Sustainable, Eco, Earthship, etc.

[Diana]

Sounds expensive. 

Agree. Or to keep it inexpensive, you gotta DIY. I'm doing little projects, and a lot of research. 

I'm interested in a stand-alone green wall to shade the hottest side of my house -- not much expense if DIY and recycle/upcycle materials. But trying to start a plant in this heat/drought is not ideal. 

Just doing little things. Leaving water out for the critters, too.

It's true that a lot of building and upgrading to "green" is expensive. Eventually I would love to build a well-thought-out "green" dwelling.

In the meantime, yes, little things can be done on a house and property, and little-by-little upgrades such as buying solar panels one at a time and installing them yourself, sealing cracks around window frames to conserve energy, installing rain gutters funneled to a container(s) to capture rain water, planting trees (of course this would be on your own property unless the owner okayed it). There are many things that can be done by yourself without spending a lot of money. Buying products that are made of recycled materials is usually quite a bit more than regular products (such as toilet paper), but fitting this into a budget is easy as you make adjustments with other things, and maybe you don't need something else and that money goes to better products elsewhere.

Being ecologically aware is really a lifestyle. There are always choices, and whatever choices there are, you can choose the one least harmful to self and the environment as far as can be discerned. You can make things yourself—for example, I have made my own toothpaste (I just made it up with baking soda, coconut oil, and essential oils of peppermint and tea tree but there are probably better recipes on the internet). If you have a fireplace collect dead branches for fuel. Take advantage of indigenous wild foods such as berries in the summer, and in my case in the desert one can pick cactus fruits and there are tree pods such as mesquite. It's possible to grow vegetables in pots if you don't have a greenhouse or are in an area where an outdoor garden works. My friend is building a greenhouse right now, and this can be done even with scrap parts. 

Another thing I have always done is to maintain what I have instead of using it up and buying new often. It's not that I don't ever buy new things, but it is a habit to really care for what I have, with respect and attention. It does take more time than just using things up, but if one isn't watching TV and the like, that time is there. 

And the critters—thank you InigoSalvia for watering them. I do as well including my tiny pond which at the moment has hundreds of polliwogs in it , and I have other neighbors who do also. Living in harmony with the Earth and plants and animals is part of this whole idea. Not using pesticides on plants and not exterminating "pests" is a good start. For example, there are rattlesnakes where I live in the summer, and it is really useless to kill them as they are territorial and another one will come along if you get rid of one; in addition, because most people are distanced from nature, they fear rattlesnakes without really understanding them—they are poisonous of course but they are not aggressive and they always warn you with the rattle—unless you step on one or corner it they really are not dangerous. I don't have children to worry about, but if I did, I would not live in the desert—I would want a more conducive environment for them to play outdoors in. There are people in my area who hate scorpions with vehemence, and kill them with glee. This attitude derives from the separation humanity has created between themselves and the natural world. One can exist in harmony with the natural world without killing or harming other lifeforms. I have seen poisoned coyotes come to my property to die, and it is heartbreaking.

I don't mean to insult anyone with the above obvious suggestions as though you can't think of them yourself, I just wanted to point out that this is not a black-and-white issue, where either you can afford the whole shebang or you give it up due to lack of funds or time. Each little thing counts toward building a kinder and more accountable existence.