Baby Steps to Becoming More Green

We were not really trying but my husband said to me the other day that we have become more "green." We do feel a sense responsibility for the planet. I have "further, more personal" thoughts about "saving the planet" but no one asked me and they are just that, "personal thoughts."

Here are some very simple baby steps that we have stumbled upon to becoming more "green."

Get with your garbage service and find out if they also have a recycling center (not every garbage service offers recycling and some even charge for it). If so, ask that they leave a recycling bin at your curb when they pick up your garbage next. Ask them to also leave a list of what they process...you'd be surprised.

Our beautiful recycling bin

Actually we've noticed that every week when my husband takes the garbage out, our recyclables are more in number than our actual trash. That's pretty cool. We are like 3 bags of recycling to 1 bag of trash.

Something else that we started doing is making sure we turn off all of the lights in the rooms that we were not occupying. Growing up our parents made sure we did this. Now I am reminding my children to turn off the bathroom light when they come out. They are getting it, slowly but surely. This conserves energy and your budget over time.

Unplug phone charges and laptops when there is no phone or laptop on the other end of the adapter. Again saving energy and possible reducing unseen radio wave activity throughout the atmosphere in your home.

This post began to seem like a bad idea because we only have 3 steps to share. So I looked at my husband and said, "what else are we doing to be more green?" He basically said the same things that I just typed in the post. Then I said, "maybe I shouldn't do this, I mean we only have 3 steps to share." And he said, "well, you said baby steps, how many steps does a baby take before he falls?" I thought that was hilarious and we both laughed...hard.

Of course there are a host of other things that you can do. Reuse reusable items around your house, use green cleaners (this is good for the planet and your kids), limit toilet flushes or invest in a low flow toilet and other energy saving appliances, i.e. washers and dryers, compost (I've gotta ask my father-in-law how that's going), plant a tree in your yard (we plan to do this one day), carpool or invest in a hybrid or electrical vehicle (pretty pricey for most folks but the return on invest is...life?!?).

We teach our kids and are training them in simple steps of recycling also. They even ask us now if certain things that they are about to throw away are recyclable before they throw them in the trash (sometimes). Pretty cool.

So, there you have it.

Thank you for reading and PLEASE share your thoughts and ways you've become greener in your home and family.

Steph.