project for OK2BeGreen was to look for ways to reduce our energy consumption. Our next project needed to stay within the goals and ideals of OK2BeGreen. That is, we had to keep to a small budget and we had to be able to do it ourselves. We feel it is important that the net cost of any project be low or hopefully in our favor.   (more)

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Do It Yourself Mulch   [2008-09-21 07:25:36] In the past we have bagged all of the trimmings and placed them out for the garbage man. I know that Waste Management does a great job in utilizing waste, but something still just seemed wrong. We trim something natural and then just throw it away. Why? My wife and I were talking one night and somehow the conversion rolled to mulch. What if we could take our trees and make our own mulch? Instead of tossing our trees on the curb (not literally), we wondered if we could take the trimmings and use it for the mulch around the trees... complete recycling!   (more)

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