New places - new ways

My biggest challenge since moving to a small and very 'primitively' green community has been learning new ways to recycle our garbage in our effort to be green.

Although our family's garbage has not been too perfect up until now, we have taken many steps to do the BEST we can considering our area's 'lack of' facilities.

We purchased a composting bin. I have been separating my garbage (wet & dry or blue & green) since my late teens/early 20's. To mix the trash with the compostable items made me feel like I was committing a crime so I just 'had' to do something! The compost bin was relatively inexpensive (around $65) and is placed just outside our garage door (in the back yard). Items that can be placed in the bin are:

• YARD WASTE: leaves, dry grass, weeds, garden plants, soft plant stems
• KITCHEN WASTE: fruit & vegetable matter, egg shells (crushed), tea bags, coffee grounds & filters.

Items that 'used' to go into our 'blue' bags (or 'dry' garbage) were items like cans, cardboard, paper, glass, etc. Since the facilities are not there, I've had to figure out ways to be the most efficient. After some research, lots of talking people in the community and driving around to different facilities (bottle exchanges, the dump, big community recycle bins, etc) to learn what could be recycled and where - we've found a little bottle exchange facility right near our house that recycles all that can be recycled. At least, all that can be recycled in our area and all we have to do is separate and physically take to this facility.

I now have designated containers for
1. compost (that goes in our compost bin)
2. paper & cardboard (that goes to the bottle exchange facilities)
3. tin, glass, plastic bottles (except for milk jugs), juice boxes, pop cans - anything that you can drink - except the milk jugs (that goes to the bottle exchange facilities)
4. everything else (that goes in our weekly trash)

I feel happy & content that we are doing our part for the environment and that Noah is learning to 'live green'. Every now and then, I have to take some 'mis-placed' trash from the 'everything else' container and place in the correct container - but eventually we will all remember 'what goes where'!

And so I now sleep with a clear conscience!

"HER" Day!

Monday was our weekly contribution to saving "HER". "HER" is in reference to our earth and the environment and is a reference that Noah has began saying. It's cute. I am a proud mom, knowing her child is getting engaged and thinking about about contributing to save "HER". It feels good. It feels right.

I'm amazed with the few conversations that we've had, how much this has opened this topic up for discussion. Just the other morning Noah asked me 'where does the garbage go'? We also had the conversation about plastic bags and plastic water bottles, specifically about how long it takes for them to break down in land fills. It has made Noah think and I love watching him figure this out on his own as well as come to his own conclusions. For example, almost every other morning Noah has decided to brush his teeth in the dark (to save electricity) or the other day, he caught me leaving the water running while brushing my teeth - eiks! Bad move on my part, he gave me a lecture on how this is not good for "HER"!!! Of course the ONE morning I didn't shut off the water, I get caught by the GREEN POLICE! It seems to come very natural to Noah which is very encouraging - maybe these few little conversations have brought awareness to this subject. And maybe this is all it takes?

So our weekly contribution to 'HER' involved:

• no TV (we played Tennis instead - now my muscles are aching!) on Monday
  
• no bed warmers on Monday
• recycling an empty milk bag for Noah's lunch
• we purchase of a Brita Water filter - on Saturday (to save on plastic water bottles piling up in land fills)
• we also (actually I did) took the pledge at the 'Filterforgood' website (check it out, the website offers lots of information, oh and don't forget to take the pledge)
• we also purchased some SIGG water bottles (to save on using plastic 'throw-away' bottles and also in light of all the fears with using plastic bottles).

Noah picked out this one is the one

I picked out this one (Jacques did not want one)


So, again it all may be baby steps - but we are aware now and are actively participating in helping save "HER". What steps have you taken?

A little 'blip' from the filterforgood.ca website about bottled water:

Canadians drank 1.9 billion litres of bottled water in 2005 – nearly 60 litres per person!¹ Packaging all this water creates an incredible amount of waste every year, and in Canada an estimated 88 percent of water bottles are not recycled.² The rest end up in landfills where they can take up to a thousand years to biodegrade.

This is why Brita has created the FilterforGood pledge. It's a simple commitment to reduce waste by giving up bottled water. Together, filtered water and a reusable bottle are an excellent solution for going green at home and on the go. Giving up bottled water is an easy change that can make a big difference. Now that's refreshing!

Earth Day - April 22, 2008

In honour of Earth Day, Noah & I contributed the best we could by doing the following:

• did not watch TV (saved electricity)
• did not play any Xbox or video games (saved electricity)
• did not use our bed warmer's at bedtime (saved electricity)
  
• we used as little water as we could to brush our teeth (saved water) - this was entirely Noah's idea
• we went to the park to pick up garbage
• when we got a treat from Tim's, we walked into the store rather than going through drive through (saved some ozone)

Okay - so it doesn't seem to be very much but can you imagine if EACH one of us contributed in some small ways as this. My first goal for the activities today was to get Noah THINKING about what it means to be 'green'. I mean, let's face it kids are ignorant and we as adults have to teach them the importance (through example) of each person's contribution. We have all done things out of ignorance to our planet/environment that are harmful....and some of us continue to do so. But if you haven't started, could you at least try to start to THINKING of small ways that you and your family can do to help. Collectively all these efforts can and WILL make a difference.

When I first approached Noah (last weekend) about 'doing our part' for Earth Day, he was NOT very open to the idea. You know, to the idea of NO TV for the day or picking up garbage in the park or no Xbox. I'm happy to report that the more we brainstormed, the more we talked about the importance of these simple actions and the more we came up with ideas, the more he got involved & engaged about little things we could do to help the earth, to live a more 'green' life. It was encouraging to witness this type of awareness being aroused in my child. After we went through the drive thru at Tim's, Noah mentioned that we should re-use the paper bag (that he got his timbits in) for his lunch the next day. WAY TO GO, Noah - what a way to be thinking 'outside the box' - I would have NEVER thought of something like this!

When I arrived at daycare tonight (despite recovering from bronchitis and feeling pretty tired) I felt very excited about participating is such an important movement. Unfortunately by this point of the day, Noah did NOT feel the same. The poor guy had been hammered with Earth Day, Earth Day and more Earth Day activities. At school. At day care. At home. In fact, when I was excitingly talking about our plans for tonight - he was pretty insistent that he 'hated' Earth Day. Wooooooooh......I don't like the word 'hate'. Fortunately, but the time we arrived home I had a brilliant idea (simple but brilliant). I offered him a magic peanut butter cup - one that magically turned a sour mood into HAPPINESS! (I figured it may work because he is NEVER allowed junk food before supper) And VOILA, it worked. We giggled, laughed and were thrilled that these magical peanut butter cups brought Noah into a happy mood. So we called Jacques to share in the great news and we continued with our plans.

We had fun at the park....Noah had his MP3 playing, while I was literally 'yelling' at him to hear me while we picked up garbage. We both agreed that it was fun to do something like this TOGETHER. Isn't it always more fun doing things TOGETHER?

Starting next week, Noah & I are declaring every Monday "our" WEEKLY EARTH DAY and there will be:

• NO television
• NO xbox or ds video games
• NO bed warmers
• much more focus on things we can do to help the Earth

Please leave comments with ideas of how YOU contributed to Earth Day as well as ways that Noah & I can continue to contribute!

Below are some photos of our contribution to Earth Day - April 22, 2008!