Living green

The green craze has taken over Hollywood, so a few months ago I bought a few books on "living green" and trying to extend the life of our planet. It's amazing to think how wasteful we are as a society, and the impact we're making on the planet. It's also incredible to think of how simple it is to take steps to reduce that impact.

One of the things I love about living in Germany is that they recycle literally everything. At our house alone, we have the ability to recycle paper, plastic (including styrofoam and the milk-carton-paper-plastic that they can't in the states), metal; and we have a bio can for food (which means our trash can doesn't stink!), grass clippings, leaves and yard waste. But ON post we can also recycle glass, old electronics, light bulbs, bulk household items (like mattresses), old clothes (that are donated to needy organizations)...so really there is VERY little that actually gets thrown away in our trash can. Also living in Germany, they don't sell weed killer, so this spring I got a chance to use my homemade weed killer from my "Gorgeously Green" book.

Being pregnant I have a much bigger stake in making sure our house is more green, because it's more healthy for all of us! I don't think I'm brave enough to try cloth diapers, like the Binkleys, but I would like to try the chlorine-free diapers by Seventh Generation. Luckily, I discovered this week that shopping my registry earns me free diapers from Seventh Generation...good work, Amazon! We bought some of their wipes, now that our commissary carries the brand, but don't have a baby to try them out on yet! We've looked at a few organic cookbooks for toddlers, and have switched to many "green" cleaners in our house to reduce the amount of chemicals we're putting into the water. Thanks to all the press that "living green" has gotten in recent years, organic products have exploded onto the market and are affordable, so we don't have to be rich to help save the planet! There are also a ton of baby clothes out there made from organic cotton, many of which encourage free trade in developing countries, so really everyone wins.

Even Oscar is helping! We've looked at some biodegradable bags to pick up after him with, and his organic puppy shampoo is awesome. It's less expensive than the shampoo we used to use, it smells fantastic and gets him super clean. I picked up some eco-friendly trashbags last week, and if I could find paper towels made from recycled paper we'd be set. Luckily, I don't even have to stop using the dishwasher since we don't have one of THOSE in Germany either. There will be a lot of things that will be easier to change when we get back to the states, but for now we're doing our little part to extend the life of our planet for Baby Hayden, and his grandchildren!