Happy Earth Day!

Okay...so I have to admit...all I did in honor of Earth day was to pick up my free cuppa joe from Starbucks in my travel mug. Tough, I know. :) But I'm actually in the habit of using my travel mug at starbucks these days. So I figured I'd write about a few things I've done to become more green this YEAR.

Travel mug at starbucks. (as a bonus, it saves 10 cents!) I also buy the coffee we drink at home from a local roastery who uses only organic, fair trade beans.

We became a one car family! Bought a beautiful and environmentally friendly 2010 Honda Fit, which is on the top 10 list of "green" cars for last year. I cannot tell you how much I *love* this car! What a blessing. :) 

I've made better use of one of my favorite posessions: my set of baggu's. :) I've finally gotten in the habit of grabbing them on my way out the door, and I keep one in my glove box for random stops at the store. I sometimes even use them at Target. (They give you 10 cents off also!)

Cloth diapering...round 2...complete with homemade wipes. :)

I've switched most of the lotions/cleansers we use on our skin. I try to avoid sulfates and petroleum in particular. I am impressed with Avalons skin products...my skin has never looked happier. :) Body soap is bought from a local soap lady, and I make my own scrub.

I use white vinegar and baking soda to clean most things in my house. I also love these products (

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Karmalades?ref=pr_shop_more) for tougher jobs. They smell fabulous and work great!

Lastly, I've been striving to buy local, in season produce, and to cook/bake almost everything from scratch. This has been tricky in my tiny kitchen, but I've enjoyed the challenge. :) This has been better for our bodies, and better for the world since we aren't using fuel to transport our food from across the country.

Happy earth day!

possessed American

I am in a room, surrounded by things. In America, it is so easy to become overwhelmed and burdened by our possessions. This is such a problem, that there is an ongoing television series called “Hoarders”! And many of us are not SO far off from those featured on the show. Hopefully you aren’t so obsessed with keeping things that you can’t take your TRASH out! But look around your house and just think about this: How many winter scarves do you own? How many do you NEED? How many pairs of shoes? How many do you NEED? How many cookbooks? How many do you actually USE? How many mugs? (Oh I am guilty on this front!) How many do you require? (Come on Rebecca, when was the last time you served coffee to 20 people in glass mugs?!! LOL) I’ve spent so much time asking myself these tough questions, and paring down, and I STILL have...Way. Too. Much. Stuff.  It’s an ongoing struggle here. But this week, I’ve gotten fed up with our stuff, which caused me to reflect on some sermons I heard recently. Our former pastor preached through the book of Ecclesiastes last year and I've been listening to his wonderful sermon series! This book of the Bible discusses how brief, busy and wearisome life is, and recommends that we enjoy the simple things we have( love, work, and wealth) while we have them. This has caused me to look at my possessions differently. I've started to see the burden they can be. We live in a small apartment with 2 children, and having too many things has been causing me so much stress. I truly have to choose between my kids and my home. If I want our home to be remotely tidy, I sacrifice my children, and if I want to enjoy my kids, our house is a constant mess. Lately I have tried to spend more time with my children, which I believe is the best choice (a delightful, though not always easy one) but after only a few weeks, I’m drowning in things and the chaos they create. I have put a ton of effort into good storage, it’s just not enough! So lately I've realized that we have too much, and I need to be more radical in my fight against materialism. Until recently, if something had a use, it was "useful" and therefore kept. But now, I am beginning to see how even useful things can suck life from you. For example, I love my mugs. But when I have 20 of them, and all 20 end up getting used and put into the sink…INSTANT stress! This is ESPECIALLY true with children's toys. Sam has many bins of toys, and sometimes he just dumps them all out on the floor. Some of these toys have many pieces. If we don't pick up his room when he's done, he won't want to play in it anymore, because he can't even choose a toy to play with. It's TOO much visual stimuli! I don't blame him, because I feel the same way. I have so many clothes, most of which don't fit properly, yet I cling to them. I end up digging through mounds of clothes trying to find "the shirt that is comfortable and fits and isn't stained." :) I want to have maybe a weeks worth of clothing that works and nothing more. We have so much more than we need. So now that I've had these realizations and I feel that I "need" a certain object, I've come up with two questions that help me discern whether an item is going to benefit my life or waste it:


Is having this item WORTH the amount of Joe’s life it will take to pay for it?
Is owning this item WORTH the time and effort I will spend cleaning it up?


On a side note, I do believe in the importance of owning a moderate amount of things you enjoy for simply for their beauty! But that is a post for another day. :) I want to enjoy my life, and the things I own. I DON'T want to be possessed. :) I'm at the start of a journey to a place where our home is purged of excessive/ugly/burdensome things, and there is more space/time/energy to enjoy life together. One good thing that will be accomplished on this journey is donating many things to the thrift store for people who want to spend less. And eventually, I'd love it if we were able to give money we save to those who need BASIC things...Food. Clean water. Clothing. Shelter.  I'm excited, but there is such a long road ahead...

dirty dozen

Although I am crunchy in many ways, it might surprise you to know that I rarely buy organic. You see, my values sometimes war against one another. While I want to make a statement to the powers that be by buying local/organic/non GMO foods, I also firmly believe in being frugal and really can't afford the food I would like to eat. I am trying to figure out a happy medium. Here are some guidelines I've come up with for our family:

DAIRY: First of all, I try to use minimal dairy. I think we have an overabundance of it in our American diets. But we still go through about a gallon of milk a week and about a bag of shredded cheese. On the weeks I shop at Trader Joe's or MyOrganicMarket(MOMs) for $5.50 a gallon, I purchase organic milk. When I'm at Costco on the alternate weeks, I buy their milk, which is just over $3. I figure organic half the time is a step in the right direction, and it winds up costing as much as buying milk at a regular store every week. But as money becomes available, I do intend to buy more organic dairy products. And even when money is tight, I only buy dairy products which state that the cows are not treated with rBGH. It is inhumane to use on the animals, and may have negative effects on humans who consume them. Cows treated with this hormone require lots of antibiotics(for mastitis) which many believe can lead to antibiotic resistance in humans. This is a great little fact sheet, if you'd like to read more: http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/docs/SayNoToRBGH-fww07.pdf

MEAT: After realizing how badly animals are cared for, and how contaminated our meat is, I have become more determined to eat only organic meat. My ideal would be to buy from small local farms! But that is just not in the budget yet. So for now, I am cooking mostly vegetarian dishes, so that I can afford to buy organic chicken breasts. Again, cooking less expensive meals has allowed for the "splurge" of happier chickens. The taste is SO much better too! We almost never eat red meat or pork, and when we do, I buy "natural" but not organic. The only fish we eat right now is canned tuna, and that is not organic, but I'm not convinced that is as much of a problem.

PRODUCE: This year, I made huge efforts to buy only seasonal produce. That means for a large portion of the winter, we did not have fresh fruit. (I make an exception for bananas, cause really, when are they "in season"? and we can never by local for those either!) It was tough, but we saved money, didn't settle for eating something that tasted only slightly better than wax fruit would, and took better care of the planet. Raisins and applesauce saved the day! And I have to say, I've never been more excited about summer fruits and veggies! But back to the point, I always try to buy local (from farmers markets mostly), but not always organic. Even in the summer, organic produce is still pricey, so I need to be wise about what I purchase. Someone has come up with a list called the "dirty dozen", which recommends avoiding produce that is most potentially hazardous. So this summer, I intend to make an effort to buy this "dirty dozen" either organically, or from farmers who use minimal pesticides. I'm not going to buy any other organic produce, at least for now. Here's a cute little cheat sheet(made by Heidi Kenney) for you to tuck into your memory when you go shopping! (The left picture is the part you need to memorize if you're following my advice here)

 

Green = simple = happy :)

Being earth conscious has an indirect benefit--it requires you to live your life fairly simply. I've especially noticed this now that we have only one car. We recently got rid of both of our cars and bought a new car--a 2010 Honda FIT. It has great fuel economy, and is just an absolutely delightful car! Having only one car has forced me to be at home with our boys every day. At first I was terrified by the idea of being trapped in the house with two young children! But after a month of this I can say with confidence--This simple life is good for the environment, and good for us. I am able to be a better mother to my children (none of us could really handle running around as much as I did when we had a vehicle), delight more in God, and put more thought and time into being green. I use cloth diapers more often, bake bread and desserts, waste less food, buy less (since I'm rarely out shopping), am constantly repurposing things, recycle more faithfully, make my own body scrub and wipe solution, etc. And above all, it has just put a lot of things into perspective. By spending so much time in my home(without a tv), I realize more and more that I have everything here that I need! I have a great family, good food and a comfortable place to live. It is wonderful not to be bombarded with advertizing that lies to me and tells me, "You need this. If you had this, you'd be happy." I already am happy...or at least I was, until I saw ads that tell me otherwise! My simple, green life is teaching me to deny consumerism and appreciate what matters most. I've been enjoying my kids more. (an example: Today while Tru was napping, Sam and I threw on our wellies and headed into the rain to jump in some puddles! Simple fun!) I've invited more people into my home than I ever have. I'm more grateful and content with what I have, and therefore give more. I've read more and had clearer thoughts. I could go on, but you get the picture. Hope this inspires you to simplify your life! Green = simple = happy. The end. :)

cloth diapering, take two...(GoGreen review)

Somehow I managed to keep Sam in cloth diapers with only 12 bum genius pocket diapers. I somehow lost one (I don't even want to think about what became of it?!! EW.), so I had 11. This was not going to cut it now that I'm a busy mom of two! I heard about some new diapers (http://www.gogreenpocketdiapers.com/) from a friend on facebook. They looked really good, and were HALF the price of BG diapers, so I figured it was a worthy investment to buy a few more! I've been using them for the past 2 weeks or so. Here are my thoughts...

Pros: only $8 a piece, really cute patterns, soft, seem durable/well made, good elastic, snaps. These would be great for someone who wants to cloth diaper but is on a tight budget!

Cons: Not as sturdy as BG diapers, so I wouldn't recommend these if you want to use them again on future babies. Also, I've had some trouble with leakage. (even poo seems to come through to the outside fabric--something I've never experienced with BG) I think this may be partly due to the inserts being too small? I'm going to try stuffing them with prefolds, and I'll update you when I see how this goes.

some crunchy thoughts to munch on...

It's been forever since I posted...hope you haven't given up on me! I do intend to keep this blog, but I probably will only post on it when I have something I really want to say. As you may already know, we're expecting another baby in October, so our lives will be fuller and free time harder to come by!

I decided to pick just a very few "new years resolutions" for 2010, so that achieving them would be more reachable. I have to admit that though I strive to be "green", I have not been recycling during the past three years. The place we currently live does not collect recycling, so I have to drop it myself. It's taken me til now, but I finally purchased a recycling bin (actually, it's just a big trashcan). I found out where the local recycle center is, and plan to drop it off every saturday on my way to the farmers market. I haven't made my first trip yet...but I hope to this weekend. yay!

In light of recent changes (pregnancy and getting rid of some bookshelves that took up a lot of space in our home), I've been motivated to have less things. I've always been one to weed through things I don't appreciate and send them to new homes where they will find use and give joy. But now I am desperately craving a simpler life. I'm really striving to part with everything that we really don't need. There is probably someone out there who DOES need it, so if it doesn't go to friends, it's destined for craigslist or goodwill. The hardest part is Sams abundance of toys! We buy very few ourselves, but somehow still have tons. We have got to make space for his new brother/sister, and frankly, he doesn't even play with most of his toys anyway. So I've started talking to him about getting rid of things so that we can have room for new things. I want him to learn early on about reusing/recycling. I'm trying to come up with a policy for keeping toys to a minimum, but haven't gotten there yet. (Any ideas?) For now, I'll probably tell him that if we can get rid of a certain number of toys, we will get him another Thomas train. (Hooray for small, durable, collectible toys that your child loves!)

I've been encouraged to meet more earth conscious Christians lately! When I started cloth diapering, I felt like a freak...but now I know many others. I'm so glad to see these ideas are slowly infiltrating even the Christian culture.

As a hairstylist, I'm also very excited to see professional haircare lines all coming out with sulfate free products! Now granted, they may still have some potentially harmful chemicals, but this is a big step in the right direction. I'm a big fan of Aquage's sulfate free shampoos. On that note, I've been wanting to mention to you a useful website that I recently discovered: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ They rate tons of different cosmetic products on a safety scale of 1-10. I recently ran out of my beloved foundation, and decided to replace it with something a little safer. I searched through this site and found the best rated foundation made by a professional line (Stila) and read reviews of it online. I've been happy with my purchase, and glad to know it's a little less harmful to the environment and me!

I've been thinking (re-thinking--for the millionth time) my ideas on parenting...I'll try to post some of those thoughts soon.

I hope you are enjoying the glorious springtime!

my little tree-hugger

He makes his mama proud. =) Seriously though... Sam seems like quite the outdoorsy type. He adores feeding YaYa's goats, exploring fields with a stick, and feeling bugs. Now we just need to work on being able to cope with different temperatures/landscapes. Both the snow and the ocean totally freaked him out.

back to natur...al.

I've been lazy and have gotten away from posts which have anything to do with being "green"! Sadly, in the rush of life, I've forgotten to be earth-conscious much of the time. But whenever we let go of something, it's because we've chosen to invest our time in something else we deem more valuable. My "treasure" has been my son. Since I've had to work in recent months, all my extra energy has gone to striving to love/train him well. And really, part of the work of caring for the earth is raising children who are conscious. So here's my question for the day: How can we raise a "green" generation? I'd love to hear your thoughts or practical ideas!



I love the term I just used--"conscious." If you've seen the movie Wall-E you know about its depiction of the human race (many years in the future) as fat, helpless, blind followers of what they are told. Now that is an extreme picture, but if we allow ourselves to grow lazy, we are heading in that direction. I want to raise Sam to be conscious... of His God and eternal things....of the beauty and the chaos that exists in the world...of the needs and emotions of all those around him. I think it is in this context that he will care about preserving the earth in the right way. I hope he will do his part not only to stop destroying the world, but to help bring it(and its inhabitants) healing and to truly enjoy its beauty. It seems to me that focusing merely on avoiding plastic might keep us breathing longer, but it will not help us feel the wind caressing our faces or smell the sweet summer honeysuckle. And it will certainly not yield the joy of giving food, shelter, medical care, and the gospel of Christ to an orphan. So though I will continue to live in a "green" way, and hope Sam will learn from this example, it is not my focus in educating him. I will teach him by exploring the outdoors, and pausing to study the ants. And when he gets in conflicts with his little friends, I will talk with him about his emotions and then ask him to think about the pain he has caused his friend whom he loves. And throwing food on the floor is a problem, not just because it's gross and wasteful, but because it's ungrateful for generousity of God's provision. (If we don't need/want something we have, we should give it to someone who does. Recycle!) And I'll tell him that though mama would enjoy some new shoes, she won't buy them until her old ones fall apart, so that she can help those that have real needs, not just American ones! ;) And then, (here's the most important part) I actually have to live this way. I need a lot of prayer. :)

Update on CFL bulbs

After I posted the entry on ways to go green, someone alerted me to the hazards of CFL bulbs. I want to post the following link so that those of you considering that option can be aware. Apparently they contain mercury, so while there is no danger in using them, there is danger if they break! Check it out:

http://www.wcpo.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=7a72e757-be37-4f9e-a6c9-10cbd52e9445

Go green--for the environment and your pocket

Someone has asked me to give some ideas to busy moms for how to be green on a budget. So here goes:

1) Cloth diapering! I know that most of us feel uncomfortable thinking about this. But I promise it's not nearly as gross or difficult as it sounds. It isn't for everyone, but many of us can do it, but haven't considered it. And there are so many reasons to do so! A few examples:

• saves you money! Sams cloth nappies cost the same as 4 mo of disposables.
• helps the environment. Each child produces an average of 8-10,000 diapers before potty training. That's an incredible waste! And they aren't biodegradable.
• safer and more comfortable for baby.

Here's a link to sam's diapers, which we are very happy with. Cloth diapers have come a long way! Check this out:
http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=98&products_id=1279
2) Use Vinegar and baking soda for cleaning! Honestly, I've found that this works better than most commercial cleaners. Here are two pages of ideas:
http://www.vinegartips.com/cleaning/
http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/bakingsoda
3) recycle. Duh. =)
4) reusable bags for shopping. You can buy them for a buck at any grocery store these days. But if you want to invest, baggu's are wonderful (very convenient. I just keep them in a storage bag in my car):
http://baggubag.com/index.html
5) Use reusable glass storage containers for food where possible, and buy in bulk.
6) Use old cloths for cleaning instead of paper towels.
7) Switch to CFL (energy saving) light bulbs. They have a higher initial cost but save energy and money in the long run.
8) Buy local and organic when in season, and freeze. Also only buy organic on things that matter. Here's a list:
http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/54-55/organic
9) walk, bike or ride-share whenever possible.
10) buy a water purifier for your faucet instead of using bottled water. (I did some research and found that this is as safe or safer, and cuts way down on both cost and waste!)
Well, there are the ones that I've tried to impliment. =) If anyone would like me to go into further detail on any point, just let me know. Hope that encouraged you!

This is my new favorite pic of sam. We mostly use glass bottles, though I am not sure how long this will last, since he likes to throw things now.

confessions...

Today is an ideal day to create a blog which exists(in part) to promote earth consciousness: The sky is cloudless, the air is warm and fragrant, and the field outside my window is bursting with life. There are colors everywhere screaming to be noticed. My hope for this blog is to use it primarily to post little thoughts about my two great passions: Jesus Christ, and this beautiful world He came to redeem. I find that sadly, the church is typically the last place you find "green" people. I think those that go to extremes have made us afraid, and we run the other way. For a long time I was almost embarrassed to show my "earthy" side around Christians, for fear of disapproval. So this blog marks my "coming out of the closet" as it were. I'm Rebecca, and I'm a crunchy, Christian mama. And I hope you will join me...