Green

Jason and I have always tried to pursue a "green" lifestyle.  Okay - that sounds cheesy.  Labels aside, we do happen to enjoy environmentally-friendly activities.   We compost, cloth diaper, recycle and spend heaps on green products (laundry detergent, cleaning products, etc).  That being said, I've recently questioned my motivation for my environmental-friendliness.  With the exception of composting, which I love because of the amazing process of making extremely delicious-smelling dirt, I think I'm mainly driven by economic factors.

Cloth Diapers.  I love how cute my little boys look in their cloth diapers.  I mourned Charlie potty-training because he was so stinkin' cute in his little diapers.  That being said, when I'm up to my elbows in dirty diapers on diaper-washing night, it thrills my heart that we are saving so much money.  Yes, I'm also really, really happy that I've minimized my waste footprint at the garbage dump, but I'm even more excited that Liam is using the exact same diapers that Charlie used, and they still have lots of life in them...

Utilities.  In Virginia, we kept our thermostat at 80-82 in the summer and 68 in the winter.  That's not radical on the energy-saving spectrum, but still pretty stingy.  I tried not to take long showers, minimized baths, and turned off the water while brushing my teeth.  We don't pay our utility bills here, and I've really seen energy-hogging habits creep into our lifestyle.  I'm much less hawkish about a stray light or excessive dishwasher running.  I really want to be more careful with our lifestyle choices here and I want to be a better model for the boys.

Green Products.  Before shipping my stuff from the US to NZ, I spent $2k at Costco on all sorts of household goods.  I think we have enough reynolds wrap and toothpaste to last us until 2019 but we are quickly burning through our laundry soap and other household cleaning items.  I put in an order for laundry detergent at SOAP.COM but the liquid bottles were shattered and dissolved the shipping box.  I've always wanted to make my own products, and nothing like the motivation of excruciatingly expensive cleaning products to drive me to it.  I made really great laundry soap that's working splendidly so far and this afternoon I made all-purpose cleaner.  There is some question about the effectiveness of veggie wash spray (some say water is actually better), but I made some of my own using this recipe just to try it out.   I'm happy to get unnecessary toxic chemicals out of our house (I really love that I can keep the all-purpose cleaner under the sink and not be totally freaked if Liam were to get into it), but more than anything I like how cheap it is!

Composting.  We had a beautiful compost bin at our home in Virginia that is sitting in storage while we are in NZ.  We have an apartment with a fairly large patio, and I'm very close to buying a worm compost bin.  I think it would be so neat to show Charlie and Liam the composting process and the fact that it involves hungry squirmy worms makes it even cooler.  The only reason why I hesitate is because of maintenance.  What if we go out of town?  Who will take care of our little worms?  I think we will look to start it in the spring here.