It's Easy Being Green

I have to admit that I haven't really caught the "going green" bug that seems to be going around. But reading other people's posts about what they've done to live greener has made me realize that for one reason or another, Jason and I just so happen to be pretty green.

A lot of the "green" things we do aren't motivated by saving the environment, they're either just a way of life for us or choices we've made for personal motivations that just so happen to be environmentally friendly choices. Like me working from home. Jason living 3 miles from work. Halle's daycare being 2 miles away. We've also recycled for as long as I can remember, at least ten years, despite the fact that neither one of us grew up in homes that recycled. And we're very religous about it and always have been. We don't get the newspaper delivered because we get all our news online or on TV. We've never been big on buying bottled water because we're cheap, and thankfully live in a city where the tap water doesn't taste bad. We do filter the water we drink through our refrigerator, and we do buy bottled water on occasion for parties because it's more convenient for guests. But at least every single one of those bottles gets recycled. Even potty training Halle early and getting her out of diapers as quickly as possible is a big help, even though, again, it wasn't motivated out of our desire to help the environment.

All the appliances in our house are energy efficient, even the toilets. And we've been buying the energy-efficient light bulbs for awhile now. Anything that makes sense financially over the long run, we're interested. We also water our lawn using reclaimed water. And Halle and I shower or bathe together almost every time, which saves on water, but is also just more convenient for me.

We've opted out of insurance and credit card mailings, and phone books, because seriously, I just can't handle all that junk mail. And recycling phone books is a hassle. And then I have to store them. And I NEVER use them.

We're also really good about disposing of things properly, like electronics and paints and batteries. And I've started buying a lot of the greener cleaning products because they happen to be safer for kids and pets, and keeping my family safe is definitely a big motivation for me.

The only really green thing that I started doing recently which definitely falls into the "going green" bandwagon category is not taking plastic bags from stores anymore. This is the one area that I actually consciously think of the environment and the waste and trying to make a difference. So hey, what do you know, I'm not completely selfish. :)