Going Light Green

I know I am joining the green "revolution" rather late but I have always been reticent about joining in what is being touted as a "big deal" (or at least I try to be .... see post on bisphenol bottles). Anyway the past is the past. Now I am trying to figure out ways to go green without a complete overhaul. Thus light green.

Some thoughts for those who want to go "light green"
1. Avoid buying individual containers of anything (ie juice boxes) Buy a safe plastic sippy or a stainless steel option and just refill. This will save money as well since you "pay" more for individual packaging.
2. Cut down on paper napkins. Apparently doing this will save a whole bunch of trees, even if you cut down your consumption by one napkin a day. I have decided to use washcloths as napkins for the kiddies. It actually is gentler on their faces. Just dampen and clean that ketchup stain off their little chin.
3. Saving "graywater" for reuse. This is a cheapskate thing that I have been doing for a few months now. Since the kiddies have fallen in love with baths, I have been saving the bath water to use to flush the toilet. The combined amount is almost enough that we don't have to use the flush mechanism on the toilet.
4. There's the obvious "use compact fluorescent bulbs"
5. For my daily x cups of coffee, I still use a paper cup because no "normal" mug will fit under our office machine. I have made an effort though to reuse the same cup for the whole day rather than getting a fresh one each time.
6. When I do the wash, I wash everything in cold water. One good side effect - less shrinkage.


Some things that I am not ready to try yet:
1. Unplugging all electronics that are not in use. I would just hate losing all the clock times and the settings. Though I do unplug chargers.
2. Using a cloth (non-plastic) grocery bag. I need those grocery bags for my garbage. So I guess I do recycle them.
3. Signing up for Greendimes For a $20 fee, this service will stop 70-90% of the junk mail that comes into your homes. I have heard about this but have not been able to find any other reviews of it. So I am skeptical.

Of course, for more ideas on green living, there's treehugger

Any more tips are welcome.