Going Green together- Solar and Green Updates.

It's been a while since I last updated our Green Journey. we have been doing well on all things. There are a few new green directions we want to go. but for now I will give my Updates.

As far as the solar goes, we are doing great. Here are the stats on our system to date.
Our Solar lifetime energy usage is;
6,989KwH (since we started with solar)

You've reduced your carbon footprint equivalent to:
*11,599 pounds of CO₂
*not driving 11,486 miles in a standard car.
*planting 129 seedlings grown for 10 years.

Our Power bill this month is under 150 dollars. I thought I would look at last years power bill for the same time period. The weather was about the same with a temp degree varying about 2 degrees.

October 2009 we used 2102 KwH with a daily usage of 65,7 KwH. Our bill was 325 dollars. We only used the power company's power source.
October 2010 we used 1010 KwH with a daily usage of 34.8 KwH. Our bill was 148 dollars. We used both our solar system and the power company's source.

This tells me that we have been able to handle about half of our power with our solar system. We have not changed our lifestyle at all. Mostly to see how the Solar system saved on our energy bills. We are coming up on our one year anniversary of the system. We started using it in November of 2009. At the One year mark we will start looking at other ways to conserve our energy. We want to get the bills down even more.

We are pleased so far with our solar system and feel it was a great decision for us.
Now to the Green Bags We are doing well, still a few plastic sneak in there. The family doesn't seem to carry their bags with them. I will have to work on that. We still use paper for some groceries. However I have really cut back on that amount. I think the store are doing better on the green bagging issue. Found that if you ask, sometimes the store does have a cloth option and sometime they do not charge! I like that part.
When we went to the Renaissance festival I did ask for the cloth bags and the merchants had them. I like that also.

I am now working on using products that are greener in packaging. A few things I can refill with product. This is great for not having to throw away Plastic bottles. This is my new Going green adventure.

So, how are you all doing with your Green things? Or are you just not there yet?