Being Green

When we first started this blog, I mentioned that we were going to try to be green. We were using zero-VOC paint and had bought a dishwasher after finding that the water usage would be less. Then, we promised future updates. So, here it is. I know some of you may laugh and I realize this is coming from newbie parents who have NO IDEA what's in store for them. But, at least we're giving it the ol' college try ; ) - and it'll be on record for the little one to see...

So, what have we done? We have reused Shu's childhood furniture for the nursery. The crib and a bookshelf were our two new purchases, but who can fault us for wanting our child to be literate ;)

We have replaced some of our household cleaning products with "Greener" alternatives (largely thanks to Judy). We still have some work to do on some of our other cleaners, but we've got to work through inventory.

We now buy organic milk - it's tastier anyway. And, I'll have to work on buying organic meat, although I keep forgetting to look for it. We bought these cool grocery bags so we reduce the number of plastic T-shirt bags we bring home. I have to admit, it took me three grocery trips before I FINALLY remembered to take them in with me - hee hee. At least I don't have to deal with the overflowing bags of bags any more ; ) I'm also trying to use kitchen towels more than my Viva paper towels - especially for wiping down the counters.

We were very graciously gifted a subscription to a diapering service (very excited about this one - thanks, Yiwen and James!)--yes, we are going to try out cloth diapers. They can be covered with cute fashion statements and can be more environmental (although the jury is still out on the overall lifecycle impact - it comes down to landfill vs. resource consumption). The new versions are actually very easy to use. At least we don't have to use pins ;) As for organic clothes and toys, they tend to be cute and speak to a general environmental awareness, so we'll try to support the effort whenever we can. Wal-Mart actually has some cute stuff - our little boy is already lobbying to "Save the Whales" as a newborn - hee hee.

I hope to breastfeed and we are going to try out glass bottles at home - as long as the little one is a happy camper. Our pediatrician has all sorts of homemade baby food recipes, so we look forward to trying those out! I should probably note that when we travel/lose our minds we will be using disposable diapers, plastic bottles, and buying food, and who knows, we might just give up - but here we are committing - and we have all of you as witnesses - eeek!

I'm sure there is a whole lot more stuff that we could be doing and if you think of something please feel free to comment. The thing is, up until now most of our options have been just as easy. Some may have been a little more expensive than not (hello - $6 gallon milk!) but that's why we have the wonderful jobs we do- right? Anyway, hope this doesn't come across as us being on a soap box. If anything, I hope it inspires the two of us to try to keep up this effort.

Update: Here's some other ideas we've received: Using cloth napkins at home, instead of paper. Keeping tupperware in your car to use for doggy bags at restuarants...instead of the styrofoam.