It's easy being green

I bought Cecelia a onsie that says that. It's got Kermit the frog on it. It's so cute and so true.
We have switched over to a semi green household over here. We do a ton to preserve the environment and actually enjoy it. *gasp*

I know people look at me funny and I have a feeling some even giggle about me behind my back. I did tell my brother that I do these things to save the earth for my kids and grandkids. :)

Some "green" things our family partakes in.
1) We recycle. Our community offers recycling centers that we have to take our recyclables to. Its not too far. Our garage is generally packed to the gills with plastics, papers, glasses, anything and everything. Though, I can honestly say with all the recycling we do, we have dropped our output of trash from 4 cans to 1!!

2) We cloth diaper. This helps immensely with the trash situation, too. :) Elle was in cloth from 16 months till potty trained at almost 3. The girls wear cloth dipes at night as Pull Ups. Cecelia has been in cloth since birth- all almost 9 months of her life with the exception of trips (but we do use Seventh Generation)

3) We use a lot of cloth and a TON less paper towel. I use paper towel these days for one thing....cat puke. Thats it. A roll lasts 6 months or more. We have a lot of cloth towels and microfiber towels. Drives my mom and sister in law nuts, but hey, what can I say? We also use cloth napkins instead of paper and I can honestly say that I have not bought a paper plate in years!

4) We collect rain water for plants. I have a large 55 gallon drum out to collect water for my flowers. So far so good. I just found out about a contraption to hook the barrel up to my downspouts which might be Jay's next project.

5) I have started line drying all of our clothes. Jay hooked me up with some lines in the basement and I am going to eventually buy a clotheline for the backyard (wihin a week or so) I want to see the difference in our electricity bills in the next few months. Hopefully its a good difference. Instead of running about 3 hours a day, my dryer is only working 20 minutes a day on the air fluff mode. LOVE IT!

6) We use reusable cloth grocery bags. I have a few chico bags, I have a few Meijer bags and Kroger bags and Babies R Us bags. IF I do need grocery bags at the store, I always ask for paper so that I have something to put my paper recyclables in. I love not having a ton of plastic bags hanging about.

7) We have switched to all those flourescent light bulbs (well all except the dimmer lights in thehouse cause Jay says they are REALLY expensive, but are still fairly new so when they come down in price, he will get some- considering we have 6 lighbulbs in our chandelier, that could get pricey)

8) We are really watching how much electricity and water we are using. We are teaching the kids to turn the water off when they are brushing their teeth and to turn lights off when they aren't in a room and to use natural light instead. :)

9) I have switched to all natural cleaners. I use a ton of vinegar and baking soda and have done away with all the chemical cleaners. I use a lot of Method products from Target and good old elbow grease.

10) When we reinsulate the house this fall, we are using the "green" option insulation. It's made from recycled paper. Insulation was supposed to be done already, but Jay ran out of time. We are doing what we can to make this house as green as we can, but we can only do so much. Wait until I get my dream house in the country- totally self sufficient and TOTALLY GREEN!

You know, it's not much. It's not a lot of extra work. I don't do it because I am cheap or frugal (okay well, maybe a little) but I do it because I genuinely care about the earth. So, for those of you who look at me like I have three heads, at least I can say that I tried. :)