Saving the World...One Poopy Diaper at a Time

The other day, Andrew and I were talking about the various ways that we try to "go green." I know that we still have a lot of room for improvement, but I do think we are making a good start at having an earth-friendly household.

Some things we do:

-Cloth diapers (Andrew teases me for how skeptical I was about cloth diapering before Gabriella was born and then how much of a "cloth mama" I have become. More on this later I'm sure)
-Wash and reuse ziplock baggies
-Do dishes by hand (most of the time)
-HE washing machine and dryer, and we even have a clothesline for those rare sunny days!
-Second-hand and hand-me-down clothes, furniture and baby toys (One person's "out with the old" can be our "in with the new")
-Craigslist (Our "out with the old" can be another person's "in with the new")
-Reusable grocery bags
-Recycle what is recycle-able

Other things we do as part of our general lifestyle have neat eco-friendly benefits as well. For example, natural family planning and breastfeeding. Or how Andrew bikes to work whenever possible.

Some people think "going green" means spending more green because it might of higher grocery bills or updating appliances. But there are lots of ways that being eco-friendly can be eco(nomically)-friendly too. Like cloth diapers or second-hand clothes - both of which can be totally cute!

It makes me proud that our neighbors have commented on how small our garbage bin is. And that we can then surprise them further by telling them that it is often not completely full. Or that it we didn't have to get a bigger garbage bin after Gabriella was born (another plug for cloth diapers!).

Of course, I'm sure there are ways we could improve too. Like we are not so good at focusing on local organic food. And we still haven't gotten around to making those compost bins like we talked about doing when we first bought our house in May 2009.

I know this makes me a "tree hugger" and I'm okay with that. I love the world God gave me and I want to take care of it. And you should too! After all, we are all called to be Stewards of the Earth.