Happy EARTH DAY everyone!!!!

Hi! I am soooo excited about today! I don't know about you all! I know for me, it tends to be "just another day" because we already do many things around her to help the environment, but I wanted to share what some of those things are, they are some small things sometimes, and maybe you can incorporate or think of some things you can add into your life as well. Every little bit helps!

1. Cloth napkins. Yep! NO paper napkins in our house! first of all, they cost money, second of all, you throw them away! third, they use trees! Sooooo you go to Goodwill on half price day and get tons and tons, they don't have to match, they don't always have to be pretty, you don't have to have a set for your family, but have at least 3X's your family number - we have over 20 napkins currently- that way if you have friends/family/parties you have something to use! My daughter's friends thought it was cool and "old timey" we were using them for her bday party! Don't forget- throw them in with the towels, NO fabric softener or they will not absorb as well as you want them to!

2. We use corell dishes. I probably have over 20 large, 15 medium plates, 10+ cereal bowls, etc. the reason? we don't use paper plates. They are light, thin and easy to use! We put them under dishes in the microwave if we think something is going to over flow (like oatmeal), and just throw them in the dishwasher. Actually ....I can hear it now....Dishwashers use LESS water than handwashing dishes AND you are not wasting trees or filling up landfills with the plates! Every now and again (park picnics) is one thing, but not for day in day out stuff! We even use them when we go camping! And plastic cups camping and silver silverware camping too! yeah, a bit of an inconvenience, but worth it in the end, don't you think?

3. CF lightbulbs. How many do you have in your house? EVERY light in our house has one. not only is it nice to not have to change them as often, therefore not outputting that much money every month or two for new bulbs, BUT in the end, they are using less energy.

4. IF you must get a new heating/AC unit (like we did this year) make sure you try to get it with the new "PURON" (sp?) instead of freon.... it is more environmentally friendly. We also got a "dual fan" or some such so it uses less energy and only kicks on the second more powerful fan when it absolutely needs it in cold/extreme hot weather. now... I am talking electric heat here.... not sure about gas. and the higher the "Seer" the better because it uses less energy.

5. try to open windows instead of turning on that A/C! put box fans in the windows to move that air around as long as you can- we can usually make it to the end of may like this in TN- the less energy used the better!

6. do you have a compost pile? compost is the most wonderful thing if you have bad soil -like we do!- and soooo easy to do! I will post links on the side for EARTH DAY tips.....

7. How does your garden grow? have you started your garden yet? I haven't, I am going to though! we are going to have cucumbers, carrots, watermelon, cantelope, tomatoes and greenbeans, maybe even some cauliflower. we will in other areas do lettuces and herbs. This is a great way to get veggies you KNOW don't have pesticides on them and are much cheaper and not too hard to do! you can even container grow some of them! Links to follow!

8. don't forget natural cleaners! Bleach (not natural, but great!), vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, salt all are great! I will put links to how to use them. Let me just make a side note. When I was a kid I used baking soda to brush my teeth (yeah, I know) but I had pearly whites! well, coffee and years have made my teeth yellow. This week I started again with the baking soda 2x's a day, and MAN what an improvement in the color and cleanliness I have found in my teeth! Be gentle using it, I have a small mouth and used a too large brush the first couple times and tore up my gums, so I am using a pediatric brush now..... but.....if you are gentle at first you will get your gums used to it and see great results! :)

Hope you enjoy my tips!