Monday, March 10, 2008

Going Green

Well, perhaps the liturgical color for Ordinary Time needs year-round attention from Catholics, I think we were all sensing that care for the environment was a moral responsibility, but now it has been clarified:

http://green.yahoo.com/news/nm/20080310/hl_nm/pope_sins_dc.html

I've heard that if you compost and recycle properly, the average American family would only have one bag of trash a week.

6 comments:

AWOL Mommy said...

Can I take an informal poll here? Do we have any cloth-diapering mommies? If not, and you are a disposable mommy, is there any point in spending the extra dough on the "seventh generation" non-chlorine diapers?

Right Said Red said...

We use cloth (fuzzi bunz), as does B-mama. I used to love it, the diapers were so cute and it helps potty train kids a bit earlier. I am now more indifferent to the cloth diapers--but I continue on for the sake of the environment and our wallets. Now that I have three kids I think it is really difficult to get pumped about diapers, no matter what kind!

I truly see the increase in our trash when I'm behind with washing the cloth and we use disposables for a day or two. I originally started on cloth to save money (a motivator for me in all things), but after reading about how bad diapers were for the environment, I'm not as concerned about money, but creating unnecessary and toxic trash. I'm not familiar with "seventh generation" diapers, but I'm interested in learning more.

We have a serious responsibility to be good stewards of the environment, and eliminating unnecessary trash is one of the easiest ways for a family to try to be environmentally aware. Some other ideas for more environmentally conscious behavior: avoiding new toy purchases and other purchases of objects with lots of packaging (toy packaging is ridiculous!), avoiding using disposable dishes and bakeware on a regular basis, driving less and walking more, and taking good care of the things we already have.

I'd love to hear some additional suggestions from our readers about creating a home that respects our call to stewardship of the environment.

texas mommy said...

In our new house I haven't found a good place to put a kitchen trash can, so it is in the garage. I have to walk out of the kitchen and through the laundry room to throw anything away. Needless to say, I am much more mindful and careful and have seen a huge reduction in trash. More goes down the disposal and more goes in recycling as a result.

As for diapers...we are a costco brand disposable diapers family. I am not making apologies. It's just the way it is right now as we anticipate 3 in diapers (barring a miracle).

texas mommy said...

I'll add that I made it from last Tuesday to Saturday with one white trash bag and one bag of diapers. I remember being shocked by this since at our old house we went through a trash bag every day and a half at least.

AWOL Mommy said...

Didn't know where to put this one, but wanted to share it: http://clothdiapers.blogspot.com/2008/02/white-onesie.html
Kind of along the theme of saving money on kiddie clothing, and the beauty of simplicity that characterizes Lent and, well, the white onesie -- there, have I enticed you to click on the link?

Right Said Red said...

awol mommy,

you have enticed me to look at the link, it was very cute. I think I will invest in some new white onesies :-)

Red