I care about the world my children will live in after I am gone. And I care about the world that my grandchildren will live in after I'm gone. You get the picture. But when you look at the current state of affairs, it is rather disturbing (do I have to mention the words oil and spill?).
We are teaching our kids to respect the earth and I try to make environmentally responsible choices every day (although diapers are my downfall). We don't use water bottles, we try to shop and eat responsibly, and we put in a solid effort when it comes to recycling. One day we will get it together and make the composting thing happen as well.
But today I broke down and returned to my hard core unfriendly dishwasher gel. I have been trying to make it work with the environmentally friendly dish detergent but keep ending up with a load of pretty dirty dishes. That doesn't seem so good for the planet considering how much water that thing must use in a cycle.
I guess I'm wondering if any of you have any good tips to share on how us Moms can be kinder to the earth? I like easy tips...tips that real Moms can fit into their lives without much difficulty. And does anyone know why environmentally friendly cleaning products are so lame and do you have any good recommendations for stuff that actually works??
In other news, I set up the sprinkler in the front yard this afternoon and let the kids at it (it was super hot and humid). It was the little guy's first time in a sprinkler and it was definitely one of those priceless moments. I guess we wasted a good chunk of water on that adventure. Whoops.
2 comments:
Hey, I agree about eco-cleaning products. Just takes a bit more thought. I tend to have an inch or so of water in the sink to rinse things off before they go in. Uses a lot less water than running tap and gives better wash result than not rinsing.
Also, you can replace rinse aid with plain old white vinegar. Cheaper than buying it and works as well.
Enviro products are working ok for me--I thought, anwyay! I assumed those dirty dishes are just cause I overfill the washer and don't rinse enough! We use Dr. Bronner's soap for everything-- it's eco-friendly and you can dilute it different strengths to put in re-useable hand pumps and spray bottles for all your cleaning from dishes to floors to bodies--saves plastic bottles.
We do cloth diapers too and it's really not as bad as you think. But you gotta put a sprayer on your toilet to spray the poo off. It's just an extra load of laundry you hold your breath to put in every week...no biggie at all. But if you can't do it, look for a diaper service in your area...they are awesome.
Other than that, I think the main thing that's hard in our society is to try not to consume all the time. I have been making a real effort not to buy new things. You can get almost everything used and it's cheaper too.
Still...no matter what we little families do, it feels hopeless sometimes when oil is spilling into the ocean. Sigh....
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