Eddie has been out of town this week, and last night I decided to distract the kids from not having Daddy home at dinnertime by taking them out for fast food. After they were done eating, I started to round up all of the garbage. By the time I was done tossing chicken boxes and styrofoam cups away, our previously empty can was half full. I've been making an attempt to be a little bit greener lately, and it was shocking to me that if we eat fast food twice a week (which isn't unheard of around here) we'd fill up an entire garbage bag with wrappers and packaging from those meals.
I've started realizing lately that with a big house and four kids, we could be doing a lot more to lessen our family's impact on the environment. I know that I often (self-deprecatingly, I hope) joke that I'm just the average minivan-driving American soccer mom, but I want to be a soccer mom with a social conscience.
Here are a few things we're currently doing to be environmentally-friendly:
* Recycling cans, paper and magazines
* Using canvas bags at the grocery store
* Packing the kids' lunches with reusable containers instead of plastic/paper bags
* Turning off the car while waiting in the carpool line
* Letting us sweat a little (turning the air conditioning up to 78 or 80)
* Washing laundry in cold water
* Replacing old-school cleaning products (as they run out) with greener alternatives
* Unplugging adapters that aren't in use
* Bugging the utilities department to find out when they'll finally give me a curbside recycling bin (they've been on backorder for a while around here)
* Bathing the kids in the same bathtub at the same time (wait, that's just laziness, right?)
* Handing down my kids' clothes
* Donating things we don't use any more
* Reminding the kids to turn off the d&^@ lights when they leave the room
* Replacing regular light bubs with those awful fluorescent ones (I'm doing it anyway)
Here are a few things I'm considering:
* Eating less meat (If I remember correctly, an average omnivore puts more dangerous gases into the environment through meat consumption than driving)
* Joining a CSA (although the $800 I'd have to pay up front seems prohibitive right now)
* Using dish towels instead of paper towels (does anyone know about the sanitation factor of dish towels?)
* Eating more whole and less processed foods (as Michael Pollan says, "if your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize it, it's not food."
A few more that I'd like to be able to incorporate in the future:
* Energy-star appliances
* Xeriscaping (which I think looks SO cool)
* Hybrid minivan (rumor has it that a hybrid Sienna might come out in '09)
A few I'm not ready to embrace (yet):
* Composting
* Cloth Diapering
* Growing my own anything except herbs
* Giving up the takeout habit (how do I reconcile my love for fatty food I didn't have to cook with all of the packaging?)
What else should be on my list? I feel like being environmentally responsible takes a lot of education, and I haven't hit the learning curve yet.
13 comments:
I'm doing (or trying to do) all the things on your list as well. I'm thinking of downsizing from my Expedition to a minivan (but do they have them with 8 seats?) in the next year or so. I'm not sure what else is possible for a family of 6- because seriously? We just consume a lot. Potty training my youngest will help too.
We've just started the canvas bags. We recycle A LOT and actually just got a second huge can instead of another garbage can. Our tankless water heater has saved us $40/month on our gas bill as well. I also just tried the Clorox Green Works products...so far, so good.
I'm doing most of what you said too. Have you noticed a difference in stain removal since switching to cold water. I still use hot for whites.
I use a cold water detergent and so far I haven't noticed much of a difference, Courtney.
Way to go Shelah! We are serious CSA fans in our house. It makes 20Tuesdays a year as exciting as Christmas. I've been taking Canvas bags to other stores besides the grocery as well. There's a book called True Green: 100 Everyday Things You Can Contribute for a Healthier Planet. It has some other good hints.
a friend told me about a book too called the big green purse and about how women specifically can do a lot about where the money is spent. you could start using organic personal products that aren't full of chemicals. avalon organics is really good, and so is natures path. kind of expensive but avalon organics cream shave is the greatest stuff ever!! and just because i don't want to support those ginormous companies, instead of using a clorox product, you could try seventh generation. i actually just did a post about this and have links to a lot of stuff on my personal blog....
ok, it was last week, so here is the url. don't know how to link yet in a comment.
http://terinajlucyandrew.blogspot.com/2008/04/green.html
Xeriscaping isn't really something you need to worry about on the Texas Gulf Coast. It rains so much that things that need a lot of water usually survive. Although, getting rid of tons of lawn helps anywhere, turf grass is not native.
Seventh Generation makes a line of diapers that don't contain any dioxins or bleaches. I think that they work really well and cost about the same as pampers. You can get them at Kroger, and of course Whole Foods. Since you aren't ready for the cloth diaper thing yet!
Gardening isn't so bad, really you should try it. Sweet potatoes do really well in Texas, plant them, forget about them, along about November you have a lot of sweet potatoes.
You could try a clothesline. Don't know how well that would work with the humidity, but I'm hoping it will (we're moving down there next month...).
Buy organic as much as you can. It's not just better for you, but also for the environment. Buying mostly produce that's in season helps, too.
Really, after reading through your list, I'd say you're doing pretty well compared to a lot of people. :o)
You could always eat at the fast food restaurant and leave the garbage in *their* cans ;-).
Thanks, Arlynda (I was hoping you'd weigh in) and Lucy and Terina. I knew I could find some good resources if I just asked! I bought some of those seventh generation diapers today (HEB sells them too) so we shall see if they hold the pee well enough. They're $12.99 for 40 size 3s, and Pampers size 3s came in a 60-pack for $14, so they are pricier, but maybe it's worth it.
We live in an area where we have to recycle. They won't pick up your bins if they see recyclable items in there...thus leaving you with weeks worth of trash! Ugh! I have thought about going a "green" post-good thoughts! Good job! I really like my canvas bags..less white carrier bags to keep up with in the laundry room.
Hey, I found This cool contraption today. It makes composting sound easy, no? :p Also, will you please email me, I don't know if I have your address. doreen1999 at yahoo dot com Thanks! :o)
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