My oldest daughter, Rachel, is more knowledgeable about cleaning and personal care products that don't harm the environment than I am. She and her husband made the decision to wash their own diapers, which is better environmentally than using a diaper service or disposables. She has done a lot of research about green baby goods. She buys clothes second-hand when possible. Devorah's crib is made of sustainable wood (our recent wood furniture purchases are too) and has an organic mattress. Rachel tries to find organic baby clothes when buying new items. They joined a CSA this year and Will regularly shops at the farmer's market downtown. They rarely use their car - using public transportation or walking to places. They gave us a good idea in the kitchen - they cut up old rags into small pieces and keep them handy for small spills and messes. Since I started doing this, I almost never use paper towels.
Our son, Jacob, who is a technology buff, is aware of which aspects of new computers are green, and advises everyone about their purchases. He's very aware of and concerned about recycling. Lora tries to buy green products - toiletries for example. She tries to buy second hand clothes. She air dries her clothes when she does laundry. She brings paper home from [overnight] camp as there is no paper recycling there. Both of them unplug electronics when not in use and turn off lights when they leave the room. Elana wanted and received for her birthday a seltzer making machine for her birthday, because she enjoys seltzer but doesn't like using so many plastic bottles.
It sounds like your environmental activism has rubbed off on your kids. Are you where you want to be now, or do you have other green goals?
I've got lots of goals, some attainable some not.
- year round composting (currently only warm months)
- solar energy for our house (not economically feasible at this time)
-learning more about lots of topics: native plants, endangered plants species, sustainability
- doing more education related to environmental concerns and sustainable practices
- producing less waste
- consuming less
There are probably more, but it's the end of a long week - I'm back at work [Susan teaches 5th grade] and thinking about school a lot right now. Mike thinks I should tell you about Co-op America, now called Green America, and the Green Festival.(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
