They are sprouting!

I was so excited to see that our carrots and lettuce are finally starting to sprout!They are very hard to see in the pictures...you have to look hard for the little green sprouts. My kids were getting very bored of looking at the dirt...and waiting for something to happen. It has been a good weekend. We got some of our kitchen cleared out. We'll have so much to donate! Taking small steps in our getting greener lives!

Until Next Time

Stay Green!

Alison :-)

I love Goodwill!

I went to Goodwill looking for some glass bottles to put bulk food in. I found all of these for under $10.00! I need to shop for all of my stuff there. I also remembered to refuse the plastic bag and I carefully loaded them into my van and got them all home safe in one piece! :-) (They are all wet in the picture because I just finished washing them...for the second time.)

We planted another "Bucket Garden". This time we didn't start from seed. I got some Basil from the Farmer's Market, and some Flat Leaf Parsley and a Pepper Plant from Lowes (cheaper from the Farmer's Market by the way).

My goal for the rest of this month is to not bring another plastic bag into this house. (Although plastic can be recycled, it is a much more time consuming and difficult process than recycling glass or metal.) Sean has to remind me to take baby steps...I tend to jump into things and want to do it all right away.

I also had to throw in a picture of Sean's "Laptop Lunchbox" all loaded up. He thought at first that it wouldn't be enough food for him, but he has found out that it is actually plenty! Score!!

Until Next Time

Stay Green :-)

Alison

My first post...

Hello All,

This is my first post on this blog. I'll explain a little why I am making this blog. I am becoming more and more aware of the waste and non healthy eating of my family. When coming home from the grocery store we unpack our bags, and I notice that our counter top (instead of being covered of fresh food,) is covered with prepackaged foods. I remember how during the week we ate at McDonald's 3 to 4 times. ICK!! Something has to change. And unless I change it, nobody else will.

I am going to start with some simple things I can change:

• Buying as many products from the bulk containers (and using cloth bags to put the items into rather than using the plastic bags they provide) and storing them in glass jars in my kitchen
• We have started a compost bin. We will be eventually using it for the soil in our garden
• We have started a self-watering bucket garden for organic herbs, vegetables, and fruits...so excited about that!!
• We will use less plastic bags and eventually get our waste down
• We bought eco-friendly lunch boxes that contain no phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), or lead for the whole family (http://www.laptoplunches.com/) and will be using no waste in making our (more healthy) lunches.

I am very excited to be embarking on this. I think it will de-clutter my life a bit. Having just brought our daughter home from China, and having 2 toddlers now, I am finding that I am spending more and more time at home. I want to show them the best example of healthful living and eating that I can.

So, here it goes...follow my new "Making Greener Decisions" journey :-)

PICTURE DESCRIPTIONS:

• Glass Jars with some of the bulk foods
• Compost before we take it outside to the larger compost bin
• Our Organic self-watering bucket garden

Alison