Sunday, June 1, 2008

Aaron Goes Green

We've been thinking a lot at our house about ways we can minimize our negative impact on the environment - how to shrink our carbon footprint, for those who know the lingo. :-) We've had new energy efficient windows put into the house, and are looking forward to using less natural gas and electricity to keep the temperature comfy. We are now avid composters, turning our egg shells, banana peels, dryer lint, and yard clippings into rich fertilizer for the garden. I'm even making all of Aaron's baby food at home, reducing packaging consumption, energy waste, and greenhouse gas emissions. Our most recent foray into environmental stewardship has turned Aaron green -- at least his rear end. :-)


Yup. We're taking the plunge and transitioning to cloth diapers. Our friends the Scaccos convinced us that it's pretty easy with the new and improved bumGenius 3.0 cloth diapers. I love that this diaper is a one-size-fits-all, from newborn to toddler, which makes the initial investment a little easier to swallow. We only have six for now, but will need to add to our collection if we're going to use them exclusively. And the Scaccos are right - it is pretty easy!

We're curious to hear about ways that your family is working to minimize waste. Any creative ideas out there?

5 comments:

Aunt Janet said...

Thumbs up! I do my part by recycling around the house.

Look at Aaron, standing up and always smiling. He doesn't seem to mind that he is doing his part to save the environment.

There was a news story the other day here in Cincinnati where three high school students rode their horses to school because they couldn't afford the gas.

On my way to work Friday, I saw a man who had walked to the local Dollar General store, made his purchases and stuffed them into his radio flyer wagon and had bunge cords around it to hold in his items.

I do my part every chance I get to help save our enviroment.

Topher, Tina, Linnea & Sofia said...

We have been using BumGenius for about 4 months now and they are great! Chris doesn't even mind messing with them, although he hasn't learned how to wash them yet.

Rebecca said...

Let's see, I really am just not as green as Aaron and his parents, but a few things I do are
* take my own mug to church for coffee time (reducing the trash in the landfill by 52 cups per year.)
* use my own cloth bags for groceries
* take a refillable bottle everywhere for water - no more bottles (although I did recycle them)
* store leftovers and pack lunches in "tupperware" rather than plastic bags

Sittintall said...

I have to say, I am not as "green" either. I would like to try some things, and yet have clung to some conveniences. We could really use energy efficient windows too, but it is a bit costly right now.

For now:
-I garage shop for items for the girls, instead of buying all new (better on the wallet too).
-recycle, and don't use bottled water any more (thanks to Rebo)
-have a huge garden (thanks to Kevin) in which we have mostly fresh veggies for the late summer.
-I would like to do the shopping bags too but we unfortunately use those plastic bags for a lot of things.

S&S said...

Hey Sarah! Just linked to your site from Rebo's - wow, Aaron is a cutie!! I love the cloth diapers. We're "going green" at the Stiemsma house too lately. I've been growing most of our veggies for a couple years, but we just found a local dairy that delivers all our dairy products, complete with glass bottles. The kids love the milkman coming to our door and I feel like I'm stepping back in time! We're also looking into solar panels for the house. Anyway, it's so neat to "hear" about your family. Sounds like you're making lots of great choices - thanks for the encouragement!
Sarah :)