On Going Green...

I've been struggling lately with keeping things in our lives "green" and earth friendly. I still recycle every last piece of paper, plastic, cardboard, and anything else I think may be recyclable, much to Brent's dismay. Our recycling bin is always full and ready for pickup a week before the truck will be here, I really wish they came weekly to our house instead of bi-weekly... we never fill our garbage, but recycling? It's always full. I also have been doing my best to use less of almost everything, less detergent in the laundry, less toilet paper, less paper towels, less driving to save gas, less energy by keeping the house dark as late as possible and turning the heat way down, less of almost everything if I can get by without it. We've put a low flow system in the toilet, with a two flush option for #1 and #2... we use only low or zero VOC paint when doing room makeovers, we use the energy friendly lightbulbs, we have smart strip power strips for the big things, so were making an effort... I just feel like we could be doing more, so, were going to do more!

My next big green thing that I was hoping to do was cloth diaper our baby girl. Unfortunately, her little bum has just been too small to fit in any of the cloth I had bought, so we've been using sposies... ick. We used up the bag that the hospital sent home with us, and a gift bag of huggies that was sent home also, finally when those were gone, we tried cloth... but it was still too bulky. Stella's little hips seemed to be pushed so far apart with the prefolds and wraps we have, the only thing that fit her were the G-diapers, which we have 2 of, and 6 cloth inserts for. After a couple of failed attempts (her legs turning purple freaked me out a bit!), Brent and I finally realized we were putting them on backwards... parenting fail. So we've been using the G-diapers all day today, and so far they are wonderful! We've also been using Earth's Best Organic diapers and wipes (love the wipes actually, I've even used them on my face to remove makeup... super gentle and fresh smelling and feeling!) off and on when needed, so at least those are cholorine and chemical free, biodegradable, and more earth friendly than regular pampers or huggies. I hate that I didn't think to buy newborn cloth... but, she's growing SO fast, I would only have used them for a month then she would be done with them. So, we'll sacrifice going completely cloth for now, Hopefully the 3 packs of disposable diapers we've had to use will be forgiven by the environment.

I have so many other things floating around in my head to help us as a family go green. Today I am excited about one particular new adventure were venturing into... Organically grown local produce! I signed us up today to receive weekly delivery's of fresh fruits and veggies, and I am so excited for it! Every Tuesday morning we will wake up to find a new box of the freshest produce available, sitting on our front porch just waiting to be enjoyed! I signed us up with Brown Box Organics, a local organic food delivery company for the treasure valley, and for $22 a week, we will be getting all of this:

1.5 lb.	Bananas, Ripe	St
1 bn.	Carrots, bunched with top	St
1 ea.	Cauliflower, White (Sm)	St
1 lb..	Kiwifruit (CA)	St
1 Ea.	Lettuce, Green Leaf	St
1 lb.	Onions, Yellow	St
1.5 lb.	Pears, D'Anjou	St
1 1/2 lb.	Peas, Snap	St
1.5 1 lb.	Yams, Garnet

Thats a ton of fruits and veggies!!! pounds!! Brent and I are kinda wondering what we'll do with all of it, so tomorrow i'll be spending some time flipping through my many amazing cookbooks to find some great ideas of things to make this week, I'm so excited! and, If anyone has any ideas on things to make with a full pound of kiwi's? please, let me know!

Part of the reason I signed us up is because I'm tired of spending money on produce at the grocery store that has been treated with who knows what and has been sitting for who knows how long... then when I go to use it a day later, it's molding or brown or just icky looking... I have a thing with not using bad produce. The other reason was because the $22 a week is less than the $30 a week I normally spend on said icky produce... and I don't have to go to the store to pick it out! i'll still have to make a weekly trip for milk and eggs... unless we decide to have that delivered also, which we just might in the future... I've got to check costs on it.

Another thing were looking into starting this season? Composting! With all of the yummy fruits and veggies we'll start receiving soon, we will have a ton more peels, rinds, and cores to dispose of. So, why not start composting? We could use the amazingly rich soil it creates to help boost our garden soil... which is pretty much the worst dirt imaginable to plant things in... it yields short squat carrots, and wont grow peas, and lets wild mint take over every other plant we grow. It's good for herbs though... we had rosemary growing until December! So, I think next weekend we'll head out to build a compost bin, I've got a lot of research to do though, this is truly one thing I've never really looked into.

So, hopefully soon our house will be even more green, and I'll be sure to keep updating on our adventures.