So here we go...
1. Start a compost bin & grown our own veggies!
(sadly this one will have to wait until spring, which we knew would happen as last spring we had another 'growing' project on our hands..a small human!)
But we're starting our research now on how to best start, maintain, and use a compost bin.
Reason: we would cut down on even more garbage (which we are hoping to ALWAYS keep to one bag/week, no matter how big our family gets). Plus it would be a great way for us to do some natural/organic veggie growing of our own.
We have a 'garden' already built in our back-yard, however it was built with treated lumber, which is now rotting. So next spring we hope to rebuild & plant a garden as well with some fun & tasty veggies. I think it will be a great project for Noel to learn with us too.
2. Make preparing/cooking/storing food more green!
First off this is on my wish list! Cuisinart Greenware to replace all our chemical-producing Teflon or not 100% stainless steel cookware & stop leaching chemicals into our food & our air
Secondly I would like to slowly move our storage containers to rid of the plastics & use the glassware that we have.
I also want one of these Life Factory Glass Re-usable bottle!!! I always like to use my reusable water bottle, but the plastics often have BPA (which actually is becoming less and less) or they never seem clean. and the metal ones are great for holding my beverage, but I don't like to put my mouth on the metal to drink out of. So as my dad always says "only the best comes in glass" (since he worked in a glass factory his whole life)..yah! Stuff really does always taste better in glass!
3. Replace all of our household cleaners & soaps with chemical & toxin free versions.
Because I don't want to go out and spend an arm and a leg on these things. I am making this switch as I run out of my current products. We already use & love, method wood floor cleaner & hard floor cleaners so we don't have chemicals on the floor around small baby girl & big harry Moose. I also use chlorox green works wipes for wiping down the john. As well as Seventh Generation & Methods Multi-surface cleaners in the kitchen and bathroom. However I have been reading up on the hazards of antibacterial soaps to the environment as nearly 100% of it goes down the drain. So I will be switching those out in the future too.
4. Avoid "cheap" plastics in products for Noel. Not only do I want to look at this with feeding supplies but also her toys..being that EVERYTHING goes in her mouth. So I would like to stick to natural wood, or BPA free plastics. & organic materials when possible. We love these toys! www.melissaanddoug.com
5. NEW WINDOWS...ahh can you see me salivating over this home improvement project! Our home was built in 1920..and yes..still has the original (beautiful & drafting) windows!
New windows would be green in SO many ways! It would cut down on our heating costs as we would lose our drafty current ones, meaning less oil in the tank, more efficient heating & cooling. And the ability to open some windows in a beautiful day. (Our current windows do not have screens, so being that I am moth-a-phobic...open windows without screens NEVER happening! (there are even great tax rebates right now too..financially green too!! woohoo!-although we had to put a new sewer line in our house..not sure how to make this happen.ugh!)
6. Invest in a pellet stove. Fun little pellets made of compressed saw-dust to heat our home..genius! I would love to put this in our finished (in need of a make-over) basement. To make it cozy down there, and allow the heat to 'rise' to the rest of our home. They are one of the most efficient/green ways to heat your home. This is probably going WAY on the back burner as this would get pricey this would also need to include some sort of chimney (even though there are great tax rebate on these now). The windows would be a wiser earlier decision.
7. We have a small back yard that is in need of some grass (when Keith ever has a life outside of Grad school he'll finish his post on that later). But we'd like to do this without pesticides or chemical fertilizer. and we'd be open to trading in our gas push mower (obtained for $30 on craigslist) for a good old fashion "reel mower"...hmm..we'll keep thinking about that one.
7 1/2. Last summer we tore down our old/rusty clothes line, to which we are going to put up a new sleek line that will be easy to take down & put up, to avoid, wet moldy line AND ducking under it all the time!
8. Get rid of stuff & don't buy so much stuff! "LIVE SIMPLY SO OTHERS MAY SIMPLY LIVE"
Of course there are always the simple things to maintain like turning lights off & appliances not in use & so on..but here's the start of a few things and I know there are a TON more things to add, but here are some basics we're starting with.
We actually recently made another GREEN change in our lives..but there is too much involved to post here.
So that post is coming soon!
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