Happy Earth Day

Earth Day is 40 years old today. Created in 1970 to celebrate the earth, appreciate nature and to act as good stewards of what mother nature has provided. I thought I would take today to reflect on the many little changes we have made in our household to be more sustainable in our daily lives. Maybe you will get an idea or two that aren't that hard to adopt this year in celebration of Earth Day. And as a self professed tree-hugging, liberal geologist I couldn't not write about Earth Day, but you knew that already :)

After the birth of our son, we took a step back and reevaluated what we wanted to teach him about being a good steward of our planet. And we are hoping that our actions speak louder than our words and when he is all grown up its not a question what is the right thing to do.

In 2009 we made the following changes and some are still in progress. We are living greener and more sustainable that before, but we also have to keep in mind our family budget and make changes one step at a time.

• Changed light bulbs in the house to compact fluorescent
• Recycle everything we can and can't wait for the new expanded recycle program in Mecklenburg county to start in July. I'm still bad about batteries, but have a solution worked out to get us in the habit. Luckily many more retailers are recycling these items for us places like Target, Best Buy and Home Depot all have bins for batteries, small electronics like ipods, light bulbs and printer cartridges.
  
• Use reusable totes for shopping or ask for paper if we forget. We are still trying to consistently remember our totes, but I do not let the grocery store use plastic bags on our groceries. And why do the baggers insist on putting my milk in a bag, I don't get it, the milk has a handle for goodness sake.
• Changed our cleaning and laundry supplies to plant based, green and/or natural products. I love the Method and Mrs. Meyers brands. We are still on the lookout for an affordable dishwasher liquid in this category. Any suggestions are welcome.
• Changing our herbicides and pesticides for the lawn and garden to eco-friendly options. Home Depot is carrying a new line of eco pesticides. We are trying out the ant killer on those pesky sugar ants we can't get rid of since redoing the kitchen. Makes the house smell very minty.
• Cloth Diaper Holden. This was a big one, and we love them (well I do, not sure if Jeremy has the same opinion). I wouldn't go back to disposables for multiple reasons and I'm like a walking commercial for cloth diapers. And cloth wipes too, they are great for cleaning up more than a dirty bum. I have to give credit to my mother-in-law for these, she made us a ton of cloth wipes when Holden was still itty bitty.
  
• Got rid of paper napkins (thanks to my mom for helping finish sewing the cloth napkins). We still have to phase out the paper towels. But like I said one thing at a time.
  
• Try to use less plastic containers and buy dry goods in bulk and store in glass jars. We use glass tupperware when we can but we don't have very many so I can't phase out the plastic stuff quite yet.
  
• Buy local sustainable food. I would say about 60% of our food is local, meat, eggs and produce mostly. Dairy when we can afford it. About another 30% is unprocessed, natural ingredients. We have rid our house of high fructose corn syrup, growth hormone in milk and many other hard to pronounce ingredients in packaged foods. I'm really liking this change even though it is sometimes more work for me. The farmers markets here are awesome, and our local farm co-op allows us to get our meat, eggs and dairy from within 200 miles of Charlotte. We have also stuck to our meatless suppers at least one night a week which helps offset some of the cost of the local meats which are totally worth it.
  
• We have recycled our e-waste this year (well we are going to, the old computer is still sitting by the front door waiting for its trip to the recycle center). This is a first for me.

I'm sure there are some other little things we are doing that would count, like consignment shopping for Holden's clothes and toys. But we do that mostly for the savings.

Some big things we want to do this year

• Start a compost pile. I'm just waiting for the compost bins to clearance out at the end of the season
• Get a rain barrel. Jeremy thinks he can build us one, so this is on his honey do list.
• I'm hoping to can veggies and fruits this year as things are local and in season so we have preserved local foods during the winter months.

I'd love to hear what you have done to be a good steward of the Earth in the last year. And I hope we have inspired someone to make one of the changes we made. Every little bit helps.

Happy Earth Day!

I did not get any endorsement from the retail outlets or products mentioned above, just sharing our knowledge with the internets

Meatless Supper club-week 8

Last week was the final week in the meatless supper challenge. We are still incorporating meatless meals into our weekly suppers but this will be the last time I'm on the hook for blogging about them. So in the future I'll just share some of the best recipes with you. We had a pasta dish last night from weight watchers (yes, I'm still trying to get rid of baby weight). It was quite yummy but I am a huge goat cheese fan.

Tomato, herb and goat cheese capellini
Serves 4 (5 points)

4 Tbsp reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tsp minced garlic
2 cup(s) cherry tomato(es), quartered
1/2 pound(s) uncooked capellini, or spaghetti, cooked and kept warm
2 Tbsp basil, fresh, minced
3 Tbsp parsley, fresh, minced
1/4 cup(s) semisoft goat cheese, crumbled
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste

Instructions

Heat 1 tablespoon of broth in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and sauté 2 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes and cook until just soft, about 1 minute. Add remaining broth and heat through.

Place cooked pasta in a large bowl and add tomato mixture; toss to combine. Add herbs and goat cheese; toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot or at room temperature. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

On a final note, Jeremy and I watched the movie Food, Inc. on Friday. I will warn that if you are a supporter of big business, uber-capitalism its not the movie for you. But if you are already having doubts about how our food industry is becoming not quite as humane and safe for consumers it might be an enlightening movie for you. The authors of Omnivore's Dilemma and Fast Food Nation were heavily involved in the creation of the movie. There is a discussion of farm to table practices by both commercial food and sustainable farming/organic foods. I highly recommend the film, it is not only well made as a documentary but also very insightful on the practices of sustainable farms, organic food companies, feedlots, corn and soybeans as our cash crops in America, and meat processing plants and their treatment of both livestock and workers.

Jeremy and I already lean towards going back to eating locally and from sustainable farms as much as possible. I have read both Omnivore's Dilemma and Fast Food Nation, and after watching the movie, Food, Inc. I have concluded that not only do I feel like buying from local sustainable farm is the way to support family farms but its a way for me to quietly not support the practices of big business in the food world. I am realistic in knowing that our family can't 100% change and we will still have to purchase things from the grocery store but the less I support unsafe working conditions for meat processors, or the unfair treatment of farmers that decided to work for big food corporations the better. Maybe if enough of us change who we support when we feed our families the companies will get the message. I'm not fully convinced of that yet but I know I feel better about what my family eats when I know it came from a family farm that respects the livestock they are raising to feed their family and mine.

OK, that was my soap box, I'd love to hear how you feel about the subject.

Green Baby?

I have been mulling over how to make our lives greener and struggling on what is worth investing in long term. We have made small energy efficiencies at home as we have upgraded things and have always recycled. Now with Holden in our lives I have a renewed interest in making his life not only green but healthy. The dilemma and minor disagreement the hubs and I are having is how to be green but also not increase our expenses by much. So, I have been researching how to make changes in our life slowly. I'll be honest that we won't be able to be 100% green, there are a few things that I'm just not sure we are ready to do, No. 1 Our home will never be a vegetarian home. So the things we have done so far I think have made us a little bit greener:

1. compact florescent lighting
2. energy efficient appliances and thermostat
3. We conserve water and lighting in the home as much as possible
4. Cloth diapers and wipes
5. organic formula
6. recycle
7. family garden
8. buying local in the spring and summer

I have been reading Super Baby Food, trying to educate ourselves on the next step with Holden, solid food. I want to make some of Holden's food and had heard the book was good and I like it so far. I know realistically I probably can't make 100% of his food but going to shoot for at least his food at home being homemade. So, in the essence of being healthy and green I'm trying to decide if organic is the way to go. Jeremy thinks its going to be too expensive. I want him to have the best for Holden, and I don't know what to think about the American food industry anymore. I believe I'm a pretty practical gal but now that I'm a mom things that weren't a big deal before baby seem to be a big deal after baby. Including, I don't really mind having conventionally grown (i.e pesticide covered) fruits and veggies in my diet but not sure that I want to do the same with Holden's diet. Don't get me wrong, I wash my fruits and veggies and buy local during the spring and summer. But I am really conflicted about whether buying organic is the way to go with Holden or not.

I would appreciate other's thoughts on the matter. Am I being silly, is eating a well balanced meal good enough? What about just buying the top 12 most contaminated produce organic? Or just buying in season?

In addition to the organic food dilemma. I think I'm going to slowly replace my cleaning supplies with greener non toxic options. There are a lot more products available now than even 5 years ago and the cost isn't much different. If anyone has any suggestions on a particular green brand please let me know. What has worked for you?