Going Green

I have been meaning to post about this for a while, but today seemed a good day to talk about it. Had a migraine this morning so I am not feeling uber creative, but wanted to pass along some good info.

I am the last person I ever expected to really start caring about the environment. I am the person who complains about every single container that I have to recycle. I am also the person that is often lazy about recycling, but no more.

A few years ago, we joined an organic farm for the summer. We've now been members for our (upcoming) fourth summer. I like doing this for several reasons. Our supermarket food really scares me. Between the engineering, and the farm practices and the chemicals and pesticides, you have to wonder what we are really consuming. Not to mention how over-farmed our land is (are there any vitamins left in our super fruits and veggies?). Buying local, helps the local economy, helps me feel good about what is going into my body and the bodies of my family. It's obviously helping the earth because they aren't putting all that crap back into our land. And the food tastes WAY better. Not marginally better, significantly better.

That was probably my first major green lightbulb moment. Then came the actual lightbulbs. Slowly but surely, we're changing over to the better bulbs. They are kind of a PIA. They have to heat up to get the brightness you would get with a regular light, but I have to admit, on this one, it has nothing to do with the environment for me. It has to do with the fact that I am living in the Northeast and they are killing us on the utilities. My freaking electric bill is a literal suck. And at least, now they are even making the dimmable lights.

There are several other things I am doing, but so as not to bore you, when I come across a genuinely good suggestion, I am passing it along. I am buying into the hype that if we are all doing a little bit here and a little bit there, then hopefully we will have a chance to save it all. Plus I have to make up for the fact that I drive an SUV and I stll have a lot left on the lease so it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Here's the tip for today, GreenDimes.com. For $36 a year, they help you get rid of your junkmail. I had just said to DH yesterday that I was going to start calling all the catalogs that I don't buy from or that I receive in duplicate or triplicate, to get them off my back and low and behold some smarty pants built a decent, honest, business around it. Right now, they are also donating $2 of every membership to fund up to 10,000 Child ID Kits in Honor of National Missing Children's Day. This is a huge win-win-win. Less junk mail, more trees, help the kids, not to mention saving a ton of water. Oh, and hopefully saving the back of my postal delivery carrier who is the best woman.