My Green Phase

I'm catching up on all the posts I didn't do last week, in case you are wondering why I'm so verbose tonight. I actually had these done, just not posted.

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I've started looking into green cleaning. It all started innocently enough. Glenn is now calling it my 'Green Phase' but we'll see if it sticks.

I started out this spring going to see a naturopath that a friend reccomended. She is really a terrific doctor, and I think she has made a difference. Anyway, she started talking to me about how important it was to try to eat foods as close to being whole as possible. About how organics are better for you, how there are so many pesticides and chemicals applied to everything we touch now that we are exposed to lots and lots of toxins which can make us feel bad. I've always been a bit of a skeptic so I listened and figured I'd give her way a shot.

Over time I did see a difference, and so I started adding other little things. For a few years now we've had 2 garbage cans. We got the second one when Glenn's Mom moved in and we just stuck with it. We filled them both up each week. It was costing us a ton of money, and we were diligently filling up the landfill.

So we started recycling. We sent back the second can and we rarely fill the one can completely. It is amazing how much stuff can be recycled.

It is only natural after you start looking around at these kinds of things that you look at the chemicals that you use in your home. I bought a book on Green Cleaning, and I figured I'd give the products a try. I'd been using Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products and Seventh Generation Laundry detergents. Little did I know that I could clean most of the rest of my house with baking soda, vinegar, olive oil and lemon juice!

Do we still use plastic - sure we do. I'm storing kid's clothes in it like mad. I'm not to the point of sleeping on organic cotton sheets and what not, but I like the changes we have made. If nothing else we are saving money now with these small changes. Hopefully we are shrinking our footprint as well!