>Happy Earth Day week! I am going to admit the idea for this post came from Ana over at Finding Bonggamom who had a great post on greening her family’s lifestyle last week. She talks about 5 changes her family has made over the years to a more eco-friendly greener lifestyle. Ana also mentions 5 things that they could be doing better or more consistently. I liked her blog post so much that I’m going to discuss the same topic here all week long. After all, isn’t imitation the highest form of flattery?! Giving full credit to Bonggamom of course.
Since Charlie was born, I have become more aware of the environment & all the damage done to it on a regular basis. I am not a tree-hugger by any means but God does tell us to take care of what He has given us stewardship of and one of those things is His creation – the planet Earth. There are tons of simple, easy, cheaper ways of doing everyday activities that can help our environment, both locally & worldwide. I have already taken care of carbon offsets for my blog by joining the “My Blog is Carbon Neutral” campaign. You can read about having a tree planted on Arbor Day in my post about the program earlier this month.
What else have I done to help our family be more enviromentally conscience aware & eco-friendly?
Recycling – I must admit our city makes it easy. We have recycling as part of our weekly trash pickup. Even Charlie gets into recycling & reminds me to put plastics, paper, etc in the appropriate bins. We recycle alot of stuff; not to just help out the enviroment but as fundraiser for our local schools. For example, the elementary school Charlie will be going to in the fall has 2 Paper Retriever bins. All of our paper trash (and it’s a lot) goes into separate bins just for the school. Paper Retriever is paying DOUBLE to celebrate Earth Day in April. Consider checking out a local school to see if they participate in the program. Help the Earth as well as your local schools. Trust me, the public school systems need money!
We also recycle inkjet printer cartridges for Charlie’s current preschool. Southminster just started participating in Terracycle’s Drink Pouch Brigade too. They are collecting CapriSun & KoolAid drink pouches. If you think about it, how many kids bring those with their lunches every day? Or soccer games? The schools turn in the pouches for money. Same thing with Box Tops & many other companies. So you can help the Earth & your local schools or other organizations. How cool is that?
Buying eco-friendly, natural household products – This is something I could be better at. I do not pay that much attention to companies that are eco-friendly or provide less packaging, etc. I have been slowly switching some of my household cleaning products to eco-friendly ones. I am hesitant to switch from my tried & true brands to an unknown that might not work as well. I rely on friend’s experiences & suggestions for cleaning products that are less harmful to me, my family & the enviroment. Cost is a factor for me too although green products are becoming less expensive over time.
Charlie is currently in the “helping” phase so I am teaching him how to clean the bathrooms. Since Charlie is only 5, the thought of him handling toxic cleaning solutions scares me. He is currently squirting down the countertops, mirror, tub, & outside of the toilet with a vinegar & water solution. Honestly, it cleans everything quite well. The germ-a-phobe in me goes back over the toilet with more stringent cleaners. We have extremely hard water so it takes a stronger cleaner for the tub too. I have yet to find a eco-friendly non-toxic heavy duty scrubbing cleaner I like. I am open to suggestions so feel free to tell me what you have discovered you like & use.
More to come tomorrow….
Elizabeth
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