Happy Earth Day

Ways I am more GREEN this year than last...

• Energy efficient light bulbs installed in a light fixture.

• Using a re-usuable water bottle instead of throw aways. Technically, I've been doing this for years, but I've been more conscious of it as of late. I am replacing my Nalgene for a Sigg though (awesome birthday present from friends) after all the controversy over them for the last few months. I will miss my cool red Nalgene though. We've been together for a long time...

• Using Dr. Bonner's as my soap. Sweet Almond is my favorite. You can use this stuff for everything.

• Using re-usable bags when I go shopping. Also, saying "no" to a bag when the item can easy be held or put in my purse or pocket. I really love the one ($1) I got at Target (no link, sorry) that zips up smaller and fits perfectly in my purse. I've used it lots and lots when I run into a store and forget my bags in the car (the car is a great place to keep them handy). This is such a simple thing that makes a BIG impact on the garbage we fill the earth with! I found a couple bags in my closet that are great for groceries. I also bought a re-usable bag at the grocery store for $1 and got another from a friend as a gift.
  

• Turning my computer at work and at home OFF when I'm not using it.

• Carpooling when I'm able.

• Recycling. A HUGE one that drove me crazy for a long time. We always recycled when I was growing up. Here at camp, I didn't until this year and I HATED trowing all that stuff in a landfill. It's a little more complicated living at camp.
  

• Recycling at camp too. It's embarrassing, the amount of things we throw away that could be recycled. Baby steps. Slow, but getting better at this.

• Buying produce at my local farmer's market instead of the grocery store. It helps support local farms (many are organic, too) and not produce from halfway across the world. Remember even if you buy an organic item from the grocery store, but it's grown in Chile, you are eating something that has been on a plane, truck, tractor (more pollution into the air) etc. Who knows all the stuff that's all over it by the time you put it in your mouth! Yuk! Our farmer's market is also MUCH cheaper than the grocery store. The bro and I would split a basket of tomatoes for dirt cheap and have fresh RIPE tomatoes from a farm down the road to enjoy. I'm so very excited that the market is open again for the season!

• Sweetening my tea with organic honey instead of white processed sugar.

• Using Seventh Generation to wash my dishes.

Now, I am by no means as green as I could be, but I am at least more conscious of it. Here's a couple things I want to work on by Earth Day next year....

• Make my own cleaning supplies for the bathroom and kitchen. I hate that I use things so full of chemicals.

• Try the oil method for washing my face. Again, with the chemicals all over my face every day.
  

• Replace ALL the light bulbs in my house with energy efficient ones.

• Buy more second-hand/thrifted.
  

• Try washing my hair with natural things like vinegar and baking soda. Have you ever read what is in your shampoo?!

• Freecycling stuff that I don't use or need anymore. Why be bogged down with all that stuff? And I come from a long line of clutter bugs. I don't want to just throw it away either. I am VERY guilty of dumping into a landfill somewhere.

• Replace plastic food containers with glass. Why take the chance that the plastic is as bad as they say it is?

• Be conscious of the companies that I use and their environmentalism and labor practices. I don't do this at all right now.

And my favorite blog that has helped me along my GREEN path with lots of great links and info is: Walk Slowly, Live Wildly. This post is one of my favorites. Her family is now traveling the country telling people about sustainable living. She has a food blog too.


Hope you all find something that you can change today to reduce your footprint on the Earth. God tells us in Genesis that He created and gave us the Earth to take care of and live off of. Are we taking care of it like He would want us to?


Listening to Pandora today. Create a Michael Buble channel and join in! It's the best one I've created so far. Free 30's/40's music all day. I've "thumbs up'ed" every song for the last hour. Dean Martin, Norah Jones, Ella, Nat King Cole, Harry Connick Jr, Sinatra. All the good stuff in one place for free!