Earth Day

Yesterday was Earth Day. While not a big to-do here, we have been working our way to greener in some ways and yesterday was a good day to reflect on that. Here is some of what we have been doing:

• Recycling - we had been kind of hit or miss with recycling in the chaos of multiple moves, but we have finally gotten a bin in the kitchen and one of Bug's chores is to take the recycling to the dumpster when Daddy does garbage.
• Eating Local - we have been gradually cutting back on pre-prepared, processed foods and are starting to get more local foods into the equation. When you think about it, the amount of energy and fossil fuels used to get foods harvested commercially, processed, packaged, transported, and so on is really quite impressive in a depressing sort of way. We are looking forward to Farmer's Market starting up again in May and this year we have joined a CSA, so we are looking forward to a lot of yummy, local produce this summer!
• Getting into Nature - we are trying to do more outside as the kids get bigger. We can branch out from going to the playground all the time and go on hikes in the Arboretum and parks and see plants and animals up close.
• Mindful Resource Use - this isn't really anything new, but we continue to have a cooler house in the winter, a warmer house in the summer, try and turn off lights and appliances that aren't in use, conserve water in the shower/bath, walking to "close park" instead of driving somewhere else, using reusable grocery bags, etc.