Hannah in her favorite climbing tree. Her dad built that ladder. It scares me to death. I fear that she will fall out and break her neck.

Earth Day 2010

Here is the blog I posted on Earth Day 2009. I thought I would see how we improved over the last year. We still need to improve!!

Earth Day

Today is Earth Day. I had every intention of celebrating this ever important day with Earth loving activities for the whole family. My intentions were good, my reality made that impossible. I felt guilty for a little while today because I felt I was not acknowledging this very important day to the extent that I have in the past. But, after further reflection, I realize that my family and I are pretty "green" already and that we celebrate Earth Day, everyday. Here is a list of the things that we already do.

1. 90% of our light bulbs are fluorescent

2. We use reusable, canvas shopping bags

3. We eat a lot of organic food

4. We belong to an organic CSA

5. We compost

6. Our washer and dryer is Energy star and the washer is HE

7. Our heater, a/c and water softener are all energy star. We replaced all of these things when we moved in to this house.

8. Our heat is kept at 68 degrees during the day and 60 degrees when we sleep

9. My husband drives a car during the summer months that gets 35 miles to the gallon

10. I line dry our laundry in the summer

11. I use non toxic cleaning supplies

I look at this list I am happy with our progress. But we have a lot of room for improvement. Now, here is a list of the things we need to do to love our "mother" even more.

1. We need new windows! - DONE as of 4/5/2010

2. I drive an SUV, my husband drives one in the winter.

3. I HATE being hot in the summer, I run the a/c colder than I should. - Last summer was cool, we didn't use the a/c

4. I drive a lot more than I need to. Especially in the summer. - I have cut down a lot this year

5. We get too many magazines. - I let most run out

6. We should turn the water heater down a few degrees - we did the opposite. the water was too cold

7. 10% of our light bulbs need to fluorescent - We are at 100% now

8. We buy too many products from China - no improvement

9. We should plug our electronics into power strips that can be turned off when we are not using them. no improvement

10. Our toilet has a leak that we keep ignoring - fixed as of 1/2010

11. We have a freezer in the garage that we keep stocked, but, it is an energy sucker during the hot summer months.

12. I burn petroleum based candles

13. We could wear organic clothes

14. I could buy our clothing second hand so that we are recycling

As anyone can see, these lists can go on and on. I think that it is time for my husband and I to take a look at what we could do to improve our carbon footprint. I like to think that when I write a post about Earth Day next year, I can add more to the list of things we are already doing. I will probably never buy all organic clothing, it is too expensive. I love candles, but have been trying to use more soy based, maybe I will convert to all soy by next year ( I doubt it). The freezer is mandatory with our family. So, I am guessing that by next year, we can accomplish half that list. Wish us luck!

We Failed!

We failed at Turn Off the T.V. Week. But, we have a good excuse. We are from Milwaukee and our basketball team is in the playoffs. While I couldn't care less about sports, my son cares, a lot. So, I gave in and I am allowing him to watch his games. So, we will participate in a few weeks, when basketball season is officially over!!

National Turn Off the T.V. Week

Today marks the beginning of Turn off the T.V. Week. I am rarely successful with this particular challenge. But, I am going to give it a real try this year. I am hopeful that I will have the backing of my husband. The kids are unaware of this challenge, I am hoping that we can just get through the week and they won't notice that they have not watched any T.V. I am guessing that will not happen, someone is bound to notice. Wish me luck as I try hard and chronicle our week as we try to go T.V. free.

For more information on this challenge, check out this site.

http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/turnoffweek/TV.turnoff.week.html