Tuesday, January 26, 2010

My Thoughts On Going "Green"

There is a lot of GREEN talk these days. I, for one, am tired of the phrase and I hope the term is a passing phase but that the philosophy stays with us forever. We all need to share this one planet and we all need to take care of what belongs to everyone. I do not pretend to do everything I can to protect our planet, I drive a mini van instead of a hybrid and I do use disposable diapers (gasp!),  but I will tell you that I do the very best that I can and try to improve whenever possible! When I learn of something new I do my best to implement it in to my daily life.

I have a large family and I have heard the criticism of how my family's carbon footprint can have a negative impact the Earth. I am not willing to get rid of any of my precious children but I can do my best to teach them how to care for our planet. We recycle, unplug appliances not in use, have energy efficient light bulbs, set our thermostat low in the winter and high in the summer, we have a backyard compost and try to walk whenever possible. I recently found this website. I was pretty pleased to see that my family was below the US national average!!! It also gives great ideas on how to cut down on your impact to our planet. It is very cool and a great place to start.  

I am also a supporter of our local farms. I love going to the farmer's market and I frequently buy produce from local fruit and vegetable stands. I am pretty blessed to live in the Central Valley where agriculture is rich and abundant. Last summer I learned about community supported agriculture or CSA's. I have to admit it sounded great but I just didn't get the info I needed and I lost interest. A friend and fellow blogger, Elle Bee, recently posted about her experience with a local CSA. You can read about it here.  It was a fantastic story and rekindled my interest in joining a CSA in my area. I contacted the farm listed in her blog and I am working on finding 6 others to come with me and join this CSA. If you live in Modesto and are interested in joining me please leave a comment below and we will get you signed up! It is so important to buy local and to know where your food comes from. So shop local and maybe even grow some of your own!

So, rather than jump on the current "green" bandwagon I encourage you to learn about the planet that we live on and take an active step towards making it a better place. Get  to know the soil, become friends with the energy all around you, and fall in love with our home!

4 comments:

  1. Great post! Well said. This needs to be a way of life, not a popular thing to do that will fall by the wayside once the novelty wears off.
    I always say, if everyone just did a few little earth-friendly things that work for their family, the impact would be huge. You sound like you are doing awesome! Keep it up!
    Going to check out the website you mentioned.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Do you need 6 people before Debra will do a Modesto drop off? I pick up in Turlock, but am thinking I'd like to change to Modesto. My parents could even do the pick up for me if I couldn't drive in. So if it's a matter of numbers, add me as one of your 6.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, 6 to make the Modesto drop! Excellent!!! I will add you!!! Thanks!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, I wish I lived close to you - I'd sign up in a second!
    I'm also very tired of the "green" phrase. Why can't we all do the things that need to be done without it being the popular trendy thing to do? We are big recyclers here, we have a garden, we make weekly trips to the farmers market during the spring/summer/fall. But living here in the Pacific NW, this has just been a way of life for most people for a very long time. You know - all of us tree huggers up here! :)

    ReplyDelete

say what?