All Day, Every Day

Happy Earth Day!  I love Earth Day.  After Christmas and St. Patrick's Day, it's my favorite holiday (I also love that Hallmark hasn't ruined it the way they have every other holiday...yet).  I try to live as though every day is Earth Day, but I know that's not the case for everyone.  So I'm grateful that on this one day every year, more people are likely to recycle or otherwise reduce their consumption.  We gotta start somewhere.

I am not, by any means, the greenest person out there.  I am a full-fledged liberal hippie treehugger, but I could be greener.  You're shocked.  I can see it on your face.  But really, there are a lot of things I don't do, but could do, to make my world a deeper shade of green.  I could take public transportation, but I love my car (I do ride my bike when it's an option).  I could reduce my food waste by composting (and it's something currently on my ever-expanding to-do list).  I could threaten BD with leaving if he doesn't fully switch to cloth diapers...but I really don't want to leave.  I love our house.

I'm always exploring ways to be a more ecologically responsible citizen.  I love reading others' blogs (like this one) to gain insight and ideas on ways to green up my family even further.  Here are some of the things we do in our (mostly) happy abode:

Recycle.  Obviously.  We're extremely fortunate to live in a neighborhood that participates in the local waste management company's pilot recycling program.  Rather than sorting our recyclables, it all goes in one large bin that is collected every Saturday.  It's awesome.  This ease of use gets BD to recycle and nothing makes a Groovy Mama happier than when BD participates in the green life.  Every scrap of paper, plastic, aluminum and glass goes in that bin.  Before we bought our house, we lived in a condo with no recycling program.  It took a lot of extra effort on my part, but any plastic or aluminum we discarded went to Whole Foods or Fresh & Easy, and I took glass and paper to my parents' house or my brother's.  I get rather eco-angry when people tell me "Oh, I can't recycle.  There's no bins in my neighborhood."  Dude, make the effort.  It's easy.  Collect your recyclables in your reusable shopping bags, and when it's time to go buy groceries, take it with you.  Easy.

Park it.  How many minutes do you spend sitting in the drive-through, waiting for your coffee?  Park your car, take a stroll, and bring your reusable mug inside to Saxbys (my preference over Starbucks).  Your gas mileage will improve and the Earth will breathe a little easier.

Eat organic.  Organic farming is better for all of the Earth's organisms.  No chemicals are used in organic farming, which translates to fewer chemicals in the soil, the air, the water, and your food.

Cloth diaper your precious baby.  I'm still new to the cloth diapering game, but I can't express how much I love it.  I really love that I've reduced our disposable diaper consumption by a little over 50%.  I don't know if BD will ever work with me on that.  Every so often, I catch a glimmer of hope.  Last week, he put Babydoll in cloth without any prompt from me.  Then he went and bought more Seventh Generation disposables.  Sigh.

Shut it down.  When you're not using your laptop, turn it off.  After your toaster has perfectly browned your Pop Tarts, unplug it.  Not only will you save on your power bill, you'll extend the life of your appliances.

Stay hydrated while staying green.  We bought an Energy Star rated refrigerator with a built-in water filter that only has to be changed once a year.  Life changing!  I drink a LOT of water, and after I kicked the plastic bottle habit, I bought a Pur pitcher (cheaper than Brita, just as effective).  I hated throwing away those filters every couple of months, though.  I still think the Pur pitcher is a better alternative to disposable plastic water bottles.  Skip any plastic reusable bottles, please.  Stainless steel and glass are safer options.

Clean your home the toxin-free way by using only vinegar and baking soda.  Until you've tried this powerful combo, you have no idea how effective they are at cleaning EVERYTHING in your home.  In addition to how awesomely clean your cottage will be, your wallet will be heftier too.  White distilled vinegar and baking soda are CHEAP.  So cheap.  And did I mention effective?

These are just some of the many things I do on a daily basis, but it's just the tip of the (melting) iceberg.  The thing about green living is that if you make a change here and there, and stick with it, you make a huge global impact.  Reducing your carbon footprint is not just another clever and trendy advertising idea.  When someone asks me "What do you do to be green?", it kind of stumps me.  So much of what I do or practice is just part of my normal, everday existence.  My advice is to make one change per week, or per month - stick with it and it becomes a habit.  Your habits become your children's habits.  What better way to influence your kids than by example?

I'd love to hear what you do to be green.  Leave me a comment or send me an email.