Happy Earth Day!

Today is Earth day!  Happy Earth Day and hope you do something green!  Earth day is near and dear to my heart, I've always worried about the Earth, for as long as I can remember.  I remember when I was young feeling guilty about styrafoam containers fast food used to come in.  Anyway, I hope to instill a love of the Earth in my children and teach them the importance of taking care of the planet.  Last year we just read a few Earth-related books for Earth day.  The babies were, little babies.  This year we will probably read the same children's books- "The Life of a Plastic Bottle" and "The 3 R's, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" or something close to those.  We will probably do something outside, nature-y.  We'll see.  As they get older I already have some fun activities planned, but for now we are keeping it simple. 
Here are some things our family does to be green-think about simple things your family can do to be green on Earth day & everyday! Even little things do help! 

• Hang clothes to dry.  I LOVE clothes fresh off the line.  They smell wonderful and feel so nice.  I even like the towels this way.  Some people think they feel like sandpaper after line-drying but I really like them.
• Wash clothes in cold water.  We always do this unless someone is sick with flu-like symptoms. 
• Recycle when you can.  Our area doesn't have a recycling program, so it's challenging.  I keep all glass jars and resuse them for other things.  I recycle what I can and pray we get a program soon. 
• Use compact florescent lightbulbs.  We have been using these for a few years and you do notice a difference on the light bill.  Since we moved, we are waiting for some lights to blow-out and we'll replace with CFLs.  They are totally worth the $$$.
• Use natural cleansers.  We rarely use anything to clean anymore unless it's organic or all-natural.  I mostly clean with vinegar or peroxide.  I like using stuff that's safe for my kids.  There are some Shaklee products we use and I like Method and Seventh Generation. 
• Buy organic food when we can.  The kids eat mostly organic.  I would love to switch us completely, but it is a process.  We will get there! 
• Buy organic cotton clothing when it's feasible. 
• Wear & buy secondhand clothes-especially for the kids.  Honestly, I have found many, many name brand clothes at yard sales and the consignment shop and they don't even look worn.  I got a great double stroller at the consignment shop. I always look there first for things we need.  People are wonderful with blessing us with hand-me-downs.  Emilynn gets to wear lots of Alyssa's stuff which I think is neat.  It's fun to try to remember Alyssa being that small, or look at pictures where she's wearing something Emmy can now wear.  Carson gets lots of Hunter's things.  We get stuff from Hunter, Shelby, & Kelsey too.  Friends have given us things.  Sometimes used clothing freaks people out.  I understand this.  But, kids sometimes wear their clothes once.  My kids can ruin something in one wearing.  It's just not practical to buy expensive stuff.  It's kind of the same as someone trying on stuff in the store, you know?  You never know who tried it on before you bought it and might have worn it without even washing it.......something to think about. 
• I also get toys at consignment if we need something.  I've only done that once when we were inbetween baby toys and Christmas/birthday.  I just sanitize and we're good to go.
• Composting.  I love my compost bin.  It was a birthday gift from Dustin a couple of years ago and I thought it was so sweet because he made it.  We put all our kitchen scraps in there. 
• Gardening....stay tuned on this one.  The first year we were married we had a nice garden and it's been hit or miss since then.  We have lots of wildlife here so it might not make it but we're gonna try.  The babies will have fun playing in it regardless.  :-) 
• I try to think about packaging when I can.  I love our milk because it comes in half gallon mason jars.  No packing to have to recycle or throw out.  I try to buy things in bulk so there's less small packaging to throw away. 
• Take re-usable bags to the grocery store.  I try to remember but I do occasionally forget.  You actually get bag credit for bringing them though.  I saved $1 off my total last time just for bringing my bags to Kroger. 

That's all I can think of right now.  There may be more.....and there's more we need to work on.  There's always more we can do! 
Hope you have a good Earth day and do something GREEN!