Going Green Part II

A couple of quick things before I start: First off, none of this is rocket science, and a lot of you probably already do this stuff (in fact, you may have given me the idea). These aren’t really new ideas, I just thought it would be fun to share what we’re doing. Also, I wanted to clear up a mistake I posted in the last Going Green entry. If you’d like to make the orange vinegar, it’s actually 3 cups of vinegar to 1 orange peel… sorry about that. Of course, you could use any amount you want for a stronger or lighter scent. Another note about the vinegar cleaner is that it also can be used on wooden furniture, so I use it for dusting too. It really is all-purpose! I’d recommend testing it on your furniture first in an inconspicuous area to make sure your finish won’t be harmed. I don’t want to start getting hate comments or something…

One easy change I’ve made is that I try to save the glass jars from food that we buy, and sometimes the plastic containers that I think I might re-use. I try not to go overboard and become a total pack-rat, but there are a million things you can use old containers like these for. Just a couple of ways we use them are for storing leftovers or home-made food, or the jars can even be used for packaging a homemade gift of hot cocoa mix or soup mix, wrapped up with a pretty ribbon and a cute card attached. You can even use some craft paint to paint something cute on the lid, and cover up the not-so-cute ‘Preggo’ label. Anyway – I’m venturing into crafts already so I’d better move on.

I’ve also been trying to cut down on the amount of disposable paper products that we use, especially paper towels. I still buy them, because there are some things you just need a paper towel for, like draining bacon or fried chicken (anyone have some suggestions for healthy eating?), but I have found that I actually prefer using old washcloths for most of the little clean-ups and spills I used to use paper towels for. We’ve also been trying to really recycle everything we get that can be recycled. There’s a whole lot more than you might think!

To be honest, these next two things were started not so much out of the valiant effort to be green, but just to save some cash. First off, if you’ve got kids, you’ve got to check out the jbf sales in your area! You can find their website here. It’s basically a city-wide consignment sale for ALL baby and kid stuff you could possibly imagine. You can find some incredible deals at these places and hey, reduce-reuse-recycle, right?

Finally, I make Sam’s baby food. It’s so easy, so economical, and good for him too. I just buy some veggies or fruit, organic when I can find them, then steam and puree them. When it’s the right consistency (you can add some water if needed), I just pour it into ice cube trays and freeze it, then pop it out and keep it in freezer bags. Each cube is about a 1 oz serving and it’s really convenient. At mealtime I just microwave however much he needs. Usually I mix it with a little bit of cereal, or it’s perfectly good by itself too.

Ok, that’s all for now! Best of luck on your green quest!