Summer can be a tough time for greenies. At least in my opinion. If you own, or rent, a place with a yard, then you are expected by your neighbors to keep it fairly neat.

Making a lawn beautiful isn’t usually the most “green” thing to do. There’s the mowing, weed-eating, watering and fertilizing.

Mowing and weed-eating:

Most mowers and weed-eaters are not environmentally-friendly. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA,) the emissions from small engines, like lawn mowers, include carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides.

The good news is, there are lower-energy options. If you have a small lawn, or lots of stamina, you can use a reel-mower. The only energy these guys use is man-power. For the weeds, you could use a scythe (though that might scare your neighbors!)

There are also electric options. We recently upgraded to an electric mower, and though the cord does tend to get in the way, this mower is so much lighter and easier to push over the lawn. We also have an electric weed-eater. While these do not guzzle gas, they are using electricity.

But there is one other option — plant groundcover. Once groundcover takes hold, it shouldn’t need to be mowed. You could make your yard ornamental and unconventionally beautiful with lots of work upfront, but little on the back-end.

Watering:

Once the dry, hot summer begins, many people put the sprinklers out to keep their grass lush and green. But that can be a big waste of water.

Instead, why not invest in a rain barrel? They collect rainwater from your roof, and even have a spigot that you can connect your hose to for watering. Here’s a great description of rain barrels and what they do.

Fertilizing:

Many fertilizers on the market are chockful of chemicals. There are several organic options, like animal manure and compost. I know some cities sell compost, but you can easily make your own organic compost.

Mother’s Day is just around the corner. Planning to just head to the card store and pick up a sappy card on the way to Sunday brunch? There are several green gift options out there.

You can make your mom a card with recyclable material. If you have a budding artist on your hands, fold a piece of artwork in half and write your message on the inside.

Breakfast in bed is always a nice option. You can make the breakfast yourself instead of heading out for fast food and avoid the extra packaging.

Instead of buying cut flowers, pick flowers from your garden, or buy your mom a plant.

Bake mom a sweet treat. No need to buy her a cake when you can make one that will mean so much more!

Want to do something a little different that would get Mom’s attention? Clean the house for her. Give her a break on her big day.  For advice on green cleaners, look here and here.

Want to really make Mom’s day? Set aside the day and spend it with her. Go for a walk, reminisce about old times, look through photo albums.

And the most important thing — green or not — that you can do for your mom? Tell her that you love her and appreciate how much she has done for you.

It can be hard to go green when living in an environment that you can’t control, such as a dorm.

Recently Ryan wrote in, “I am a college student living in a school dorm. I recycle all of the paper that comes through my notebooks, don’t drink bottled water, but I’m finding a lot of green tips nowadays are geared towards people in their own homes. Could you publish a post about how to be green in housing that you don’t even own? i.e. I don’t have control over AC/heat, hot water tanks, anything dealing with food, etc. I love the green movement but I feel like I could do more.”

Ryan, it’s great that you are thinking about this! And it’s great that you recycle and don’t drink bottled water. Those are good steps.

While you can’t control the heat or A/C, there are several things you can do, and most likely are doing to go green while living in a dorm.

You can recycle your paper, cans, bottles, cardboard boxes, etc. I would think most campuses would have easily accessible recycling on campus. If not, talk to your Resident Advisor (RA) and student services. With going green being on the tips of most tongues, it shouldn’t be hard to get some bins on campus.

While talking with your RA or student services, ask if you can post signs in common areas reminding people to turn off the television and lights when they leave the room.

Not on the first floor of your dorm? Take the stairs when possible. Encourage others to follow suit.

Since you are in a dorm, you are most likely on campus. That means walking to and from class, the cafeteria, bookstore, etc., should be very easy. Walking isn’t only great exercise, it makes a lot of sense on a college campus. Parking was a nightmare on my campus, and it really didn’t make sense to drive for 2 minutes and search for parking for 10.

If it’s rainy or snowing, opt for the shuttle system. Many larger schools have free bus shuttles running regularly.

Walking not really an option? Most campuses are bike friendly, with racks situated outside the bigger buildings.

When you do drive somewhere — a real store, movies, etc. — go with friends. This is also probably something you are already doing, but carpooling saves gas. And don’t forget your canvas bags!

If you use the cafeteria, or eat at your sorority/fraternity house, this is much better for the environment than picking up fast food for your meals. When eating in the cafeteria, you most likely aren’t using and throwing away plastic utensils, plastic wrappers, etc. My cafeteria had actual plates, cups and utensils that they washed after each use. This cuts down on the excess waste going into landfills. If you only do take-out from your cafeteria, consider eating in. You might meet new people, or at least find a quiet place to do some studying.

I did this more out of thrift than out of being environmentally conscious when I was at school, but look around for the biggest washer/dryers. The washers/dryers in my dorm were tiny, but the washers/dryers at the store about 5 minutes away were HUGE. I did not sort, just threw everything in, inserted my quarters and congratulated myself on saving some money.

Speaking of stores, look for used textbooks at the bookstore. When the semester is over, sell those books back. This not only saves you money, but also helps cut down on the paper used to print books. If possible, share books with people who are also taking your class (preferably at different times.)

If possible, take your laptop to class to take notes instead of using paper. 

Are there any other green tips for dorm dwellers that I’ve forgotten or didn’t think of?

There are lots of little actions that you can take around your house that will make a big difference, both for your pocketbook and for the earth.

One area where you can make a big difference is the way you use your dishwasher.

Think you shouldn’t be using your dishwasher? A study by the University of Bonn showed that dishwashers were more economical and ecological than hand washing, even for single-person households.

According to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACE3), you should only run full loads. The dishwasher will use the same amount of energy and water whether it’s washing 10 dishes or 30.

Pre-rinsing isn’t recommended either. Most newer dishwashers are powerful enough to do a thorough job without any help. If the dishes will be sitting for a while before you run the next cycle, then use cold water to do your rinsing.

ACE3 also suggests using the no-heat, air-dry feature if your dishwasher has that option.

I like to run our dishwasher in the evenings during the summer, so I’m not adding extra heat to our house.

Have any energy-saving tips when it comes to dishwashing?

Earth Day is fast approaching, and some major retailers are going to great lengths to show their greenness. The good news is that many of these lengths can benefit you!

Starting April 19th and running through the 22nd, Home Depot will give away 1 million CFL lightbulbs. The lightbulbs are available while supplies last.

Now through May 15th, you can design your own reuseable Kroger shopping bag. You will get a free canvas bag just for entering and will be entered to win up to $1,000. Kroger is a national grocery chain.

If you bring in three plastic bottles to any Disney Store, they will give you a free canvas tote bag.

Have you heard of any other cool freebies?

There are some areas of my life that I find very difficult to make green: I have terrible allergies, and my attempt at line drying our clothes last year was a complete failure and I’m having a difficult time teaching my 2-year-old to conserve energy (electricity, not his own.)

Some of his favorite activities include turning our bedroom light on and off, opening the fridge and staring at the contents (then demanding yogurt, but that’s not really a green problem) and wanting the television to be on even when he is not watching it.

Reasoning with him that turning on a light when the sunshine lights the room better is just not working. And if I turn the light off, he thinks it’s a really fun game of On/Off. The good news is that he has the concepts of on/off and open/shut down pat.

Now that the weather is finally warming up, I am able to steer him away from the TV with the lure of the outdoors. But I know rainy days will happen.

I’ve found several articles on how now is a great time to teach my son about gardening, recycling and re-using (he inherently knows how to re-use and re-imagine), but I didn’t find anything very helpful about teaching energy conservation to a toddler.

Any advice on teaching energy conservation to a very playful 2-year-old?

Grist, a well-known environmental website, is telling people to “Screw Earth Day!”

While that seems like an oxymoron, Grist has actually begun a campaign to urge us to make every day Earth Day.

Earth Day was first held on April 22, 1970. Some call it the birth of the modern environmental movement.

“Too many people tokenize Earth Day, using it as an excuse to hug a tree one day and ram it with their SUV the next,” said Chip Giller, founder and CEO of Grist in a press release. “We say, screw that. One day is for amateurs. We can do better.”

What do you think? Are you an amateur or pro when it comes to being green?