Green Deeds - Day 7

So my good "green deed" of the day was to pass along info to my address book about an electronic and appliance recycling event.   Strangely, I hadn't seen the info posted anywhere or received any emails about it, but saw it on a large sandwich board when I was dropping the kids off at an afterschool activity.  I figured if I was just finding out about it, I'd better spread the good word!

Window Binds - Day 4

Today I enlisted the troops to help me with the window blinds. I'm hoping to make this into a good habit they can all help with :)

Opening and closing the blinds (we have double cell blinds) helps to conserve energy in the winter and in the summer. During the winter, opening the shades to take advantage of the sun's rays helps to warm the house. Then towards the evening, we close the shades to keep the heat in. During the summer, keeping the shades closed during the heat of the day helps to reduce cooling costs. Since I don't like to feel like I'm in a cave, I keep the shades closed on the sunny east side of the house in the morning, and open the shades on the west side to let light in. Then in the afternoon when the sun bakes on the west side of the house, those shades are closed, and those on the east side are opened. So enlisting the troops to help keep things open and shut will definitely help with the bottom line and conserve energy in the process.

An Inconvenient Truth - Day 3

Today, Hubby, Rosebud, Sweet Pea and I watched An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. At first the girls grumped a bit, but by the end the movie seemed to have made an impression. The information about the melting glaciers and rising sea levels was eye opening. The girls were sad about the plight of the polar bears, and also found ice cube analogy interesting. Now to get the other 1/3 to watch it with me :) Babysteps, babysteps!

baby step #1 - Day 2

For better or for worse, my awesome family will be taking this green journey with me :) With their help, I think we will all learn and grow along the way. It seems like only yesterday that our 4 children came into our lives, but just like flowers, they are growing, and blooming before our eyes. Within my blog I will fondly refer to my always encouraging and witty husband as "hubby", and I've lovingly nicknamed each of the children with a flower name. My oldest daughter, "Tiger-Lily" is 14, my second daughter, "Rosebud" is 13, my third daughter, "Sweet Pea" is 11, and my son, "Rhody" (short for Rhododendron) is 9.

Today Tiger-Lily and I took baby step #1 when we defrosted and unplugged our extra freezer! I can't wait to see the positive impact it has on our electric bill :)

Green Snowballs? - Day1

For as long as I can remember, my favorite color has been GREEN. I remember being asked why I liked the color green, and the answer was a simple one, "because I like green trees and grass".

Today, green is still one of my favorite colors, but it is more than just a color to me now. Of course I still love green grass and trees, but now the word green means much more to me. It means Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling, it means Respecting the environment, and it means teaching my kids Responsibility for taking care of our planet.

It might be a little bit geeky, but if my family and I can take some green "baby steps" to reduce our carbon "footprint", and encourage our family and friends to do the same, and if they in turn encouraged their family and friends to be greener, what a wonderfully green snowball we'd have rolling!