Friday, September 24, 2010

Going Green

Lately I've been feeling convicted about how I treat/mistreat the environment. My sweet husband lovingly asked me if I am becoming "one of those tree-hugging crazies." I don't think I am, although some changes that I am considering will be out of the American norm. Here are some of the things that I have been considering (and no I am not committing to make these changes - just pondering):

1. After we move I want to stop buying paper napkins and towels. This is the easiest one, I think. Not only will it save a lot of money, but our classy factor will increase a hundred fold if we eat with cloth napkins every night.

Martha would approve.

2. Feminine products. Yeah, I know. Super nasty. The idea of using one of these things more than once makes me cringe, too. But, think about it. They're expensive. They're wasteful. The good news: we have options. Pads, tampons and... diva cups? I am afraid that the tampons would give me an instant case of TSS, but that may just be my grossed-out sensibilities talking.

Admit it. You think the owls are cute. And it has snaps!











3. When we have kids (no Mom, I'm not pregnant) I really, really want to use cloth diapers and wipes. Yes, there will be a lot of laundry but I think it would be worth it between the savings and the decreased incidence of diaper rash and other un-pleasantries.


Teach 'em young

4. Number three made me think: How hypocritical is it to make your kid use cloth diapers when you use trees to wipe your butt? This is the thing on my list with the biggest "ick factor." I know that for thousands of years people went to the bathroom with out a toilet, much less toilet paper, but it's just so - expected, and normal, and nice, and easy. There are, however, many alternates to tp. Some people use cloth wipes, other simply get a bidet. I'm leaning towards a bidet, but I think this may be where the green train stops. I would rather be married. I still maintain that cutting down trees to wipe your butt and immediately throw away is the ultimate waste.
See. It's not that scary...
5. Switch to a CatGenie rather than using our current nasty box and traditional litter. Cat litter is terrible for the environment. It is bad to make and worse to throw away. Making this alteration would also allow us to make change #6.

6. Switch to re-usable grocery bags rather than plastic. This is something that I really want to do, but, we have cats. Our cats have a litter box. It has to be cleaned out. We have to have a place to put their... deposits. That place is a plastic bag. See our predicament? Save us, CatGenie!
Stylish!

I'm going to stop this list here, lest I overwhelm myself. 6 is a good start, after all. I'll keep you updated as to our progress. I will say that we have switched to using CFL bulbs almost exclusively, so that's good right?

2 comments:

  1. I've only used "mama cloth"-- re-usable pads for one month, and I LOVE it. I love not being wasteful, they are super comfortable, and you will get used to the blood-- I promise. The first and second day were trial and error but by the end of the second night, I had it.

    My favorite site to buy from, as well as learn about the dioxin/endometriosis link and PROS of using mama cloth is

    http://gemcloth.webs.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hm. I just checked out the site. They are pretty, I can say that! My biggest concern is that I just really hate (and I mean hate) pads. I haven't used them since middle school. Reusable tampons frighten me, but I don't want to sink $17 into pads and not be able to stand them.

    ReplyDelete