We've gotten a bit of a start on the easy stuff... We already had a water-saver shower head and a lights off policy (not that CrazyHorse much abides by it yet but he's learning). We've changed about half our lightbulbs out for CFLs and we're steadily working on the other half. We've got the base of the compost bin built and a bag full of stuff to go into the recycle bins when we get them done. But there's a list of other easy stuff we hope to do soon.
As we can afford to change out our appliances with energy efficient ones.
Eliminate paper towel and paper napkin use entirely (but I need to get more cloth napkins and towels to do this)
Buy new towels - preferably organic in some form or another and cut up the old ones to use as dish/wash rags (we would need to do this step regardless - our towels are getting old)
finish planting the garden with veggies that we like to eat and that store or can or freeze well.
Put the herb garden in for cooking and aromatherapy and crafty stuff I want to do.
Set aside a paper only bin so CrazyHorse and I can make some good, heavy stationary this year.
phase out my cleaning products to natural based cleaning products (which I'll review here)
Find a local farmer's market and a place that does the you-pick for some of the stuff we'll not be able to grow on our little piece of land (and I mean itty bitty in comparison to what I want)
It's a start anyway - we've got a long way to go but at least it's the right direction!
The ultimate goal for us, the ideal as it were, won't be possible for another ten years or so, but it's something to work towards. We'd like to find ten to fifteen acres with trees and a stream. We want to build from scratch - an eco-friendly house with solar panels and whole house heating via sustainable methods - meaning, a stove house outside that is kept burning to heat the house and the water (a friend of ours has this), a greenhouse for wintertime veggies and more delicate plants (and anoles), a pump house at the stream to collect water power, a barn for livestock and a chicken coup. The dream is to be completely self-sufficient for most things. At least, food and energy wise. I'm not the best at making clothes and with two boys, we'll still need to buy that sort of thing but - it's a nice dream. I can make soap and candles and that kind of thing. But, like I said, it's going to be a few years before that's possible. We want a fruit orchard, grape vines, berry bushes, a massive garden.... I'm fortunate enough to have married someone with the same ideals as me. Now we just have to work our butts off to get there. I'm working on clearing out our basement on ebay, getting rid of stuff we don't need anymore - and there's a surprising amount of stuff we don't need anymore. Really. Between ebay and this years yard sale - whatever doesn't get bought and sold will likely go to the salvation army or some such organization. We just need to unclutter a bit. Strange coming from me - the clutter queen!
I have a few things I'd like to do this year too - I want to learn how to make baskets and build myself a loom. Maybe do some fun sorts of crafty things and open an etsy shop. I want to do what I can to make the dream come to fruition faster. Anything I can do to make that happen is a good thing. I just have to keep focused. It'll get there but I'd like for someday to be a lot closer than it looks right now...
So, the Hubs got the bulk of the compost bin built yesterday but he won't let me post pictures until he finishes the lid. Something about not wanting it online until it's right. Perfectionist - just a little...
We've talked a lot about this stuff, when the little one isn't feeling clingy or fussy (he's been under the weather for a few days and is just starting to perk up). When the compost bin is done, we'll get to work on setting up a recycling system. We discussed the big grande overall someday dream too but that deserves its own post sometime later - it'll probably be ten years before we can do that anyway. But - in the meantime, there is so much little stuff we could and should be doing.
So - we're starting. It'll be a slow start and probably a bit inconsistent at first but we'll get there. I'm just hoping we can pull off the big dream before the kids are too old to have fun with it.
First thing we need to find: a decent local farmer's market. We have a farm where we can get fresh eggs, and one where we are on the waiting list (yes, waiting list) for a side of organic beef. (We know the farmer and his meat is superb) There is absolutely NO way I could ever be a veggitarian. Hubster either. But we can do better about where we get our meat, what it's fed on. We can do better about where we get our coffee and what kind of packaging the rest of our food comes in. We can do better about so very much so I guess it's about time we tried to.
We're hoping to plant a little garden (acording to the Almanac it's not too late to start) but that will depend on several factors- including me not forgetting to water it...
We'll see how it goes. But it's a start.
My question for today: why aren't more people doing this? It's all so simple, so logical, so why is it so hard to do? Regardless of what side of the political aisle you stand on - we should still be doing our best to ensure that the earth that we leave our children is as good, or hopefully better, than when we started. No matter what your stance is on global warming or climate change, the fact is, we should be doing more to help keep our house clean.