It’s hard to imagine my life any differently than it is now. We all, however, need to make changes. We need to do less to harm the Earth. We need to do more things to conserve: energy, water, fuels.
How are you planning on celebrating Earth Day this year? Next year? Will you be any greener next year? Can you think of a couple of things you could put on your ‘green’ to do list?
Re-Use—Use cloth towels instead of paper towels, napkins, dare I say diapers again?, get the ‘cloth’ bags from your favorite store and use them for any time you need to carry something, buy re-usable lunch bags, containers, or thermoses, and find ways to re-use boxes, bags, or other containers that may enter your house.
Reduce—You may find that you can use less of certain products and still get the same results–perfume, laundry soap, dish soap, etc. Many companies over-state the amount needed (hey they are selling soap, right?) Buy in bulk if you know it is something you are going to use up (reduce the number of jars/bags purchased-and therefore less trash.)
Finally,
Recycle–we should have about 2 full bags of trash a week (or one large black bag) PLUS DIAPERS. However, since we dissect every item we throw away, we can really figure out what can be recycled and what can’t. We noticed a 50% decrease in trash when we started recycling, and there is a good chance we would be eligible to have pickup only every other week (if it was offered), since we have so little. The average American disposes 5 lbs of trash per day. No wonder our landfills are getting full. Some places even pay per can/bottle or per pound to recycle them for you.
So, what can you do this coming year to be greener by next Earth Day?
A great book I read a couple of years ago was Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash. It really helped me to consider where ALL of our waste goes.
Also, please check out the Real Diaper Association’s facts on the environmental impact of disposable diapers. I think it will surprise you. Meanwhile, I just sent my baby off with her daddy in an AppleCheeks raspberry sorbet diaper, it’s the first time she is wearing it, we’ll see how it goes. They are meeting some inspector or another out there to verify that our house really is as done as our contractor says, so he can get paid. I am going to fold laundry, and if I have time? Sort recyclables. I’d rather get them out of here than move them!
We’ve kind of gotten in the groove of automatically being green. Unless some big cleaning happens where we’re pulling stuff out of the closet, we only put our trash bin out every couple of weeks – and even then it’s not full. Our recycle bin goes out every week and it’s usually full. We also try not to drive if we don’t have to. My son is learning how to ride his bike in an urban environment, so sometime in the near future, he might be transporting himself!