How green can you be?

I've been thinking a lot lately about life and where to pour my energy and how to better educate myself on worldly issues. I will admit that following the news has not been a priority in life but I can say that I've worked on conservation throughout most of my life. I work daily to educate my children on not wasting and helping out nature but this just isn't enough. I've been watching a little public television lately along with reading articles from Mother Earth (online). There is a trend towards using better energy and recycling however it's just not hitting home with a lot of people. So today I'm just asking, "Are you doing enough to help our children, our environment, our planet?" I know this seems random but as a mother I just can't help but think what kind of world am I putting my kids into? I was looking out my window today at all the garbage!!!!!!!!! It is garbage pick up day in our neighborhood and we are the only people who have contained our garbage to only one can, we are the only ones who recycle in our entire neighborhood!!! It's just so disappointing.... It truly makes my stomach turn when I see how wasteful most people are. People in this world think they are so deserving things.... With all those extra things comes extra garbage and energy waste. We need to start asking ourselves what we really need and not what we think we deserve. I am by far perfect when it comes to energy conservation but I'm working on it.

Here are a few simple ways to conserve....

• Buy used things. Nearly everything, even cloth diapers can be purchased used. Besides, that big hunk of plastic something we buy for our kid to play on will never biodegrade and will be played with less than a cardboard box.



• Sew items out of old unwanted things or if you can't sew, cut it up and use it for rags, kleenex, baby wipes



• Cloth diaper your babies. Not only is it much more cozy to put this on your babies bottom, but as we have discovered it is better for the lazy parent. From our experience they leak less (creating less laundry), and hold more!!!! Don't forget cloth wipes!



• Turn off the water!!! Adelyn even knows you don't need to turn it on full blast or run it while you brush your teeth. Do you wash your driveway?? SHAME ON YOU



• Unplug most everything you can.



• Rewear... Andon will just cristen the next item with drool anyways.



• Bake from scratch... Uses less packaging, requires less trips restaurants, tastes better, and provides more nutrition. It also heats up my home on a cool morning.



• Use garbage items and make crafts, rinse and use for picnics.



• Recycle and buy items in recycle able, reuseable containers

So I'll keep working on being better and I challenge you too to be better too. Just because energy is available, and we pay for it, doesn't mean we deserve to waste it.

PS My next post will have pictures... I promise!!!