How Green Are You?

I think I'd call myself more aqua....turning sea green

I didn't even give a thought to the environment until high school when I first learned about recycling. My mom just didn't care and didn't teach us about it. Then a science teacher showed a video of landfills, oil spills and various ecological catastrophes and I began to give more thought to my habits.

Only thoughts, mind you. If there was a recycling bin nearby I threw my can in. That is as far as I got.

Then I married Josh. (You'll hear over and over in this blog how amazingly and completely Josh has changed my life!) His sister-in-law was raised eco-conscious and I started to get eco-curious. She recycles everything and uses reusable grocery bags. I had another friend that introduced me to cloth diapers. She honestly had me at "saved money."

The Greener I got, the more money I saved...

So does going green really save green? It can, it all depends on how you do it.

And I will unabashedly announces that I am more concerned with my money than the environment right now, but if I can do a good thing for the earth because I am saving money then that feels pretty darned good.

But I do have my limits. I will never be forest green.

I don't think I'll ever be able to do mama cloth, family cloth, diva cup, unpaper towels or buy 100% organic foods. I happen to like throwing away my "nasties" once a month and toilet paper...well...it would take a whole lot for me to give that up. As for the organic foods, I just can't afford it right now. Sadly, I am doing as good as I can buying more whole foods than boxed. Why is nasty MSG infested mac'n'cheese so freaking cheap? Lizzie loves it, I save money, it gets bought. Ugh...but I do try.

I think I am going to go a little greener with my cleaning products though. Again, the earth is benefiting from my broke-ness! I am learning so much about the joys of vinegar and baking soda (and not just how cool it is when they mix!) For example, my house had a case of that "what's that smell?" the other day. Josh mopped with vinegar and the smell was GONE. Not just covered up by vinegar, it was gone. No other floor cleaner has done that for me - cha ching!

So how green are you? Are the decisions you're making more ecoNOMY based or ecoLOGY based?

Either way I think teaching our children how to be good stewards of God's creation is a wonderful thing!

Thank Heaven for Cloth Diapers

I am so glad we invested in cloth diapers when we had the money, you know, back when the economy didn't totally suck.

It makes me giddy with laughter -ecstatic - that I don't have to worry about how to afford diapers or wipes for my baby.

I can stay home and actually avoid the store for as long as we have food in the house. No emergency runs to Target or Walmart where I go in with a list of 2 things and end up spending $100. (I am why they place things in "marketable" areas of the store)

Seriously - I am thrilled to death with our decision to cloth diaper. It has paid off immensely, and the best part - my husband was thanking me tonight for talking him into it.

"Honey, thank you for spending all that money at the beginning. We sure don't have a dime to spend on a disposable diaper right now." - this coming from the best husband in the world :)

In a time when there is so much stress on us it is a torrential relief to not worry about the needs of my beautiful babies.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Well, the economy is catching up to us...

Money is tight...

It is easy to look with anxiety at the future...

To ponder the "why?" or "what if?"

Sometimes thoughts give us tummy knots...

But smile!

Consider the flowers of the field

God always provides!

Forget your worries and laugh

It is easy to do with such bundles of joy :)