Going Green

Amidst all the stress of the last three months, Josh and I have made a few big attempts at going green. For this pregnancy we have decided to use a midwife instead of an OB. There are many different reasons and we are enjoying the laid back family atmosphere of the Birth Center. In the same building as the midwive there is a cute baby boutique that sells tons of cloth diapers. After an appointment one day we took the tour and got a good tutorial on all the many different types of cloth diapers. We went home and did a little research of our own and made the decision to do cloth. Do you know how much money we saved? The average person spends $3000 on diapers for each child. Our cloth diapers plus accesories have cost us $300. I'm not good at math, but that's a REALLY good savings, especially since we get to use the same diapers for Julianna. We are even going as far as using cloth wipes. I LOVE my cloth diapers. I don't know why I didn't start this sooner, I guess I was scared of the "work" involved, but it's really not that much and well worth it!
Another change we've made is adding a compost pile in our back yard. You would be amazed at how much organic trash you throw away every day! Especially now that we are eating more fresh fruits and veggies, we are getting quite the pile started. I have plans to start a tomato garden later this spring, although the compost won't be ready until next year. I hope to be able to add more veggies next year. Josh lovingly removed some of the dead shrubs from the front of our house to give me a little bit of garden space. I'm excited about the possibilities.
When Sydney was first born and Josh was still enjoying his paternity leave he spent a lot of time doing some online shopping. His goal was to make purchases and then sell for a profit. One of his deals was an immersion blender which I have been wanting to make baby food. With a little encouragement from him and a huge dose of gumption I have finally gotten into a good baby food making routine. It's actually very easy and I enjoy giving her natural foods with no preservatives. The girls have enjoyed (and myself) the educational experience of digging into each fruit and veggie and seeing the different seeds. A few months ago I wouldn't have been able to tell you the difference between a Mango and a Papaya, but now I am well educated in more unique fruits and veggies.
One of our goals for our girls is to provide organic, all natural education (AKA Homeschool). We have been doing different preschool activities and last week we enjoyed Green Week in honor of St. Patrick's Day. And yes, we enjoyed green eggs and pancakes :) See, we are going green all over the place!
I am really enjoying trying to find ways to be more natural and environmentally friendly. I have been working on increasing our recycling to decrease the amount of items we just throw away. Although I'm far from green and all natural I feel so much better nowing I'm doing just a little big to help the wonderful earth that God has blessed us with!