Yikes!

It's been a year since I last posted here! We've done a lot of "green" stuff since then, and kept up with the things I had already posted about. I wish Scott would do some calculations to show the savings we've had from using cloth napkins and bar mop towels (instead of paper towels for both uses) and dropping bottled water.

One of the things we've started doing is switching all of our cleaning products over to natural versions. Right now we've been using the Clorox versions (Green Works). We've also started using natual, locally-made soap for the shower. It's made by Indigo Wild here in Kansas City and comes in lots of great scents.

We continue to use the KCP&L Energy Optimizer thermostat, which is great. I love that it turns the heat down at night and during the day when we're at work automatically, saving us energy and money.

We have been really bad at carpooling all winter - I'm not so good at getting up when it's still dark out. Hopefully with nice weather arriving we'll be able to get back in the habit of driving in together. It hasn't hurt us too much though, since the cost of gas has gone from above $3.00 a gallon down to around $1.75 a gallon. Definitely a help.

For Christmas Scott got me a composter, which I'm looking forward to setting up - maybe this weekend. I'll try to take pictures to post once we get it up. I've been reading a book called COMPOST! by Ken Thompson to learn how to effectively make compost. I need to start thinking about plants and what vegetables I want to plant this spring. Can't wait to get things growing. Also, I'm excited to have the composter and knowing that that much more of our garbage WON'T go into the garbage can!

I love Spring!

Getting Started

I've always been interested in being eco-friendly, but haven't always had enough information or time or money to really make the changes in my life that are neccesary. I may not have any more time or money now, but it seems like every day we hear more and more about the awful direction our society is taking by continuing on as we do. So, we are attempting to take simple steps to make our lives greener. I'm not talking huge things like buying only hemp clothing or digging a hole in the backyard to pee in. I'm talking gradual things like making the effort to recycle more things that we wouldn't neccesarily think to recylce, trying to fix or re-use items rather than running out to get a new one. Day by day we will work to incorporate small changes into our lifestyle that will lead us toward being green and away from being wasteful.