Earth-friendly Family

As unsexy as it may sound, it was our environmental ethics that attracted Kevin and I to each other. Our shared passion made us a match made on Earth. Now we are doing our best to create an earth-friendly family.

Thanks to Portland’s new massive recycling roll carts, we’ve managed to slim our garbage service down to one can a month. This definitely takes some thoughtfulness about what we are consuming and whether it will become waste. Admittedly we do have to jam it packed on trash night, but it is worth the satisfaction of making the goal each time. Kieran loves talking about how Bob the Builder teaches how to “reduce, reuse, recycle,” and Jack Johnson’s Three R’s song is like a family anthem.

Part of our ability to stick to one garbage can is our effort to use mostly cloth diapers instead of disposables. With Kieran we tried to use G-Diapers, which is a “flushable” core with cloth outer diaper. Yet, our old toilet didn’t like flushing so much, so after three months of trying and a $150 plumber bill we decided to call it quits. However, with Makenna’s birth we were determined to try the cloth option. This is obviously takes a bit of an effort, but it’s actually not as hard as I thought it would be. I do have to give a lot of credit to the fantastic all-in-one cloth diapers that I’ve been using, like Bum Genius, Happy Heiny’s and Tiny Tush. I also can’t give G-Diapers a total bad wrap though either, because they do work well with our new toilet and I use them with cloth inserts now too. Lastly on this topic, we’re thrilled our day care provider uses a cloth diaper service, so that makes even more worth our efforts at home.

Thankfully, kids aren’t in diapers forever! So, we’re also working to grow long-term environmental roots for our family by native landscaping and organic gardening. It’s not easy, but we do have a great time outside as a family. Kieran begs to go dig in the dirt, and can’t get enough of worms. With any luck, Makenna will have the same appreciation for picking flowers from the yard as I did as a little girl. There is still a learning curve, and even though I’ve been gardening since high school I still find myself needing/wanting to learn more. I look forward to learning more each year, and now teaching our children.

As you might suspect, I could write all day on this topic, so I’ll skip to our family three new family goals:

• Start Meatless Mondays
• Make the switch to all micro-fiber cleaners – no more disposable Swiffers
• Insulate our “new” home

One of the main things I’ve learned after almost twenty years as a so-called environmentalist (yes, I did catch the bug in junior high!) is that no one really wants to pollute the earth or waste the resources we depend upon. And yet, our modern American lifestyles make it very hard to kick the habit. That's why it's so important that we share our eco-friendly habits with others, because each make a difference, but we can't do it alone.

So, please to share your tips or goals as a comment!

Happy Earth Day!