Going green... a challenge to all!

Joe and I have aspired to be green-living individuals since the beginning of "us." However, there are admittedly WAY too many things we do that are NOT green. We try to do what we can, but we often feel ourselves falling short. I'm happy to admit though, that we have taken two big steps to being a bit more friendly to good ole' Mother Earth.

First, diapers. We have been using G diapers since the early days of having the kids home. We've had our G's here since before we even brought E&O home, but they were a bit big until the wee-bots put on a couple of pounds. So, once the G's fit, we've used them consistently. What's super cool about the G diapers is that it's a great hybrid between a disposable and cloth diaper. No plastic or other nasty chemicals & components. Just good stuff that's kind to the behind. The flushable liners are FLUSHED down the toilet or they can be composted... nothing for the landfills! However, we still felt like we should do more. The G's flushables still use a good bit of water with every flush and are made from trees and such... so still sucking up natural resources.

The next step for us... CLOTH. Yep. I said it. CLOTH diapers. I'm stealing the idea from a good bloggy friend, Tara. She also used G diapers on her adorable little hunk of a man, Malak. However, this genius of a tree-huggin' girl (LOVE it Tara!) made cloth inserts for her G's. They are soooo cool and have apparently been no big deal. She does a diaper load of laundry about every other day (using MUCH less water than flushing that many inserts), and that's it. Oh, and no leaks so far! Sounds good to me, so we're taking the plunge. In true form, I'm sticking with what works. I've gotten the master plans from Tara and I'm copying her cloth inserts. I can't tell you what a tough time I had finding the hemp online (due to the earthquakes in China causing issues with supply), but it's finally on it's way, along with microfleece, microfiber, and a couple other handy items to get us going. Get ready folks, I've got another project to get busy with! My poor, neglected sewing machine was put up in mid-March as I wrapped up baby projects (ok... ran out of time to finish many), and it's been calling to me ever since.

Our other step in "the right direction" relates to Joe's wheels. Joe started with a new company in an incredible position a couple of weeks ago and was left carless since he used a company truck with his previous employer. After LOTS of discussion and weighing pros/cons, we took the plunge and got Joe a diesel. Why, you might ask?! Great question! We're going to use BIOdiesel in it! Joe's new-to-him Touareg TDI will be run with biodiesel. This has been a dream of ours for a long time and we're FINALLY going to be able to act on it. Not only is biodiesel free from nasty pollutants (the exhaust smells like french fries!), it's also MUCH cheaper than regular fuel. It's not "hassle-free" and there is equipment, supplies and GREASE (think the nasty crud they get rid of after making your french fries) needed to make it, but the results will be totally worth it.

As for other green things we do on a daily basis - run our A/C as little as possible, turn off lights when we're not in the room or they aren't needed, keep the windows covered to keep the sun/heat out on hot days to further reduce our need for the A/C, low-flow shower heads, toilets that use less water, we do NOT buy bottled water (think of all the bottles people go through- hear me peeps - Nalgene. If you don't know about them, Google them. Great bottles loved by MANY), recycle anything we can, and minimize trash (avoid using paper towels - use reusable rags instead for clean ups). I'm sure we could do much better in each area I've listed but we really do try.

So, there you have it. Our newest two green moves. How green are you? I'd love to hear what others of you are doing to reduce your carbon footprint and give back to the world around us! If you have any tips/tricks on being green that you'd like to share, please do!