In Celebration of Earth Day

So...I am way behind on this one. Earth day was last Tuesday after all. But I still wanted to share. We have really been trying to reduce, reuse & recycle more these last few years. Not only to help the planet but also to keep our home as healthy for our family as possible. So...here are some of the things we have done:

#1 - We hang our clothes on a clothes line as much as we possibly can! Not only does this save energy, it saves money.

#2 - I forgot to take a picture of this one but we use cloth diapers for our littlest one...and hang them to drive!

#3 - We compost! Pretty pitiful compost heap huh. We are going to be doing some work on it this summer...hopefully! We will see.

#4 - We farm. We raise chicken's for meat and eggs and turkey's for meat also. We also have a garden...which I do not have a picture of either...not this time of year.

#5 - We use all organic and natural products for cleaning.

#6 - We use the cold cycle for all our washing.

# 7 - We are doing a bunch of improvements to our home to cut the cost to heat it. New siding, new insulation,etc.

#8 - We use programable thermastat and keep it set to 60 degrees during the day and 50 degrees overnight.

#9 - We try to purchase as many organic products we can. This is from the sheets on our bed.

#10 - We recycle! Our town doesn't recycle much but Erik is starting to take misc. paper to work with him and we are going to try to recycle other things in Bangor regularly. We also donate a lot of things instead of throwing it away and use freecycle as well.

#11 - We buy in bulk. We are part of a food buying coop and are able to reduce packaging by buying in bulk. It also reduces our food costs!

#12 - Again, we buy as much as we can...including our food...organic. We also buy as much as we can locally. Cuts down on the use of fuels to trasport the items when you buy local. The local organic farm that I buy from sells most of her produce cheaper than conventional products at the store sell for.


There it all is. I know there is more...oh...like breastfeeding. And I am sure I will remember more later. So...let me know what you do to stay green.

EARTH HOUR - Join Please!

Take a minute to watch this video!


I learned about this in my Ideal Bite newsletter. On March 29 starting at 8 PM YOUR time, turn off your lights for on hour. Originating in Sydney, Australia last year, it has now gone global. Last year, it had the effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for an hour. Since this year's event is global, savings will be even bigger. Even landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Sears Tower, and the Sydney Opera House will dim during Earth Hour. If just 10,000 people turn off 10 lights tomorrow evening for just one hour, the amount of CO2 created by an average apartment in a whole year will be averted. That's a lot! So join the millions of people world wide and switch it all off for one hour. Check out their website! Earth Hour.

My Hope for the Future

I read this article and was hopeful...maybe this will be the way of our future. I try to be optimystic. Check it out and be the change you wish to see in the world!

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/12/3/105930/430

BPA Everywhere

I've been trying to be more aware of what products I use that contain BPA (Bisphenol-A), which is an endocrine-disrupting hormone that is contained in so many things we use daily. Do a search...it is kind of scary. But the most scary one I have found that I want to share with all of you parents out there (and those of you expecting) is that it is found in tons of baby products, including bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers & breast pumps. Take a look at this article for more info and links to lots of great information.

http://zrecs.blogspot.com/2007/11/z-report-bisphenol-in-baby-bottles-and.html

Thankfully we didn't use bottles with our boys...but we did use sippy cups and pacifiers. I also used a Medela Breast Pump so we were safe there also. We have been trying to replace most of our sippy cups but still have a few left and I will be trashing those after reading this and am hoping to find a substitute for pacifiers...as Bennett is definitely not ready to give it up yet.

BPA is also in the lining of almost all canned foods out there along with a lot of other sources. Another great reason to BUY LOCAL or at least buy items that are in glass and not cans. You can look online...there are a few organic companies that do not have BPA in the linings but not even many organics do. Makes it tough.

And for those of you interested in doing more to green your life check out this great yahoo group.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/goinggreenfamily/

Most of the people on this group are new to going green and are looking for ideas so lots of ideas being bounced around if you are looking for new ways yourself.

Going Green

OK...so we've already started to go green on a lot of things. But there are somany out there that have not. Just wanted to share a few things I've found recently that will hopefully convince lots of you that are not to go green now. Whether global warming is true or not reducing consumption (and in turn reducing waste) is important to the future of our planet. I mean check out this article about the floating island of TRASH that is TWICE THE SIZE OF TEXAS floating in the pacific. I really thought the person who told me about it was kidding and then I started searching online. They are not kidding...it is really there.

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=pacificpflotsam23&date=20060421&query=plastic+flotsam

We can change things though!

Check out this great video and website. It is 20 mins long but worth watching.

http://storyofstuff.com/

Talks about how the consumer system as it is can not last and things we need to do to change.

There are so many little changes we can make in our lives. Start with grocery shopping...something as little as bringing your own bags with you. Lots of stores even pay you to do it. But don't go out and buy new bags. Look around...you probably have TONS of bags at home that you don't use that could be used for groceries. Or pick some up at a thrift store. And that is the next easy step to take...stop buying everything new. Shop at thrift stores, goodwill, salvation army, flea markets, and want ads for used items that you might need. They will be just as good, cheaper and wont have to reuse the resources needed to create the new product. And the last easy step I will recommend is recycling. Every town recycles at least cans, glass, some plastics and newspaper. So, recycle what you can! Reduce, reuse, recycle!!

And if you want more ideas let me know.