People are starting to listen to messages about sustainability. Using cloth shopping bags, driving less, buying locally—positive behaviors are being adopted by growing numbers of people.

The Natural Step Monona members were asked to share “slightly (or not-so-slightly) non-traditional things they do to be more sustainable.” This is a tiny fraction of their responses!

Dianné Aldrich: I empty… half-full water glasses and the leftover teapot water into the houseplant watering can… I use leftover pasta cooking water for the compost bin.

Kate and Tom Heiber-Cobb: We take in our rain barrels with [the] lower portion still containing rain water and use it over the winter to water houseplants and seedlings… We have honed down our showers or complete bathing to every other or every three days.

Laura Paprocki: In the morning our bathroom water takes a long time to warm up so – I use the water that is not yet warm to flush the toilet (we don’t flush at night) or to water the plants!!

Mrs. Anonymous: Even when it’s cold, Mr. Anonymous urinates outside in our private backyard, saving water.

Aldrich: I buy all our shampoo, hand soap, liquid clothes detergent in bulk… using the same refill bottles for 5 years or more. I take egg cartons back to the… farmers market. I reuse junk mail envelopes for organizing yearly receipts.

John Disch: I save the drink trays/holders for coffee and when I must have takeout and I don’t have my own cups along…I don’t need to use a new holder.

Anonymous: I use reusable muslin bags to shop for produce and bulk items.

Sally Buffat: I have a hemp coffee filter which I’ve used for about a year now.

Heiber-Cobb: We wash out all of our plastic bags until they puncture or break down with time.

Anonymous: We wash and reuse aluminum foil and plastic wrap. We compost our bathroom trash – mostly hair and tissues.

Anonymous: I get the daily newspaper, which rain or shine, unfortunately, comes wrapped in long, blue plastic bags. I save these bags and give them to my friends with dogs—they are great for picking up their pets’ waste…

Buffat: We use cloth napkins… We take our own leftovers container to restaurants. When we go to community potlucks, we take our own dishes… place settings and plastic cups. We have canvas lunch bags for our kids… I pack their sandwiches in reusable “glad”-type boxes.

Heather Gates: I set my thermostat at 60 degrees, 55 at night. I dress in layers, wear gloves without fingertips, and sometimes I’ll wear a hat in the house. Bill McKibben calls it “heating with wool.”

At night I use a wind-up flashlight rather than turn on lights along my route through the house. It saves energy (and I tell myself winding is a good upper arm workout).

Anonymous: No chemical bleach or fabric softener. Treat stains with hydrogen peroxide. Use vinegar in the rinse cycle.

Kathy Trudell: I line-dry nearly all of my laundry… in the summer it is hung outside… In the winter I line dry it in the basement. The clothes dry and they add much needed humidity to our indoor winter air… [Ed. note: If your basement doesn’t need the humidity, you can point an oscillating fan at the laundry line.]

Penny and Ross DePaola: [on line drying] I… spray… wrinkles with water before hanging [clothes] to dry, resulting in smooth fabric that doesn’t have to be ironed.

We cut holes in our roof to let natural daylight into our house…it’s not as crazy as it sounds, we installed two Solatubes… The increase in the brightness of these areas is amazing! We light the interior of our garden shed with a light powered by a small solar panel.

Jean Schneider: I now cut up old t-shirts and other cotton to use for rags [instead of using paper towels].

DePaola: We buy birdseed [that] comes in large paper sacks sewn with string at each end…I save the string and put it out in the spring for the birds to use to build their nests.

We have chickens. Not only do we get fresh, organic eggs from them, but they spend time in our vegetable garden, eating bugs (they love Japanese beetles) and weeds and giving us fertilizer. [Note: The DePaola’s live in chicken-friendly Madison.]

Melissa Zietz: When pieces of paper are sent home from school, be they spelling tests, newsletters or notes from teachers, we re-use them as scrap paper or turn them into wrapping paper by decorating the blank side with colorful stamps or art work.

Kate Hankins: I think the Diva Cup is a great, yet under-reported alternative to disposable feminine products.

Gates: If I buy just a handful of things and a store clerk asks if I need a bag, I say, “No, thanks. That’s just more trash in the world,” hoping my words will be heard by others in line—a little “sustainability marketing.”