Going Green...well, kind of

In honor of Earth Day, I've decided to make some small and simple changes to help out our environment. No, I am not a crazy environmentalist, but I think there are small changes I can make to help improve the planet. When Jeff got home and I told him I was "going green" he looked at me, put his hands around my face and said jokingly, "What happened to my wife?" You see, Jeff isn't big into believing that Global Warming is real. He's a Glen Beck fan and shares a lot of the same views. Don't get me wrong, Jeff isn't like, whoohoo, lets kill the planet, but he thinks there's a lot of unnecessary hype and distorted facts. So anyways, here are some of the small things I've decided to do:

Reusable shopping bags:If you know me, you know I love Target! So, I've invested in some of these cool Target shopping bags. The large ones are only $1.49 and the medium ones are $.99. I love the medium size one because it zips up into this cute little pouch that you can put in your purse. The large ones also fold up nice and compact, so you aren't lugging all these bags into the store with you. They hold way more stuff than a normal plastic bag, and you don't have to worry about the bag ripping open while you are hauling stuff into the house. Target also has some sturdier bags, but they are $5.99 each. I also invested in some Wal-Mart reusable bags ($.88) because, yes, we do shop at "evil" Wal-Mart frequently. Although, they aren't as mod and stylish as the Target bags, they still do the job. I guess I'd feel weird taking my Target bags into Wal-Mart.

Method bath products:

I don't know if many of you have heard of this line of products. They are all natural soaps, shampoos, washes, lotions, etc. Today we made a Target run and I picked up some kid's body wash, hand soap and adult body wash. It is supposed to be one of the best things to use on newborns because you aren't exposing your baby to dangerous chemicals. I had to laugh when I read the label on the Kids wash: "contains no animal by-products, numbing agents, SLS/SLES or parabens + never tested on rubber duckies". Don't get me wrong, its not like I'm never going to use my Huggies shampoo on Carson again, I just thought I'd try the natural products and see how they worked. Another good natural product brand is Burt's Bees.

Scentsy candles:

My SIL, Maria, introduced these to me a few months ago and I've gone a little crazy with it. I didn't realize until I was watching Oprah's Earth Day special that I was actually doing a "green" thing. Normal candles usually have lead in the wicks and release that into the air, so if you light a lot of candles in your house, you are essentially polluting the air. Scentsy has warmers (the one pictured above is the one I have) and you just break apart the wax bars, put them in the top, and let them melt. They have really good scents and I actually just got 3 more in the mail today!

Fuzzi Bunz Diapers:

This is something I actually invested in a few years ago when Carson was a baby. I heard about them from a girl in one of my parenting classes on campus. What they are is a modern cloth diaper. I know, just hearing "cloth diapers" sends shivers up most mom's spines. And I only used them occasionally...I am very thankful for disposables! The outer layer is a waterproof fabric (Jeff didn't believe me and when they came in the mail he ran one under the faucet and, yep, it didn't leak). The inside is a micro fleece. Then there is a liner you insert into it that you pull out and wash. The micro fleece wicks away any wetness to the liner, so even if your baby has wet himself, it is dry against his skin. The micro fleece also makes it so most poopies can flick off into the toilet (unless, of course there is diarrhea). So the advantage is that you aren't exposing your child to the toxic chemicals (that can cause reproductive problems later in life) in disposables, plus you aren't making more garbage. They were great to use when Carson had diaper rash because it would clear it up in a day. But, I used disposables for the majority of the time. Please don't think I'm a "granola mama"!

Recycling: Jeff suggested I put this one on here because today we recycled. Jeff and Ryan have been collecting old copper pipes that they are throwing out from the Old Faithful Inn. Today we took them in to be recycled and for a total they got about $480! Split that in two and we got $240. Not bad for collecting "junk". It'll help pay for those lovely doctor bills we seem to collect.

P.S. Jeff read this and insisted that he isn't "going green" he's just trying to "make his millions"!

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