green

One thing I love about the Green and Clean Mom community is there is so many people I can learn from. So many more people who have more experience at being green than I do and are willing to share what they have learned. Quite a few of these people also have their own personal or business blogs that are other excellent sources to learn from.

I love how we are all different. We have different backgrounds and are at different places in our lives yet we are able to glean from each other in one place. Although, I’m not sure what anyone is gleaning from me because I think I’m about as new to green as one can get. Basically all I do is recycle and am more aware of things than I was before. Yet that’s why I’m here. I’m here to learn and I’m here to share.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not very green. I’m finding that it’s much harder to be green than I originally thought. I have years of convenience and bad habits to break. I have mindsets that need to be renewed. Yet I now have eyes that have been opened and a mind that is processing what I’m learning and then deciding what change needs to made now.

I have a place where I can ask a question and have it answered without receiving condemnation because I’m new. I have a place that actually posts my blog pieces even though I’m so new to this that I feel inadequate sharing with others I am learning from.

Yet I think that’s the point. We are a community of like-minded women (and a few men) who are able to come together and share with each. We build each other up and help each other out. I for one am proud to be a part of this community. Thank you to everyone who makes Green and Clean Mom thrive!

Photo Credit: kramerhawks

Not too long ago I made my own laundry soap. I went online and found a basic recipe, bought the ingredients, and in no time I had my own laundry soap.

I was ecstatic because if it passed the kid test then I could make my own soap much cheaper than buying it. The kid test is making sure my middle child doesn’t break out in hives. I can only use All-Free or Purex (no dye or fragrance) because otherwise he breaks out in hives.

I am happy to report he passed the soap test. Yay! However, I didn’t. I forgot I have to be careful with laundry soap also. Darn. I’m not quite sure what to do about that. Obviously I won’t be washing my clothes with the soap because hives aren’t fun. They are itchy, icky, and irritating.

Does anyone else have problems with laundry detergent? What do you use? Is it affordable? (I have a load of laundry I do every.single.day.of.the.week.) Do you make your own? If so, what is your recipe?

Photo Credit: trialsanderrors

This fenced area came with our house when we moved here. I have heard that the previous owner’s wife had a garden in that area which is exactly what I want to do with it.

The only problem is I don’t know where to begin. I know at some point I have to get rid of the grass, do something with the dirt, and plant seeds. I have never had a garden before and don’t know anyone who does. I’ve been checking out books from the library and searching online to see what I need to do and when to start. I’m afraid it’s probably too late to start now since it’s starting to get cooler here.

However, I would love to be able to grow my own vegetables. So, I’m going to pretend I know what I’m doing and make a fantasy garden. In my fantasy garden I would have lettuce, broccoli, potatoes, cucumbers, and oh, I don’t know what else. What I would love to have is avocados, oranges, fuji apples, and olives. (Remember, I’m dreaming.) However, I’m pretty sure only the first set will grow in my area.

If you know what you’re doing when it comes to gardening and growing vegetables, please don’t be too hard on me. Or laugh at me too much. This will be a big feat for me since I haven’t been able to keep any plant we’ve ever owned alive. I remember one time a good friend asked why I kept a pot of dirt sitting on the table. I didn’t know what he was talking about so I went to look. Oh. That was a plant a friend gave us. Oops.

I don’t know how it is in your homes, but in my home I am the one who is green. I am the one who doesn’t use paper towels anymore. I’m the one who is recycling. I’m the one who is looking into other ways for us to be more green.

My husband on the other hand isn’t quite there. He’s getting there but some things are so ingrained in him that his habits are hard to break.

For example:

• paper towels. He still reaches for the paper towels to clean up a mess so he can easily toss it into the trash instead of getting a rag to clean it up. Sometimes he’s frustrated that we don’t have paper towels so I offer to buy a set just for him to use but he ends up changing his mind.
• Re-usable bags. I have re-usable bags that I keep in the trunk of the car so they are always available. Yet when he goes to the store he will bring home more plastic bags. We re-use the bags so it’s not all bad but it would be nice to not have to mess with them.
• Cleaning Products. He is a bleach guy through and through. He also loves Fantastic so that’s what he uses when he’s cleaning up. He also loves Comet. I on the other hand have been using baking soda to clean with and have found that it works just as well as my other cleaners. (We do agree with moping our floor with vinegar and water.)
• Recycling. If it were up to him, only the coke cans would get recycled. He forgets that we can also recycle tin cans, paper, magazines, plastics #1 and #2, glass, and cardboard. He throws away stuff that we could easily recycle. He likes the fact that we are recycling but forgets to actually do it.

Don’t get me wrong. This post isn’t complaining about my husband. My husband is wonderful and supportive. He likes that I am looking for ways to save money, be green, and have a better lifestyle. He has also noticed that our trash consumption has been reduced by half since we started recycling. He also likes that for our children they will grow up doing this on their own, they won’t have to change their mindsets.

Habits are hard to break especially when you are consciously trying to change. Every change takes time and although I am starting the change before him, he does agree with what I am doing. For that I am thankful.

Someday we will be on the same page but right now, we are taking each step a day at a time.

Photo credit: honky_tonk89

I have been on a geothermal kick ever since a house in our area was for sale with geothermal heating and cooling. I would have loved to have that house but I already have a house so it doesn’t make sense to get another one. But a girl can dream.

So, while reading the October 2008 issue of Oklahoma Living Magazine I read an interesting article about rooftop air-conditioners. The article was Change is Difficult by Doug Rye.

Doug Rye was invited to speak at a local chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He was discussing how placing air-conditioning units on rooftops was wasting energy and it would be more efficient to place the unit in the earth where it is a constant 57 degrees.

This, however, is what really caught my attention:

I asked the architects at our meeting, “How many of you are familiar with geothermal heating and cooling?” Nearly every hand went up. I then asked, “How many of you think geothermal is the most efficient heating and cooling system available?” Most raised their hands. “How many of you have specified geothermal systems in any building you have designed?” Two hands were raised.

And then came the most revealing question of all. “How many of you have a geothermal system in your house?” Zero hands.

I have been thinking about this article ever since I read it. I think what bothers me most is these are architects who know better, yet they aren’t pushing for change.

If I were to have a home designed, I would like to think that the professional would want to make my home more energy efficient. I don’t know, maybe I think differently than most people.

Photo credit: takomabibelot

Why do I recycle? Hmm. Well…let’s see. It started when I watched the movie, Idiocracy. I was amazed at the piles and piles of trash all over. Then there was my trip to the dump. I was amazed at the piles and piles of trash all over. Then I watched the movie, Wall-E. You guessed it…I was amazed at the piles and piles of trash all over.

Those three incidents were forever blazed in my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about those images. I started looking at my trash differently. It was no longer going somewhere to be magically whisked away. It was going somewhere to be buried and sit and sit and sit. I’m pretty sure most of my stuff wasn’t biodegradable.

I kept thinking about my trip to the dump. I went to the dump because I was moving and didn’t want to take that stuff with me. It was easier to throw it all in the back of a truck to take to the dump than to sort through it and give it to the Salvation Army.

So to the dump I went. Oh.my.gosh. At the dump all you do is stand in the back of the truck and toss your stuff out on the ground. There wasn’t a special place to put it, you just tossed and left, never to worry about it again. But I did worry about it. A lot. I kept thinking about it over and over. I kept thinking about how my selfishness and laziness just added to the problem.

After that trip, I was more aware of my surroundings. I started looking at what I was throwing away. I started looking into reusable bags. I started knitting market bags. I started looking into being more green. I started looking for a recycling center in my area. I started recycling. I started making a difference.

Photo credit:D’Arcy Norman

This post was cross-posted at the Green and Clean Mom Community.

As I was reading the newspaper the other day, I came across an article about a local hospital that is starting to take steps to being green.

The steps being taken are:

• handing out reusable shopping bags to each of their 2,400 employees.
• launched a hospital-wide recycling program which will have 350 recycling bins placed throughout the building.
• recycling more than 20,000 pounds of cardboard each month.
• using more environmentally friendly cleaning chemicals.
• using 100 percent biodegradable products instead of Styrofoam plates, bowls, and containers.

I don’t know about you but this blew my mind! A hospital is becoming more environmentally friendly! A hospital that has 2,400 employees (this doesn’t include the patients and visitors) and they are using biodegradable products.

Maybe things like this have been happening for quite some time but in my short time of trying to be green this is the first I have heard of a hospital taking on the task of becoming more green.

What would happen if more hospitals started becoming more environmentally friendly? Can you imagine the impact they could have on their community?

Photo credit: striatic

(This post has been crossed-posted at the Green and Clean Mom community.)

Hey guys! I’m over at the Green and Clean Mom community today.

I’m confessing how Saturday was my first time to take stuff to the recycling center and how I don’t want to be a leader. I would rather be a follower. (It’s not a great character trait but one I possess.)

Yea! I’m featured over here today. I’m a contributing blogger on Tuesdays at the Green and Clean Mom Community.

I encourage you to go over, check out what I have to say and comment at either place.