Well... let me begin by telling you who Sara Snow is- she is this super cute chick on the discovery health channel (my fave. channel) who is waaayyy into reducing our waste, recycling and going organic. For awhile I was being pretty lazy (well I still am- my dad calls me a 2 toed sloth- they're the laziest animals in the jungle apparently) and throwing away my cans/glass/plastic and not really paying much attention to my waste. If you remember my infamous Earth Day this year, you're probably thinking "yeah right Ashley. " (I threw a poop diaper out the window on Earth day- horrible bleccchhh.) But really- in the past couple of months I've made such HUGE improvements with our house, our tummies and our world! Woah that sounds freaking deep.... okay maybe I haven't done a whole lot to contribute to the bettering of this world, but I feel like I am doing a LOT more and I am teaching Ryan in the process. I have a couple of people to thank before I continue telling you how I have gone green. Angela, thanks for telling me about your kick a$$ recycling habits- you really inspired some change in me! Julie- you're so green you are practically kermit the frog... Cloth diapering little Griff and making all of his foods by hand- very inspirational! So thanks to you two gals!
Okay here is my "go green" list of things I've done:
I bought up a few of those giant tote bags from Whole foods which I now use RELIGIOUSLY with everything. Obviously I use them at the grocery stores, but I even take them to the mall! Instead of getting bags from gymboree, gap, etc. I just stick my purchases in my totes.
I've been very conscious of the foods we've been eating lately. We have cut our "going out" down to about 2xs a week- which may still seem like a lot, but compared to how much we were eating out... WOAHHHH I won't even go there. Our family is now happily and healthily about 80% organic I'd say. Our breads, meats, fruits, veggies, cheeses, yogurts, etc. are all organic. The reason that we're only 80% is because we still are eating out those 2 nights and both Ryan and I still drink diet pop... Maeve is like 95% organic- we do let her eat a little off of our plates when we go out for dinner (I let her suck on fries- yucccccck but she loves them) But of course her baby food is organic (it doesn't get any easier than that! You just spend about 60 cents more and your child can eat food free of pesticides.) For example, last night I made this noodle bake thing- it had ORGANIC pasta and ORGANIC sauce and ORGANIC cheese... I cut up the noodles and let Maeve have a bit. She loved it :) Oh also, we discovered that there is ORGANIC formula! Talk about THRILLING! :)
I have been more aware of what products are made out of- I had no idea that you could buy organic clothing, but you can! Now this one, I'm not like totally green- I'm more a shade of yellow... or probably orange.... but anyways I've been snatching up the organic body suits for babies left and right. Maeve wears them under her stuff all the time. She also owns quite a few pairs of organic pjs... and a few organic toys. Did you all know that this stuff even existed? I didn't! Its CRAZY how organic you can go!
We are recycling... (sounds simple but this is the first time in a really long time that I've done it!) I have yet to set up a recycling "center" (which I plan to do with Tupperware bins) but we definitely have been sorting our plastics, glass and aluminum.
This next one is a HUGE one for me- (I swear I used to be the most wasteful person ever!) I have always, ALWAYS kept water running while I do the dishes, brush my teeth, etc. But I have been making quite the effort to turn it off while I am not DIRECTLY using it... sounds so simple but it was a habit that I'd had for decades! :) Oh, also Maeve and I shower together, which I thought was more out of convenience (and it really is) but it is also saving tons of water. We only use our shower 2xs a day. Ryan takes a shower by himself in the morning, then I take a bath with Maeve either in the mornings or at night.
Carpooling has also been on my green list. I try and catch rides with my momma whenever I can. Not just to save gas, but also for convenience! Also, I drive a gas guzzling jeep... I am really hoping that in the future we can get a hybrid. I do insist on driving an SUV just because of the amount of room you have... so maybe one day we'll have the bacon to get a hybrid. That would be awesome.
You guys are going to think I've just completely lost it, but I've been collecting rain in watering cans to water my indoor plants... its just such a simple, easy, green thing to do :)
Okay last but not least, (this one is more like a confession more than anything else!) I have STOPPED littering! My husband used to get on me so bad about it because I'd chuck anything and everything out the windows... I thought "Heck it gives those prisoners something to do..." But in reality, its just plain lazy...
Well thats about it for me! We still have such a ways to go to get where I want to be- I'd love to be 90% organic (that 10% being left out for special occasions) and I would like to be way more conscious of where my stuff is coming from and what its made out of- stuff, meaning toys, clothes, etc. All the green things that we're doing are really little steps, but I'm hoping that they will lead to leaps if we keep up with it. Jules, keep working on me with the cloth diapering- I'm about an inch away from doing it! One, for the cost, two, because of the amount of diapers I throw away... I am constantly thinking of ways to preserve things and how to make my family a healthier and happier addition to this world. Below are a couple of websites that I LOVE and check out all the time... enjoy and GO GREEN!!!!!
Sara SNOW!!! She has AWESOME dinner ideas and lots of easy ways to reduce and reuse. http://health.discovery.com/fansites/sara-snow/sara-snow.html
AWESOME site for families with babies... Its where I buy Maeve her organic toys (so far we have a few wooden puzzles) http://www.ourgreenhouse.com/foundations/store/shopcart.asp
2 comments:
Good for you! Can't say I'm that good yet, but I try too! Ri ate all organic baby food and I made it all homemade, but now that she eats with us it's not quite as much. Thanks for the inspiration though :), I'm going to try to do better!
About having two little ones-Lincoln is such a great baby that it has made things easier than I thought. Although I went out today with them by myself and it was a disaster (see blog for details:)!). I told Ty if all my babies were as good as Lincoln I'd have 10! Riley is in a bit of a "rebelious" stage right now-- getting her own personality, attitude and opinion. It was easier when she didn't have that!! And I definitly don't feel like I could do it alone :)!
You are the bomb Ash! I am such a nerd. I also make my own cleaning products, haha. I just use vinegar and water on almost everything. I use a lot of baking soda too :) I will find you a site that has cleaning recipes :)
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