Green Is The New Pink

Today, in honor of Earth Day, I thought about being more green.  You have to understand, that in a family of 5, even THINKING of giving up a few conveniences in the name of the environment is a big deal.  There are so many things I'd love to just DO, but the reality is much, much harder than it seems.  Cutting back on my shower time, for example.  I mean, that IS one of the few times a day I'm alone.  To cut it back seems almost cruel...  So today I tried to not beat myself up over being only "sort of" green and tried to think of things I can do that won't send me to the mad house.

About 6 months ago a friend of mine organized a reusable bag bulk buy.  She purchased tons of these cute Turtle bags from Monde Ami and many of us were able to split the difference for shipping, etc.  I got 20.  I figured with the amount of diapers we were dumping into landfills on a daily basis, the least we could do was cut down on our plastic bag contribution.  And they have been looking LOVELY in my garage the last 6 months.  I promise I had the BEST intentions!  Finally, just this week hubby divided them between our car and minivan and put them right in the front seat where I'm sure to not forget them the next time I venture out to Target or somewhere.  So, my first step towards being more green is to remember those bags!

The environment and being green has become such a hot topic lately.  I don't remember EVER hearing about it when I was in grade school at all, and yet just today Princess #1 came home from preschool singing (to the tune of BINGO) "E-A-R-T-H, E-A-R-T-H, E-A-R-T-H, The earth we need to care for".  And as she and her sister played on the swingset in our backyard she casually informed me that if we didn't take care of the world, it would DIE (said in her most dramatic voice).  Obviously, no matter where a person stands politically in terms of "being green" - if you have small children, the topic is bound to come up.  My second step towards being more green is to educate my children how to care for the world God created for us (yes, I know this is broad - but it was a big enough feat to just convince her that the world was not going to DIE while she was sleeping tonight).

And with 2 under my belt I sort of feel like I need a third step to round things out...  I guess I'm still working on that one.  Living where I do, we're sorta slow to jump on the "green" bandwagon.  They don't exactly make it easy to do things like recycle, for example.  When we lived out on the West Coast it was a no-brainer.  The City gave each home a trashcan, a paper recycle bin and a glass recycle bin.  It all went out on the curb on trash day.  Easy peasy.  Not so the case here... Oh oh!  I know what my third step will be.  I will research local recycling groups to find out about policies and terms and how to get connected so that we can begin to reduce our waste again.

So there you have it.  Not exactly Kermit the Frog, but even he said it wasn't easy being green.