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Green Baby
Since we had our daughter we view the world in a new light. We want to help make it the kind of world she deserves to grow up in. Here’s some of the stuff we’re doing:
*All used baby gear
*Making our own baby food – super easy and healthier
*Only organic food for baby
*Cloth diapers – love it and it’s easier than I thought
*Cloth wipes with homemade liquid solution – look this up, there are plenty of websites on how to do this.
*Breastfeeding
*Glass bottles instead of plastic
*Lots of walks (for example, we walk to the grocery store instead of driving)
The next thing I am going to do is start drying her diapers outside instead of using the dryer. Eventually I would like to wash them in the sink instead of using the washing machine but I’m not there yet.
I want to be confident and proud when I explain to her the decisions and path we took as my husband and I grew together as parents.
This post was submitted by Kerry.
Baby Steps for 6 months
Inspired by the documentary, we brainstormed how we will reduce our impact. We really liked the phased approach that was presented in the documentary, and have decided to change one habit a month. Every six months, we’ll brainstorm a new list. Here’s our most current list:
May: sell Scott’s 1999 Civic and get a scooter. (We didn’t expect this to be so much fun! Even though we still have one car, we usually choose to take the Vespa because it’s a nicer ride.)
June: consume only drinks that have not been stored in a plastic or aluminum container (this is proving tough for Scott, as he would go through a LOT of Dr. Pepper)
July: media – sell the TV, XBox, surround sound, and other related components. Consume content through kindle, online, or e-book (no more printed magazines or books)
August: start making and using home-made cleaning products
September: consume all local food (250 miles or less)
October: Bike or walk if the trip is less than 5 miles
November: Be conscious of how our appliances drain energy when we’re not using them. Unplug.
December: Expand local purchases to clothing, furniture, etc.
Thanks for being such an inspiration. 
This post was submitted by Scott & Andrea.
Small Things
Last summer I worked at a local produce market here in Charlotte called Providence Produce. Basically there are three outdoor produce stands that sell ONLY locally-grown produce. I absolutely loved working there because I got the chance to be outdoors and I felt good about myself because I knew it was good for the environment. I never knew there were many foreign people where I live, but when I started working there I got to meet customers from around the world that never shopped in grocery stores in their home countries, and it made me realize that the United States really needs to get a move on. So if anyone is looking for a part-time job, look for local produce markets in your area because working there will greatly improve your conscience.
Other things i’ve been doing to reduce impact:
I never use paper plates and cups anymore, only ones that can be washed and used again.
I use rags for removing makeup, applying astringent and other things that i used to use toilet paper for, and it has greatly reduced the amount of “bathroom trash” i’ve produced.
I turn off my computer or laptop when i’m not using it, whereas before i would leave it on all day.
I NEVER leave lights on in a room, even when i’m just going to step out of the room for a second i still turn the light off. At night i’ve even started brushing my teeth in the dark because i don’t really need a light.
I’ve also been pressuring my mom to read No Impact Man, because i know she’ll start doing many of these things too.
When i get to college, whenever i go into one of the dining halls i’m going to bring my own plate, cup, and silverware instead of using the paper and plastic ones that i would be throwing away three times a day.
This post was submitted by Mallory .
Put abandonned cans in the recycling bean
As Colin explained, sometimes doing something good balances our irreductible impact.We often do the “cans trip” as a short walk around the house (we live in a house in a 190.000 inhabitants city in France) with my daughter.We usually collect around thirty to fifhty cans in the streets during a 30 minutes walk, that we put in the right bean for them to be recycled.
This post was submitted by Perret Nathalie.
conserving in the city
I believe that as members of the Human Community we all need to do our part for it’s survival. My family doesn’t own a car. We take the subway everywhere. We shop for everything possible at the farmer’s market, and bring our own bags. We save our vegetable and fruit scraps in a container in the fridge, and then every few days take it to Riverside Park and bury it in a pile of leaves (natural composting!). Buying bulk food really reduces garbage, too. We eat vegetarian diets and only buy humane dairy (this is difficult, but farmer’s markets are a good bet). New York City has some of the cleanest water in the city (apparently it is test every 20 minutes to make sure of this). There is no reason to buy water here.
It is not easy to live an earth-friendly life in a consumerist country, but it is important to do so.
Anja, NYC
This post was submitted by Anja Wood.
Following the Transitioning to Living Cuisine program, TLC for the planet
The TLC program taught me how to ease into a more earth friendly and nutritious lifestyle. This gentle approach to adding more fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds to our family’s life has change the way I see nature. I can now eat 75% from my back yard and hope to bee 100% in a few months. The extra energy from this lifestyle has allowed me to focus on growing “vegiceuticals and fruitceuticals” and my body is so clean and healthy now.
This post was submitted by Allan Oswald.
Good Food at family reunions
Over 60 people attended a family reunion in a nice church basement, One meal was totally organic/and or locally grown food.
My mother and daughter baked all the bread and made coleslaw. The meal: organic turkey, hummus, peanut butter and cheese, vegetables, condiments, coffee and tea. Brownies and zucchini bread were baked in a solar oven.
We used tablecloths, real dishes, the dishwasher and composted food waste.
The biggest use of carbon was “love miles” ~ traveling for 60 people scattered across the nation [and world].
We catered two modest, eco-friendly meals.
At the end of a three-day event we had garbage the size of a small bathroom trashcan.
Many said the organic/locally grown meal was best.
Everyone could see everyone else; yet break into smaller groups. Displays included photographs and documents of ancestors, and posters with eco-friendly tips.
Some said it was the best family reunion yet.
This post was submitted by Pro_Cricket.
Stove Top Cake
I do not use my oven from June 1 to September 1. Why make the apartment hotter? Why waste the money to heat a box when using a coil on top of the stove will do just as well?
So I have learned how to make cake on a stove top burner using a skillet with high sides and a cover. It takes no more effort on my part, althoug a bit more time to cook. But that’s time when I can do other things (the rest of the meal), or maybe even relaxing things, like reading a magazine.
It doesn’t conform in shape to what our eyes think of as “cake” but it tastes just as good.
This post was submitted by Catherine.
No Lawn, Native Plants
My city lot is .15 acres. I have killed the grass by laying down newspaper covered with “flakes” of straw. (not hay) If you buy a bale of stray and cut the bindings, saving the string to tie up your tomatos, the bale kind of divides into 5 inch hunks, which are flakes.
Most of my flowers and all of my tree and shrubs are native to this area. This feeds and provides nesting space for birds and insects who protect my vegetables from harmful insects. I do have non-natives, but am careful to avoid invasive species. A hive of bees is on my to-do list. No hens, I’m sorry to say, but a friend has free-range organic eggs for me.
Half of my lot is devoted to vegetables. I have a dwarf apple tree, a peach tree, raspberries, strawberries and tons of blueberries. (I live in Maine) I don’t even have to take the bus to the farmer’s market. I can my surplus and have a small, energy efficient freezer in the garage to store locally produced foods, which I buy in bulk in season. By spring, the freezer is empty so I unplug during the hot months. It doesn’t run at all in the winter and I figure that the electricity it does use has less impact than, say, flying produce in from South America.
This post was submitted by Patricia McClure.
Weed Cuisine and Urban Farming
We harvest almost all our food from the wild, from dumpsters, from our garden and from our 1.5 lot urban farm (laying hens, dairy goats and honey bees). We trap and eat Eastern grey squirrels on our urban lot and we harvest seaweed and shellfish from a beach 5 miles away from the house. We also fish from a lake 2 blocks from our house.
Among the benefits:
Reduce trips to the store.
Reduce use of pesticides.
Reduce food transportation.
Increase awareness of and connection to natural environment.
Learning self-reliance.
Humane treatment of animals.
Reducing populations of invasive species (animal and plant).
Eating healthfully.
We’ve learned to ferment foods, make our own yogurt and cheese, bake all bread, make our mayonnaise, can fruits and vegetables. And we will be experimenting with a modified root cellar (it rains a lot here) this winter. We still purchase vegetable oil, spices, salt, sugar, flours and coffee. And my Cuban-born husband still enjoys a sip of good rum now and then.
I checked off the category “More Time” below because I would say we have more LEISURE time due to our view that gardening, farming, dumpster diving and wild food gathering are very fun and leisurely activities.
We’ve made this conversion from uberconsumerism over a period of about 3 years. Thank you for all the wonderful ideas in the movie; we hope to try some of them out soon.
This post was submitted by Melany Vorass.