Back when I first started this blog I posted about how I was “becoming green”. It’s interesting to me to look back at this post and see how much I have changed even since then. I wrote about how I never really intended to “go green”, but how it kind of snuck up on me because of small changes that I started making.
Now, being green is something that is increasingly more important to me. I am called to Love God and Love His people, and one important way to do that is to care about the creation that He has provided us with, and understand the effects that my actions have on this world and on the people that live in this world, and will live here in the future. Being “green” is something that I am trying to learn more and more about, and I am striving to make even more changes to “green” my and my family’s lifestyle.
So, for Earth Day, I really want to encourage everyone to take a small step, to make a small change in your life, and see if it doesn’t snowball into more and bigger changes that will have a positive impact on not only your life, but also on this world we live in.
Looking back, I really think that one of the first changes I made that started me down this path was making my own natural cleaners. The more I became aware of the chemicals I was using in my house to make it “clean”, the more I wanted to get those chemicals out of my life and out of our house. That small change made me more aware of what I was putting into my house, the air, my body and encouraged me to think about that in all different areas of my life, not just cleaning my house.
So, here are my top 3 ideas for small changes that you can make, beginning today, that can jumpstart your journey toward helping to create a cleaner world. I know that these ideas are not necessarily unique, but they are all changes that I have made myself and ones that I think are a good starting point for moving you towards a greener lifestyle.
1. Start making your own cleaners, or buy all natural cleaners, and stop using and purchasing all those nasty chemical cleaners.
My wonderful dad gave me a great book for Christmas by Reader’s Digest called Homemade. It has great recipes for natural homemade cleaners and I hope to share some of those with you in the next few weeks, especially as I make and try some of them for the first time in cleaning my new house!
2. Start using cloth in the kitchen instead of paper towels and napkins. In our kitchen we have different cloths for different “jobs”. I use washcloths to wipe Kaelyn’s hands, face, hair, clothing, bibs, etc. after she eats, bar mop towels for cleaning in place of paper towels, homemade knitted dishcloths instead of sponges for washing dishes and wiping down counters, dish towels for drying hands, dishes, etc., and of course cloth napkins. I bet after a while of using cloth in the kitchen you will start to look for other ways to reduce the amount of disposable things you use around the house in general.
3. Recycle! I’ve written before about how much I like recycling. I think it is really important to recycle. If you don’t recycle at all – start! And if you do recycle, recycle more! There’s nothing that gives you better awareness of the amount of junk that we throw away than when you really start pay attention to increasing your recycling and reducing your waste. When we get to our new house I want to do a garbage inventory to see how much stuff I am actually throwing away every day. I would love to get to the point where we are recycling more than we throw away!
I would love to hear about your experiences in taking small steps that have lead to a greener lifestyle for you or your family! Happy Earth Day!
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