Earth Day 2012

Via

A few years ago I did an Earth Day post in which I made five new/continuing commitments to green living. Those commitments were:

1. Take cloth bags to the grocery.
2. Order new recycle bin
3. Recycle in said bin
4. Purchase food items in less packaging and start purchasing more fresh items to cook from scratch
5. Use my steamer cleaner to clean my bathrooms instead the chemical products I keep buying.

I'm happy to say that I'm doing all five of them!! 

•  I have amassed a collection of 10-12 cloth bags and they go with me to every store I shop at, not just the grocery. And for those who haven't switch yet, here's a few great reasons to get going...

• Cloth bags hold twice (if not more) as many items as a plastic bag.
• They fit over your shoulder, like a purse, making carrying those bag from your car/walk to your house a cinch. 
• They are machine-washable, keeping your bacteria worries at bay. 
• They double as great overnight bags for kid's sleepovers without the worry that cute bags might get ruined (by boys who are well...all boy).

• I'm proud to say that my city is a now a "Pay as you Throw" city. It took the hard work of a group of new and young city commissioners, and despite the very angry protests of the older generation, the ordinance passed and became effective in January of this year. As a result, every household was given a 32 gallon trash can for free, and any size recycle can for free. Larger trash cans have a monthly fee, but recycling doesn't...therefore it encourages even the most reluctant recycler to start. No one wants to pay more more money out that necessary in this kind of economy. My can is 96 gallons and it's usually full before my trash can is. LOVE!
• And by the above statement, it's safe to say that I'm 100% recycling. My kids are even in on it. I put my youngest in charge of checking all the trashcans for recycables, before the oldest bags up all the trash for trash day. It's an excellent system, and teaches them to be responsible at the same time. They've even changed their lingo...using the word "recycle" instead of "trash" in almost every case. 
• Packaged food is a necessary evil. As a full-time working mom, it's really hard to buy everything fresh and cook from scratch. And in actuality, I'm luckily to cook more than 2-3 times a week. So, in order to combat my time crunch, I've learned to use my crockpot to cook freshly, to buy in bulk, and to avoid freezer meals as much as possible. 
• Cleaning with a steam cleaner is a serious pain in the butt. Not gonna lie about that one, but I've also switched to "green" cleaning products. Who knew that vinegar had so many uses?!?  More blog posts to come on that (hopefully in the near future). 

So, as you see, we've changed our lifestyle and it didn't take much.  I've also basically forced everyone around me to adopt the same habits and slowly, I see things looking better and better. It only take one mindset to change and then for that mindset to spread the thought pattern.

What are my green goals for the next year or two?  Most of them are adjustments to my home, aka... the expensive ones. :(

• Replace my windows and doors for less drafty ones
• Re-insulate my attic
• Clean out and insulate the crawl space
• Replace my roof.
• Install better, more efficient lighting fixtures
• Install better, more efficient water faucets and toilets
• Purchase energy efficient kitchen appliances

Yeah...that's some major bucks right there and it may take me way longer than a year or two...but at least they are on my list. What are some of your green goals this year?