Going Green in Moderation

I am all about moderation. I try not to work or exercise too much!! ;) I also am trying to find a balance for my kids to be independent, but still need me enough to want me involved in their lives, dreams and questions. That can be a tricky one and it is hard to know if I am doing it right until they are grown. So, I guess we'll just have to keep trying and praying on that one.

Lately, I have been reading a lot about being more environmentally friendly, or "green". There are some who are willing to give up electricity, toilet paper, buying anything new, packaged items and many other things. I am not so willing to go as far as some people. (I admire their efforts and I think some of them are doing really amazing things!!) I do want to do better in my efforts. I am working on crocheting more grocery bags. (of my own design, since what I what isn't available or at least not easy to find) I want to reduce the amount a packaging that comes into our home. Just this morning, I was shopping for flour and the 25 lb bag was the same price by the ounce as the 5 lb bags. I thought about it...the smaller bags would have been a lot easier to deal with, but a lot more trash! So, I hefted the big bag into the cart!

Another way that we have talked about conserving resources is to drive as little as we can. We live in a part of town where we can walk or ride a bike to most of the things that we need. Our church is only a block away. The stores and parks are only a short walk away as well. Some problem comes in when you consider that I don't like to grocery shop and so I only go about twice a month. Trying to haul two kids and two weeks worth of groceries could get tricky. We'll adapt, I think. We all need the exercise and fresh air anyway!!

By necessity, we already don't consume lots of things we don't need to. We don't have a lot of disposable income, so we just don't buy a lot of useless things. I also love to make things, so rather than going straight to the store to buy something when a need arises, I try to think of a way to make it if I can. I have a bit of a stash of yarn and fabric, so many times I don't even need to go to the store for the materials.

I am going to add a list of links to green sites I have found in my wanderings around the Internet. There are tons of them out there!!

If any of you have suggestions for things you do to be a little greener, comment and let me know!!