earth-friendly friday - live green, save green

I saved the best for last - cloth diapering.

I could take this post from the angle that manufacturing a single disposable diaper requires 1 cup of crude oil and plenty of energy and water. And that disposable diapers are one of the top three contributors to the landfill. (read more about environmental impact here)

Or I could take this post from the angle that once our initial investment was recovered, we are saving over $300 per child per year, even after factoring in the cost of laundering. Yes, that is nearly $1,000 this year alone! (The amount of savings depends on several factors and is based on our specific diaper usage).

But I think I'd rather take this post from this angle...

speechless

lacking any inspiration and ridiculously exhausted, yet oddly feeling a need to blog rather than sleep. But I think we're due for a cute kids post.

rain, rain, go away

first swing ride

toddlers, glue, and glitter - will I ever learn?

Now I can go to bed with a smile on my face and be ready to take on the day tomorrow!

a lesson in etiquette and biology

Just in case you are wondering...

Yes, they are all ours and no we do not run a daycare.

No, I do not have a black husband. Skin color is not like eye color.

None of our kids are twins.

People adopt for many reasons - being unable to conceive is only one possibility.

And not everyone who adopts falls pregnant.

Yes, they are all siblings.

My sons' birth history belongs to them and it is not my story to share.

No, our boys did not come from Haiti or Ethiopia. There are children all around the world who need families ~ including the USA.

Now, don't get me wrong - we think our family is beautiful and are proud of how God brought us together. We love to share our story...but please recognize that we also like to:

go to the store

go to the library

go to the post office

go out to eat

go to the museum

go to church

go for walks

take our kids to classes

play in our backyard (!)

like every other "normal" family.

And above all please recognize that we have little ears listening.

(Excuse me for using my little platform to vent. I realize the readers of this blog are not that rude.)

earth-friendly friday - live green, save green

This week's focus is on laundry. I wish I could say we had an HE washer, but when we replaced it, we weren't anticipating living in this house this long or having three kids and a dozen loads of laundry a week. So, I try to make it as highly efficient as I can.


The bulk of the energy use/cost for the washer is heating the water, so basically everything is washed on cold except diapers and rags. According to this website, we are saving $24 a year by using cold water. The drier uses natural gas (operation cost is half that of electric), and if I remember correctly from my calculations several months ago, each load costs about $.40 to dry. During the winter months, about 1/3 of the laundry gets hung to dry on drying racks and during the summer months about 2/3 of the laundry gets hung to dry on the clothes line (my favorite chore!) That is a savings of about $125 a year in energy costs, and also decreases the wear and tear on clothing, bedding, and especially diapers.
I'd love to know how I could reduce my actual amount of laundry, because is sure does use up a lot of MY energy!

earth day field trip

We decided to spend earth day at the nature center and invited our friends Adrienne, Ellie and Weston to join us. First things first: a picnic! Then off to the trails.

A great lookout to see the geese.

Reggie enjoyed the ride on my back.

A low bridge across the water gave us a closer look at nature.

Lydia strolled most of the trail, but got out to do some of her own exploring.

We ended our field trip on a sweet (sticky) note...

...enjoyed by all...

...even Reggie!

(Did you know fast food containers are one of the 3 biggest contributors to the landfill? Maybe we should have brought our own bowls...or bought icecream cones like Adrienne)

sometimes a girl...

...just needs to take a shower.

earth-friendly friday- live green, save green

Here is possibly my favorite live green, save green things we do: buy used, sell used!

When we buy previously loved items - whether it's a car or a $1 toy at a garage sale - it makes it so that less is manufactured and less is going to the landfill. It also saves money, and more money can be saved if it can be resold when we are done with it!

Here is a partial list of items we have bought used:

6 of our 7 strollers
4 of our 6 baby wearing options
little tikes slide
3 of our 4 baby gates
lots of kids clothes, shoes, books and toys
winter coats, boots, snow pants
jumper
bouncy chair
bumbo seat
booster seat
a few cloth diapers
step 2 table and chairs
halloween costumes
little tikes cozy coupe car
snow blower
ladders
lawn mower
lamps and other small household items

Craigslist is our favorite avenue for buying/selling used, but we also have found deals on ebay, garage sales, and thrift stores.

I also must include in this post that my kids wear a lot of hand-me-downs, thanks to my sister-in-law and a friend of mine. Those are even better - free! We also have a lot of furniture that has been handed down or loaned to us. Of our three cribs (Brett's is now a toddler bed), two are borrowed and one was given to us, previously used. Our changing table is borrowed and the Amby bed was borrowed. And of 6 rockers/recliners, only one was bought new by us!

Even our cat was previously loved, although I'm not sure if that has anything to do with living green and she certainly hasn't saved us any money.

papa and elbow

Even though we don't watch Sesame Street all that regularly, Lydia has her first character crush on Elmo - endearingly referred to by her as "Elbow". She gets excited whenever she spots Elbow, even if he is just on a box of crackers in the grocery store (nice marketing technique). She has lots of Elbow books, but I am still looking for a good deal on a little stuffed Elbow that does not require batteries.Brett has not attached himself to any characters yet, but his "Papa" (Grandpa) hung the moon. We don't know which Papa he is referring to, and that makes it all the more fun - because I can tell both of them how much he loves them! Brett has started asking where the most important people in his life are when they are not present - Mom, Dad, Lydia, and Papa. Papa is not present very often, so he gets asked about a lot! Brett also requests that I give his artwork to Papa. The other day he pointed to a chalk drawing he did on the sidewalk and said "Papa". I did not mail it to Papa. (My mom says maybe he is drawing a picture OF Papa, not FOR Papa). Brett also always mentions Papa in our bedtime prayers. So, Papa gets a special blessing from Brett every night!

Reggie is 8 months old!

I can't believe our baby is already 8 months old! Eight months is an interesting milestone because while our son is 8 months old, we have only known of his existence for 8 months, which is about the amount of time a "typical" couple knows they are expecting a baby. Our brother and sister-in-law found out they were expecting a baby shortly before we learned about Reggie, and just welcomed little Hannah into the world on March 25th (Congratulations!)

Not having the "expecting" phase with Reggie has been a challenge on multiple levels. First off, we had little time to prepare for him. Secondly, while we had a week to make our decision, we didn't really have a chance to think about all the new challenges we would face and how we would accomplish day-to-day life with three little ones. Third, which has effected me more than Bryan, is I feel like bonding has been a slower process. Every biological mom knows that you are bonding with your baby all through the nine months of pregnancy and every adoptive mom knows you are bonding with your child who is "somewhere out there" with every phone call, notarized paper, and trip down the baby aisle. But I basically missed out on that part with Reggie, and to be honest, at first he seemed more like Brett's brother than my son to me. There was the instant knowing that Reggie belonged to us when he was placed in our arms, but it has taken a while for the crisis to subside, for reality-as-we-know-it to set in, and for my heart to absorb my love for my child. In the early weeks, when Reggie was napping much of the day, Brett, Lydia and I would go about our day life-as-usual and Reggie would wake up and start to cry and it would jolt my new reality that I was the mother of three, not two. And, obviously, the fact that I can't devote 100% of my energy to him alone is another struggle. But, slowly and intentionally progressing over time, Reggie, has become my son and I have become his Momma. God's grace shined down on us and He entrusted us to care for this amazing little boy and he is fully ours - how he got to us is quite irrelevant.

Another something interesting about Reggie being 8 months old is Lydia was 8 months old when we learned about Reggie!

Reggie has been an ambitious little boy this month! He started his version of the army crawl (mostly leg action) early in the month and has progressed to the point where, when he is hot on the tail of a cat or dog, he will forget himself and do a regular crawl! He has also started clapping - so cute! And I've noticed he is starting to understand more words.

We experienced a little set-back with his sleeping-through-the-night...in my view 5am is still night even if Bryan is already off to work. He is usually taking 3 short naps a day.

Reggie is cutting his 4th tooth.

Reggie loves to eat rice cakes and rice rusks on his own and can pick up a cheerio or piece of banana, but usually doesn't make it to his mouth yet. Meat was added to his diet. He can feed himself a bottle independently and is making progress with his sippy cup.

Reggie loves to "run" around his activity table, chase the cat or Grandma's dog, "jump" in our laps, crawl around and explore, play with toys in his high chair, and cuddle with Momma before Lydia and Brett wake up. He also enjoys going for walks and hanging out in our new backpack carrier.

earth-friendly friday - live green, save green

This week I am highlighting plastic bags. An estimated 89 billion plastic bags, sacks, and wraps are used in the US every year. Not only are the bags costly on the environment to manufacture, but if they are not recycled, they take an estimated 100 years to break down, and many times the bags end up in our waterways.

In 2007, San Fransisco became the first US city to ban the use of plastic shopping bags and in January of this year Washington DC became the first US city to charge a $.05 tax per bag to consumers who choose to use plastic or paper bags. (Guess what? DC's use of plastic bags has cut in half!)

All sorts of plastic bags and wrapping can be recycled, and here is a resource to learn about what can/cannot be recycled and drop-off locations.

We have an assortment of reusable shopping bags. My favorite is the chicobag because it folds into it's own little pouch. When I unpack my merchandise, I fold them back up and toss them in my diaper bag so they will be there the next time I'm at the store. They also come in handy for many other purposes, such as containing soiled clothing, and are machine washable. I also recently purchased four nylon sandwich bags to reduce our use of plastic sandwich bags.

It is easy to forget to bring the bags with you when you are going shopping, which is why mine usually go directly back into my diaper bag. My cousin told me she kept forgetting her reusable bags so she started punishing herself by requiring herself to buy new reusable bags every time she forgot them. It worked!

How do reusable bags save money? Read here about how it indirectly saves money. Also, many stores such as Target and Rainbow give a $.05 credit per reusable bag, and some stores such as Aldi charge for plastic or paper bags. And my sandwich bags will pay for themselves after about 100 uses each...

a dozen things to do with a dozen plastic eggs

(with your toddler)

1. Sort them by color.

2. Count them.

3. Put them in an egg carton, take them out. Repeat. For the more advanced toddler, color the insides of the egg compartments to coordinate with your eggs and match them.

4. Take them apart, put them together. Mix and match. Repeat.

5. Make them into shakers and shake them. Fill with rice, beans, etc. and tape shut.

6. Shake them to music.

7. Shake the eggs to simple directions like, "Shake them up high, shake them down low".

8. Mix and match colors, then spin them on a hard surface.

9. Roll two or three along a hard surface, trying to get them to collide or race.

10. Hit the eggs with a rolled up newspaper (kind of like golf).

11. Take three halves and hide a jellybean under one - have your toddler find the jellybean.

12. Egg hunt of coarse!

HAPPY EASTER!

earth friendly friday - live green, save green

In April, we celebrate Earth Month, raising awareness about our impact on this planet. I don't pretend to understand things like global warming, but I get the fact that when I put something in the trash, it doesn't disappear, and when I start my car, it creates air pollution.

Thinking about our family's impact on our planet can be very overwhelming - too overwhelming to believe I can even do anything about it. But over the last several years, we've been taking baby steps to lessen our impact and in most cases save some money in the process. Living green is more of an ambition than a reality, but every Friday during the month of April, I am going to highlight something we do to promote a more earth-conscious lifestyle.

This week is paper/plastic products. Here are 3 things to consider: (a) how is the product made/what is it made with, (b) what happens to it when you're done with it, and (c) how resourceful is the alternative. Disposable plates are usually either made of paper or styrofoam (plastic). It takes a lot of oil to make plastic, which is a non-renewable resource. Paper plates are made from trees which is a renewable resource. Neither decomposes in the landfill very quickly (I read lots of conflicting data), although my mom said in her city they recycle styrofoam plates as long as you wash them first (what's the point?). Plastic silverware takes a lot of oil to make and basically never decomposes. Using reusable plates and silverware is considered to be the most environmental friendly option, even though it requires water to wash them. Here is some wonderful news - using an energy star dishwasher uses less water and soap than washing dishes by hand! Last fall I put all our paper products in a tote inconveniently located in the basement. Guess what? You think twice about grabbing a paper plate when you have to go all the way downstairs to get one, but they are nice for parties and picnics. And while we still have a roll of paper towels on the counter, we tend to grab a wash cloth, towel, or burp cloth to clean up most messes.

God took the man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order. Genesis 2:15 (The Message)