The Greenness

I've never tried to evaluate just how green I am, but I found myself thinking about it today while sitting outside and reading an issue of MSO's Body & Soul. It's a great magazine which I awesomely get for free as a hand-me-down from Nana.

I found myself thinking about what I do to be eco-friendly and body-friendly, what I'm working on doing more and more, and what I'd like to do eventually.

What I do:

• We used cloth diapers for two and a half years, saving about 4,500 disposable diapers and $2,000.
• All of Ro's drinking cups are glass.
• All of Ro's toys are wood or cloth.
  
• We use all natural soaps on Ro, without SLS, Parabens, DMDM or artificial dyes or fragrances.
  
• We have omitted HFCS and artificial coloring from Ro's diet.
• We started a small garden, growing tomatoes, strawberries, herbs, eggplant, garlic and peppers.
• We forage black raspberries from the surrounding forest.
  
• 95% of our wardrobe is cotton, wool or silk.
• We recycle everything we can.
• We compost anything we can.
• All dish and laundry detergent we buy is bio and eco-friendly.
• Instead of paper towels, we have a hoard of tea towels and cloth napkins. We use the old, holey and stained ones for cleaning counters/stovetops/etc and we use the nicer condition ones for wiping faces/hands. I use TP instead of paper towels when cleaning the toilets, then flush the mess.
  
• We spend a lot of time in nature, and I believe that witnessing helps with respecting.
  

What I'm working on:

• Ro's snack bowls and silverware are plastic. I'd like to get small, lightweight metal bowls for her. She's almost old enough to use grown-up silverware without a problem.
• Our garden is small, I'd like to expand it to provide produce for a family of 4.
• I'd like to remove all unnatural fibers from our wardrobes.
• Reducing, because recycling is only slightly better than throwing away.
• Cleaning up litter where I find it in the woods or bodies of water.
• Eating only local or kindly raised meats.
• Omitting as much meat and cow dairy as possible.
• Eating a plant-protein based diet instead of an animal-protein based diet.
  

What I'd like to do:

• Buy a Brita pitcher or Pur faucet attachment and a stainless steel drinking bottle for each member of the household, omitting the use of plastic bottles.
  
• Find ways to incorporate solar power into our home.
• Purchase compact hybrid cars.
• Contact the local company who owns the free-for-all pond behind our house and ask them if I can make "No Littering" signs.
• Omit the use of plastic storage containers and collect vintage glass refrigerator boxes.

This list is very partial! I know there's more I can do, want to do, and am doing. I'll use it as a missive and add to it as I think of things.