In the Greene House

Lot's of little changes in the Greene House over the past few weeks.
Here's a brief run down:

• Husband got rid of all of our old light bulbs and replaced them with fluorescents, an estimated annual savings of $50 per bulb! That's a lot of extra cash in the pocket for such a small change. It was such an easy project and was accomplished in less than an hour. This is a fabulous place to buy energy-efficient bulbs at a fraction of the price of Home Depot. The fluorescent flood lights were $12 at the hardware store and only $2.50 at 1000bulbs. I can't believe the savings! We put low watt ones in the lamps and I think it still gives off a lovely glow:

• I wisened up with the cloth diapers. Go figure considering we're just about to start potty training. To save time I started putting them together the night before, lining a day's supply up on top of Bean's dollhouse (which is the perfect size and height so she can't pull them down).

Since she was little we have primarily used flannel wipes, which I absolutely love.

 No diaper rashes or harsh chemicals! I wash them with the cloth diapers and put them back in our prince lionhart wipe warmer using an easy homemade solution. I bet you could also use an empty plastic wipes container.

 All the dirty stuff goes in this wet bag, and the contents are washed nightly on the smallest load setting and air dried. Easy peasy!

• We brought back the compost pail. Most of our scraps go to our chickens and pot belly pig, but the things they can't eat such as egg shells, coffee grounds and onion peels get tossed in here. If you don't want to go out and buy a compost pail, I think a coffee can covered in pretty contact paper would also be nice! If you use the lid just be sure to poke some holes in it for the gases to escape. I think the trick is to put it somewhere accessible and by where you chop veggies so it's easy to toss stuff inside.

Every couple of day's Bean and I go out to the garden to empty it. She just loves stomping on all the eggshells! This summer I really want to build a composter, but until then we're just tossing them into the garden and raking everything in.

• For Christmas husband gave me a coffee grinder (love my coffee!) and this:

If you own a Keurig you need to try these immediately; they are the absolute best invention ever! No more wasteful and outrageously expensive k-cups.

• There has been a drastic reduction in garbage. We have begun meticulously sorting through paper and recycling everything possible. It's interesting to see what actually remains in the can after this. It's mostly just unavoidable plastic packaging. When our burn can is full (which happens very quickly), husband uses it as fuel to heat up his homemade sauna and hot tub...more on that one later.

That's it for now!

Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained

Well it seems that for some reason I have been avoiding updates on this blog. I have been asking myself why all week, and I believe the honest answer is fear. I'm afraid I will fail. There, I said it! I'm worried that if I put myself out there then I will just end up looking foolish in the end. Is this quote really true?

I have been wrestling with the answer, but have decided that it isn't. I think I've been approaching our challenge incorrectly. I kind of thought of is as 'all or nothing', but that's really not the way it should be at all. All that really does is set me up for failure, as there is no way to be 'perfect' because there is always more we can do. My plan isn't to try to save the world, obviously that's not a feasible one-man job. Rather, the idea is to make small changes wherever we can and hope that those small changes add up to big ones. There are some concessions that I'm learning are harder to make than others. We all have our 'vices', right? I will probably always fight my husband about turning off my computer and he may sneak in a disposable diaper when I'm not looking. But as long as we are individually doing what we can do, I think it makes those little environmental indulgences a little more acceptable, I hope. So I've decided to approach this in the same manner as I do vegetarianism. I've always jokingly say I don't eat meat to make up for my husband's excess. :). And he thinks the same way about tofu! As long as the world is balanced then all is right.

Leave Nothing but your Footprints

This blog goes back 7 years.

My husband and I were visiting a picturesque deserted beach in Costa Rica. In the sand was a sign that simply said, "Deja nada pero la huellas". Translation: Leave nothing but your footprints. And we didn't.

For some reason that sign always stuck with me. Even after all these years it still beats at my soul. I think perhaps it's because where I came from, I was so used to seeing garbage on the ground wherever I went. And I live in one of the cleaner states. I couldn't believe there was a trashless place in the world, a place where everyone respected nature so greatly. Where people weren't so lazy and paid park rangers didn't have to remind people. Where signs didn't threaten severe penalties and convicts didn't have to walk around with trash bags and sharp sticks. Where it didn't feel like the Lorax was going to pop up at any moment and scold us.

And the problem isn't just about the trash. It's about what the trash represents--utter disrespect and disregard for the earth. Plain and simple. There is just so much emphasis, I believe, in accumulating 'stuff' in this country. At some point the stuff leaks out. It leaks out of our hands and cars and homes, creating a "large, swirling and drifting sludge" of a landfill in the ocean so large and so vast, it would cover the Continental United States two times over. It's a scary thought isn't it? It's that frightful image and the ones below that made me vow upon my return from that trip, to always be part of the solution and not the problem. .

















Fast forward almost a decade. The Starbucks cups still litter the floor of my car, plastic shopping bags still accumulate quickly and the book of Affluenza is in my 'display' book case, dusty and unread. Sure I recycle and turn off the water when I'm brushing my teeth most of the time. And of course I never deposit garbage anywhere but the can. But that's as far as I've gotten and it's not enough. It's not enough to want to do better. I still buy endless amounts of things I don't need. A pair of boots in every color. Trinkets for the house. Gadgets that will supposedly make my life easier. Boatloads of toys. And on and on and on. Where are all of these things going to end up when they break or become (gasp) untrendy? That's right, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch or Garbage Island (call it what you will) that's where. I'm doing exactly what I din't want to do--contributing to the problem!

But I'm here to say, I'm done! I no longer want to experience a mild anxiety attack each time I see a garbage truck (I actually do). I want to sleep easier knowing we're doing our part, even if it's only a small one, to make the world a better place for our daughter so she can take her children to the beach someday and see only footprints.

From this day forward we are making ourselves more accountable. That's where the idea for this blog came in. We decided this year was going to be the start of something better for our family and truth be told, for myself. I have this intrinsic need to leave this world someday feeling like I did something bigger than myself and this is where I'll start. I want to take some time to really take a look inside and figure out what this need for 'stuff' is all about. If I go a year without, how will I feel? How much do we really need to be happy? How much can we give up without sacrificing ourselves? Where's the breaking point?

I'm not quite sure where this blog will go or what shape it will take. I think the most fitting thing to do is to allow it to be an organic process of exploration and reflection. I'm just going to let it go where the wind blows.  I can't wait to see where it ends up!