How Green/Crunchy are you?

[grace_n_josie]

I considered myself pretty green using only organic foods (as long as we can afford it), natural cleaning supplies, cloth diaper, recycling paper, plastic and glass, using reusables wherever possible. I still quite get myself to use Family Cloth...anyone got any ideas on how to get over this one? I am wondering what you all do...maybe to help be a little bit more green because I feel as though there is something more that I can do!

[sahminaz]

Pretty darn cruchy myself. I'd say the only thing not so crunchy is my morning coffee. That is the ONLY caffeine i drink..one cup a day. It is free trade and organic if that makes a difference.

[grace_n_josie]

I understand completly...Although I don't drink coffee mine is my ONE Diet DR.PEPPER in the morning...

[Terra]

I'm semi crunchy, but am trying to do more and more as money and time permit! And as I learn more!!

Currently this is what I do:

Cloth diaper
Cloth wipes
Sea sponges for my cycle
Mostly natural cleaning products...[DH still insists on using Bleach in the tub! ]
Canvas Bags
Some organic food when we can. Organic Whole milk ALWAYS for DS.
VERY FEW plastic toys
I used recycled paper towels/toilet paper [Greenwise brand]...I may switch to cloth napkins though. I don't think I could ever convince DH to do family cloth.
Organic/biodegradable Dish Soap
We stopped using any paper plates/paper and plastic cups...We use our real dishes

That's all I can think of right now.

[slaferriere@berklee.net]

[QUOTE=grace_n_josie;2001880]I still quite get myself to use Family Cloth...anyone got any ideas on how to get over this one? QUOTE]

I think you are talking about household cloth, like cloth instead of papertowels and napkins. This is a hard one for me too. I really want to make the transition but we have yet to fully convert to cloth in these areas. I feel like a hypocrite if we use cloth diapers and are still using papertowels!! Not to mention it is $$. Anyone have any ideas on this transition? I bought a bunch of fabric from the dollar section at walmart but have yet to sew up some napkins Sorry to hijack!!

I use white vinegar for just about everything! That is my one favorite green tip. www.vinegartips.com I have posted this website on DS somewhere before but I love it!

[frenchie]

On a scale of 1-10...I'm an 8...if I stopped shaving and driving my car, I'd give myself a 10

[urchin_grey]

Well every time I take that test I get super-hippy-crunchy-earth-granola-mama or whatever its called.

I drive a car too but if I get to move in with my sister like I want then I get to be car free!

[Deanner03]

Well...I'd say we're semi-crunchy. We cd, organic food when possible, homemade baby food (so no jars!!!) recycle, compost (or send fruit/veg scraps to my fil's farm for the domestic deer he keeps), I don't have AF so no mama cloth, we use cloth napkins, no paper plates/plastic utensils. I've even convinced dh to use rags instead of paper towels at work (he's a contractor). Mostly natural cleaning products (still gotta have the Tide!!!). We even heat our house with corn, and use biodiesel for DH's truck for work when possible (during cold months, it gels severely, and it's not always available). Going w/o a car isn't a possibility where we live...there's nothing for miles, and no public transit.

I still could not do family cloth. I'm a nurse and have a high ick factor, but that's too much for me!!!!!

However, I'm also very flexible on many of these things. I still go out to eat, even if organic is not available, and don't get too worked up over things. My sister uses sposies...I don't harp on it (I still think I'll convert her yet, though!). Live and let live!!!

[grace_n_josie]

Originally Posted by slaferriere@berklee.net I use white vinegar for just about everything! That is my one favorite green tip. www.vinegartips.com I have posted this website on DS somewhere before but I love it!

Love the Website about vinegar! never knew there were so many uses!

[mom2rays]

We recently made the switch to cloth towels and napkins. It was a natural transition. I LOVE the microfiber towels sold for "shop" use. I had first bought a pack when I was early in cloth diapering as my stuffers for some of my fb's and hh's. I then started to realize they had other uses. I now use about 40 for our cloth towels and made cloth napkins by turning and topstitching flannel squares. The napkins are in a napkin holder on the table. I let our boys pic fabrics for theirs so they would want to use them
I keep the towels our 2nd pantry/broom closet in a rack on the door dh put there for me.

The biggest help for us to make the switch was to put the cloth out where it was accessable and the paper away where it was inaccessable! We took a trip this weekend through 4 states and I didn't think twice about grabbing 5 of my towels to take to use for messes in the car, etc.
Here's the changing table next to my mbr toilet. The top bin to the right shows our cloth wipes. Nice and accessable to use for #1 for me and for all changes for baby on our Shower Baby! I haven't convinced my dh to switch over to personal cloth for himself or if assisting our boys though and I doubt I ever will.
I also use cloth shopping bags. I try to keep them near the car or in the car so they are easy to not forget. I've been doing this for 20+ years, since college, so it's pretty habitual now.