So, we’ve been through 4 weeks of some pretty sustainable living. We tried not to make things too tough… and went for the changes we thought we’d be able to stick with.

We turned off the Air Conditioning… The weather was warm, but not too bad.. It was actually very comfortable to just open up all of the windows and let the fresh air flow through the house. The ceiling fans helped keep the air circulating and made it feel much cooler in the house. For the rooms that don’t have a ceiling fan, i.e. the Kitchen… We put a tower fan in the corner of the room and set it to oscillate. If you put it in front of a window while it’s cool outside, it almost acts like an air conditioner, bringing in all of the cool air! I love this time of year!

We switched more of our lightbulbs to CFLs, and even some to LEDs! Our Ceiling fan lights are all CFL bulbs, as well as the lights in the bathroom. The recessed lighting in my kitchen are LED bulbs. They are a little more expensive, but they save so much energy! They do offer a much softer light, so if you need a higher amount of light, I’d go for the CFL light bulbs… But if you’re ok with a more ambient light, go for the LEDs…I love them!

We’ve  been making sure the dishwasher is completely full before setting it to run, and for items that don’t fit in the dishwasher, I make sure they get hand washed… but instead of filling up the sink to wash, I take the biggest bowl, pot, pan, whatever, and fill that instead. It saves a lot of water, and soap! I absolutely love the scent of the new Seventh Generation dish soaps.. and I love that they’re made with essential oils instead of  chemically created scents.

Although it’s not pictured in my video, we also recycle A LOT more. We were given this tiny blue bin from the garbage company to use for recycling. We went and bought a large garbage can to fill with our recyclables. We have been able to save so much from just going into the landfill! My girls are even sorting things as wek toss them out! They’ve learned to check the bottom of plastic containers for the recycle symbol. I love it!

There are so many great ideas for living greener… I hope some of our ideas help you start on your way to living greener! These changes that we’ve made are something we’re going to keep up…  Our green journey doesn’t end here with this campaign… I can’t wait to see what we come up with next!

Join me, along with my fellow Walmart Moms, Sheena of Sophistishe, Jennae of Green Your Décor, Jenn Fowler of Frugal Upstate, and Denise of Wholesome Mommy, on our four week journey to live a more sustainable lifestyle in the Seventh Generation/Walmart sustainability challenge.

*Disclosure: I am a participant in the Walmart Moms (http://www.walmart.com/walmartmoms) program. Seventh Generation( http://www.seventhgeneration.com/) has provided me with products.  Walmart has provided me with compensation to blog about attempting a more sustainable household for a month. Participation in this program is voluntary. All opinions are my own.