The Green Mom Challenge

Tidy Tweets

2009-09-10T12:19:00.001-07:00

I've finished my 30 ways in 30 days on how to be green in your daily life. Here is the full list.

#Recycle Rinse the milk jug and put it in the bin, you can do it!
#Reduce Take your cup with you to work or church, save a disposable one.
#Reduce Pour your cream first, save the stirrer.
#Reduce Pack green lunches. See how little litter you can pack with your food.
#ReduceReuseRecycle Identify the three most non-green habits in your life and think about how you can change your lifestyle to change them.
#Reduce Try not to use zipper lock bags for three days and see what solutions you come up with.
#Reuse Become a regular at the thrift store. Donating and buying both help to reuse.
#Recycle Be a part of your local recycling program…even if it costs you something.
#ReduceReuseRecycle Do what your grandmother told you.
#Reuse Reuse lightly used zipper lock bags.
#Reduce Turn the lights out.
#Reduce Don’t waste food. Buy only what you need.
#Reuse Hand-me-downs.
#Reduce Don’t be afraid to wash a towel or rag, you can cut down on paper towels.
#Reduce Potty train.
#Reuse Have your kids use the same backpack more than one year.
#Reduce Go digital. Print only the pics you need.
#Reduce Use less energy by cooking two meals instead of one.
#Reuse Empty tissue boxes are a great place to store plastic grocery bags for reuse.
#Reduce Eat leftovers.
#Reuse Use Freecycle.
#Reduce Put on a sweater and turn down the thermostat or more appropriate for today, put on shorts and turn off the air.
#Reduce. Dispose of your medications the right way. (http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/pdf/prescrip_disposal.pdf)
#ReduceReuse Handkerchiefs? Hmmm…not there yet.
#Reuse Use old t-shirts as rags.
#Reduce Car Pool
#You can say it, “Paper, please.”
#Reuse Make the switch to rechargeable batteries.
#Reduce Buy flat gifts: books, cds, restaurant gift certificates
#Reduce #Reuse Fix something that’s broken

Wondering what to do with so many books?

2009-09-08T18:48:00.000-07:00

Christian Resources International http://www.cribooks.org takes used Christian materials and distributes them to English speaking people worldwide. Check out their Web site to see how you can get involved.

Tidy Tweets

2009-09-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

On Twitter, I’ve been doing 30 ways in 30 days on how to be green in your daily life. We’re up to #22 so far! It’s amazing how many little things we can do to take care of our world. Here are the ways I’ve shared so far. They’re not rocket science, but some may be new to you and some may be just a good reminder.

1. #Recycle Rinse the milk jug and put it in the bin, you can do it!
2. #Reduce Take your cup with you to work or church, save a disposable one.
3. #Reduce Pour your cream first, save the stirrer.
4. #Reduce Pack green lunches. See how little litter you can pack with your food.
5. #ReduceReuseRecycle Identify the three most non-green habits in your life and think about how you can change your lifestyle to change them.
6. #Reduce Try not to use zipper lock bags for three days and see what solutions you come up with.
7. #Reuse Become a regular at the thrift store. Donating and buying both help to reuse.
8. #Recycle Be a part of your local recycling program…even if it costs you something.
9. #ReduceReuseRecycle Do what your grandmother told you.
10. #Reuse Reuse lightly used zipper lock bags.
11. #Reduce Turn the lights out.
12. #Reduce Don’t waste food. Buy only what you need.
13. #Reuse Hand-me-downs.
14. #Reduce Don’t be afraid to wash a towel or rag, you can cut down on paper towels.
15. #Reduce Potty train.
16. #Reuse Have your kids use the same backpack more than one year.
17. #Reduce Go digital. Print only the pics you need.
18. #Reduce Use less energy by cooking two meals instead of one.
19. #Reuse Empty tissue boxes are a great place to store plastic grocery bags for reuse.
20. #Reduce Eat leftovers.
21. #Reuse Use Freecycle.
22. #Reduce Put on a sweater and turn down the thermostat or more appropriate for today, put on shorts and turn off the air.

For the Love of Trees

2009-07-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

There is something romantic about being in a tree. The love isn't with a person, but with nature, with beauty, and with having a new perspective. There's an intimate feeling in the aloneness. Like a mountaintop experience--there is a sense of power and wonder. Am I a tree-hugger? YES! I love trees. They provide more than oxygen for our air, but have an aesthetic contribution to the lives of many a tree climber.

For more on how the mommy part of me feels about tree-climbing, visit http://ourwordshop.blogspot.com/2009/07/tree-climbing.html

Green Mom on Twitter

2009-06-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

You can follow me on twitter now at www.twitter.com/greenmomideas. Look forward to sharing together.

Minimalist or Miniaturist?

2009-05-26T19:33:00.001-07:00

See my other blog

http://ourwordshop.blogspot.com/2009/05/minimalist-or-miniaturist.html

Planting a Garden

2009-05-14T20:07:00.001-07:00

This week I planted a garden. I pulled the weeds, turned the soil, dug the holes and planted the seeds and tiny plants. More than once the thought of chemicals ran through my mind. Wouldn’t it be easier to just spray it down and get rid of the weeds? The thought of machines also crossed my mind. How easy the ground turned up last year when we borrowed a neighbor’s gas-powered tiller.

It’s a lot of work to plant a garden the hard way, but it felt good to let my little ones dig around in the dirt without me worrying about them getting sick.

Now we’ll see what comes up in the next few weeks. Pumpkins, green beans, cucumbers, potatoes, and lettuce. The green pepper and tomato plants look like they’re taking good to their new home. Time to grow!

Ziploc Update

2009-01-06T19:18:00.000-08:00

I have been successful at reducing my use of these, but have not been able to eliminate them completely. If they are in the house, they are so easy to grab, and when they're dirty, it's much easier to throw them out than clean them to use them again. Sometimes I fall back into old habits and I begin to feel about them the way I feel about chocolate or anything else we should have in moderation.

Moderation, ah, the word rolls off the tongue so easily, but the road to moderation is bumpy and uncomfortable. Keep on trying. Every little decision we make makes a difference, even if we can't see it.

When love is too much

2008-02-12T19:16:00.000-08:00

I had a recent comment about the amount of toys that find their way into a house, and the frustration this excess causes in parents. The parent asks, "How did this happen?? Do they mate and multiply during the night?" This is exactly how I feel. Nose-deep in toys, books, and other kid-things made mostly of plastic, what is a parent who is trying to be conscious of the environment to do?

Consider a hand-me-down as recycling.
It may take up time, space and energy, but consider that bin of hand-me-down toys and clothes as recycling. Feel good about the ones you can make use of, but don't feel badly about having to send some of it away to Good Will or the Salvation Army. One family can only absorb so much, and this gives others the opportunity to make use of the stuff.

Train the kids
My mom attributes this web site to the fact that I watched Sesame Street as a kid. She is probably right. What we believe when we're young sticks like the gummy mess after a ring pop. If our kids develop preferences for things green, then the ones who love them might stear towards those things for their birthdays.

You are only responsible for you.
You cannot look around at the stuff that is produced and feel badly about that. If you aren't creating a market for it, it's not your responsibility. You can only control your actions, though you can influence others by talking about your thoughts and feelings, and by others seeing your decisions.

A gift says, "I love you"
The main point of a gift is to transfer love. As much as we might be tempted to say something like, "We have so much, let's just have everyone donate money this year instead of giving gifts," this misses the point. Giving gifts is an integral part of our culture, and we would be missing so much if we began to discourage the generosity we feel toward others. Even if we could change culture, this probably wouldn't be the change we'd want to make. Self-focus is already strong in our society. So, how do we accept the "I love you" of a gift, while not allowing our lives to be overrun by things we can't or don't want to make use of? Channel the love.

Channel the love.
Your family and friends love you. Part of loving a person is getting to know them, and this requires honesty on both sides. Talk about your preferences for gifts. Some good ways of streamlining the bulk on gifts is to ask for FLAT presents. We discovered this on accident because we moved far away from family, and gifts either had to be shipped or packed into a car. As a side benefit, the bulk of plastic gifts diminished.

Another environmentally friendly gift idea is to think CONSUMABLES. Say you would really like to go out to dinner for your birthday gift, or have your nails done. For kids, a trip to the ice cream shop or maybe art lessons might be good options.

ADD-ONS are another idea. We like to think of things that go with things we already have--like a new Leap Pad book, a kid-friendly mouse for the computer, or a Lego set to add to the ones we already have in the bin. This way, it adds value to the plastic investment without adding much plastic to the collection, and it saves on space.

Value the relationship more than the environment

While I believe God wants us to care for the temporal world he gave us, I also believe he asks us to love the eternal souls he created that live around us. Put the eternal first, but don't neglect the temporal. Let this guide your decisions on how to approach others with your gift preferences.

Recycling Incentives

2008-01-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

From experience, recycling is not the same from state to state and probably just as different from town to town. Our experience in Chicago and Florida were nearly identical, just rinse and put all items together in one bin. But in Colorado, this is not the case. (see previous post)

There was one difference between Florida and Chicago. Our town in Chicago had an interesting recycling system that built in a financial incentive for recycling. Each bag of trash required a $2.?? Sticker you bought at the grocery store, but recyclables were free. We made it a point to recycle absolutely everything and could sometimes make it by with only 1 or 2 bags of paid trash. We’ve had to be a bit more altruistic in our motivations for recycling here, which probably contributed to my procrastination in finding out the rules in our new town. In Illinois, new residents were sent a brochure explaining the system, but Colorado trash is all privately managed, and I wonder if the rules are different for each company. With our current company, we didn’t receive any information about recycling (that I know of). Technically, we get charged as a one can family or a two can family. Recycling helps to stay a one can family (though we could just buy a bigger can since ours is small).

Recycling Transitions

2008-01-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

It’s been three or four garbage days now that I’ve been recycling in Colorado. When we moved in, I was sad we left our recycling bin in Illinois, and decided to go to Home Depot right away to get a new one. Assuming that recycling was the same nationally, I didn’t think this would be an issue.

When we got to the HD, we went straight to the back where the trash cans are and scanned the huge shelves, looking for the friendly blue bins with the white recycling logo. None. We looked at each other quizzically and found a woman with an orange apron. “Where are the recycling bins?” we asked. She said, “Well, if we have them, they would be here, but they aren’t a big seller here, so it doesn’t look like we have any.”

What could we say but, “Oh.”?

It was a bit confusing and not just a little humorous to us that in a state where they don’t use salt on ice to preserve the environment, a recycling bin could not be found in the Home Depot…because there wasn’t a market for them!

So we continued to throw recyclables in the trash. First the excuse was that we were in transition, and then it was the pregnancy and newborn stage. Finally, after seeing the recycling truck go by the house for two and a half years, I called our trash company and had a pleasant 5 minute conversation with the woman at our trash company. She simply and politely explained the rules, and in doing so, raised my respect for Colorado tremendously. All that I needed to do was to separate glass, cans, paper and plastics (1 and 2 only). I should put them each out in a separate bag, paper or plastic, and the trash people would put them in the recycling part of their truck. No need for a plastic bin that would itself need to be recycled someday, just put recyclables in something recyclable and you’re good to go.

Paper bags seem to be easier to use for separating items. So, this whole process has made me finally bold enough to answer “paper” to the “paper or plastic” question at the grocery store, though I’ve noticed that the baggers aren’t well trained in how to pack them anymore.

The Ziplock Challenge

2007-12-06T13:27:00.000-08:00

Ziplock bags are such a useful invention. They keep food dry and air out so our food stays good longer. They are good for keeping something clean that needs to stay (nearly) germ-free. They are wonderful organizers, helping to keep small things in useful categories and not spread all over the house. For families with children under 3, they are great for popping choking hazards into so you don't have to throw away all your daughter's Barbie shoes. Even if the baby did gete a hold of the bag, the challenge of the zip gives you enough time to confiscate the item before there is any real danger. For air travel, ziplocks are a lifesaver when your shampoo and lotion explode inside your luggage.

But the use of ziplock bags in our world is growing, and it seems to be getting a bit excessive. For awhile, they were a regular item on my grocery list, and I began to wonder where all that plastic was going. In the trash, of course. I started to think that maybe there were some ways to diminish my use of the bags, without making this useful tool the enemy. Much like my thoughts on disposable diapers. Use them for when nothing else makes sense, but don't use them when you don't have to.

I think it's been about a month now since I stopped buying ziplocks at my normal grocery run. I've had to be creative on how to get some basic chores done.

Packing lunches without ziplocks. I've identified several very small reusable plastic containers in my house that my grade schooler can open unassisted. This seems to be working out great.

Storing food. Again, tupperware is the solution I've used mostly. Not keeping food I know I won't eat just to make myself feel better has also helped.

I still reserve the right to use the ziplock. My working guidelines are for 1. sanitatary reasons, 2. emergencies (a soiled set of clothes on the go), 3. packing for trips, 4. for teachers and educational purposes, and 5. the classic pet goldfish in a bag.

These are, of course, working guidelines, and I am encouraged that I have been able to diminish my consumption quite significantly.

Diaper Dilemma

2007-12-02T15:12:00.000-08:00

I have a friend that I admire for making the decision to use cloth diapers for her three kids. I don't know how she has done it. It seems like so much extra work. I haven't been so kind to the environment. For most of my kids' diaper time, I didn't even dump the poop in the toilet because, to be honest, it really wasn't dumpable. Now, my last child is in the final stretch before potty training, and I'm wondering, "How do I reduce my stinky affect on the environment without driving myself crazy or trying to potty train a child who isn't ready?" I can't undo the last 7 years of diapers on the curb, but there has to be something I can do. Dumping the contents in the toilet (when possible) is a start. I also have a pile of washable plastic pants that I could use when I'm home, and still use the disposables while I'm out of the house. Any other thoughts from moms out there?

Delayed Consumption

2007-12-02T15:00:00.001-08:00

Look what I found! I went out to the garage and AMAZING, the artificial tree I talked about before was not in the landfill after all, but sitting neatly packed in its box on a shelf. We put it up, vacuumed, and as you can see, it looks just beautiful. We gave it a pine scented spray, and now we almost believe it's real. One more year of delayed consumption equals one more tree left on the mountainside to grow and one more artificial tree that doesn't need to come off the assembly line.

Oh, and by the way, the lights from last year did work, so I can put off figuring out a green lighting solution until next year. Let's hear it for delayed consumption! Who would have figured there was an upside to indecision?

Picture Perspective

2007-11-21T12:55:00.000-08:00

When my preschooler brought in a picture of his Papa for show and tell, the teacher asked him, "Does this picture go in a book or a stack?" He looked at her quizzically and didn't know what to say. When she told me the story, I immediately knew the reason for his confusion. The answer was, "They go in the computer!"

For a long time I felt guilty at not having all my pictures beautifully cropped and layed out on acid free, color coordinated paper. Today, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am choosing to throw off all that negativity and be thankful that I have saved all that paper from being stored away in boxes with all my pre-digital camera photos.

Maybe when I'm ready to get my photos off the computer and into the tangible world, I will have thought of a greener way to go. I suddenly have an urge to back up my data...

Coping with Prosperity

2007-11-20T07:33:00.000-08:00

I put a pile of goldfish in front of my little one, hoping to get enough time to load the dishwasher. Instead, I find myself two minutes later sweeping a pile on the floor. I’ve found that it’s more effective to give her two at a time, even though it means walking back and forth across the kitchen. We say in our house that kids can’t deal with prosperity. Put them in a room full of toys and they’re bored. Put them in an empty room with one toy and they can keep themselves busy indefinitely. Now why wouldn’t more fish keep her busy eating longer than two?

My theory is that it is a way of coping with prosperity. There is just too much everywhere. People ask, why are kids so different than in year’s past? Actually, I see a change in behavior in people of all ages. We’ve all had to go away from the finishing your plate idea because there’s just always too much on the plate! Kids turn their nose up at food because their bodies know they’ve had enough. Now they haven’t always had enough of the right stuff, but they’ve had enough calories to deal with for the moment.

But there is something that feels good about having a full plate. I keep a stack of two different size cups, one from a kids’ yogurt pack, the other from the Pringles single packs, and use them to serve snacks in. This way, the kids feel like I gave them something full, when I actually haven’t given them much at all…and I find I’m sweeping up a lot less.

I'm dreaming of a Green Christmas

2007-11-19T10:14:00.000-08:00

We're in the market for a new Christmas Tree solution. The last two Christmas trees we had were given to us by parents who had gotten them second hand already. We used each of them several years and by the end I almost believed they were real trees because they were shedding needles all over the living room carpet. I chose to feel good about getting that many years out of an artificial tree and about all the real trees saved along the way, and decided not to dwell on the fact that it still had to go to the garbage dump eventually.

Now I'm wondering if there is a greener solution. Real trees can be burned, so that's good as long as they're from a source that isn't taking away from the trees we need to keep around. Artificial trees avoid using a real tree which takes time to grow and, as we see from our family, can be used for 10 years or more. I could get another used tree from our friends at Good Will. Hmmm.

Then there's the lighting situation. Strings of lights that are awkward to put new bulbs in aren't very practical, and almost demand that you buy new sets each year. But how else can you light your tree and home for Christmas? I've seen trees with crystals on them. I wonder if a spotlight with a pretty bulb in it would make the tree glisten nicely. I have two sets of glass icicles that sparkle in the light. For around the house, I could use candles this year instead of lights. Many musings. Now the challenging question, "Am I willing to change and sacrifice the comforting sameness of the classic white lights at Christmas?" We will have to see...

Take it Easy Being Green

2007-11-19T07:19:00.000-08:00

Very rarely does the world have a major paradigm shift that changes everything. Usually change takes place little by little over years and generations—sometimes for good and sometimes not. So it is in our lives. There are moments that enact major change (graduations, weddings, births) but these are usually a reflection of change that has been happening in small units (hours of study, growing up, learning to love).

Habits and patterns are established little by little to align with our values and passions as well as our weaknesses and tendencies. Once we embrace the value of taking care of our world and working together to help, we can begin to make small changes in our patterns to align with this value.

In this site, the idea of going green isn’t to make new year’s resolutions to overhaul our entire lives, but to change small things over time to make a difference.

Learn as You Go Green!

2007-11-18T19:53:00.000-08:00

We buy cinnamon rolls on a regular basis. The kids like to jump when the container pops and frost the perfectly round buns before they eat the sugar off the top and leave the bottoms. The frosting comes in a plastic container that I wash and put in the paint box because they're the perfect size for putting paints in (washable, please). Soon, I'll have too many of these little plastic cups which don't nest inside each other, so I'm considering (don't shudder), learning to make cinnamon rolls FROM SCRATCH. Shocking! As a child who thought meat was born and raised in plastic wrap, this is earth shattering. Still, I guess that bread maker is good for something. I've actually made them once, so it would be a relearning process, which isn't as hard as trying something totally new.

Sparse is Beautiful

2007-11-18T19:43:00.000-08:00

It's a strange feeling to be surrounded by advertising encouraging us to buy more, and the call to beautify our homes through sparsity; uncrowded shelves with one to three trinkets lounging leasurely in living rooms, kitchen countertops with only the barest of necessities to block the granite view. But what do we DO with all the stuff we unclutter our lives with?

One good, but difficult task is to find a good home for it. I am constantly amazed at the women who ask me if I need ___, and it turns out to be exactly what I need at the moment I need it. Maybe it's a gift. Maybe it's the Holy Spirit guiding them to bless me, but my home is filled with adopted items from someone else's home. I haven't had too much luck finding homes for the things I need to part with, so I usually let the trained professionals deal with distribution--Good Will.

Coffee to Go

2007-11-18T19:14:00.000-08:00

Ok, so here's an easy one to start with. Get out your to go coffee mug and take it with you. I noticed at church this morning that if I had just brought mine to Sunday School, I could have saved the landfill one styrofome cup and a plastic lid. At least I poured the creamer first so I didn't have to waste one of those little stir-ers. I used to have a backpack purse that had a side pocket a miniature thermos fit in, but the strap broke. I guess I should have sewed it, but I think it's in the landfill now.

Learning Green

2007-11-18T18:55:00.000-08:00

In 2nd grade (it might have been 3rd), I remember that we had a guest speaker come to our class. He was a garbage engineer and I was fascinated by what he shared. The whole system of garbage intrigued me. But then, he shared with us the reality of the garbage problem. If we didn’t do something in the next 20 years, our world would be in terrible danger. It was an awful thought, but what could we do?

Unfortunately, if the garbage engineer offered any helpful advice on what we should do differently, I don’t remember it. I opened my lunch box to see a small sandwich wrapped in plastic, a shiny bag of chips, and a box of milk from the lunch lady. No one said anything at lunch about what we put in the trash can, and I grew up in the dichotomy of a prepackaged culture asking me to reduce, reuse and recycle. I knew something should be done, but assumed that my small part could not possibly make a dent in the global problem.

As going green becomes fashionable and we see marketing campaigns popping up encouraging us all to do our part, I started thinking that a hopeful, encouraging attitude could probably do more good than the doom and despair such a dirty problem could invoke. The Bible says to, “…consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Hebrews 10:24 (New International Version)

I know many chuckle at the naïve go green sentiment, but I have a feeling it’s not that we don’t care, but that we don’t believe our individual efforts can make a difference. Still, we do need to think about our patterns and ask ourselves what we can do differently to help. It won’t look the same for everyone, but change happens on the individual level. So don’t take this site as a place to lay guilt on your already loaded shoulders. Take it as a place to encourage you to adjust your patterns and think of simple ideas to help take care of the world God gave us.