Thursday, April 23, 2009

Happy Earth Day!

I love the Earth. I think it's beautiful just the way God made it. I also love this commercial from the Discovery Channel. Awesome.
Just for the record, I didn't take this picture.


I'm not an extreme person. I recycle when it is convenient and I try to re-use or not use plastic bags. (It's amazing how much stuff you can fit into those cloth bags!) I used cloth diapers with a couple of my children - but they had skin allergies, so I was very motivated. For those of you who think that's gross and inconvenient, it's really not. I used Bummis, which is a diapering system that is pinless and uses really thick polyester instead of plastic pants. They're so cute too! It was not a big deal. I heard that 10% of our garbage comes from disposable diapers. That's gross.


I think the easiest tip I could give someone to save money and help the environment (and your clothing) is to use a clothes line. I love my clothes line. I have a five line retractable clothes line - I bought it from a great little hardware store in Durango, Colorado. I admit, I still throw my whites and anything else I don't want the neighbors to see in the drier, but if the weather is nice, my clothes go out on the line. On a breezy, sunny day, even my jeans are done in 20 minutes - not even the fanciest dryer can do that, and without all the wear and tear on my clothes. I never would have considered using a clothes line until my family moved to Canada. Like many Americans, I thought clothes lines were for people who couldn't afford electricity. In Nova Scotia, even the nicest of neighborhoods have clothes lines. I love to see my sheets waving in the wind. I remember making forts and playing shadow tag with my grandmother's sheets. And in New Mexico, my laundry comes out smelling like juniper and cedar. That beats Downy - hands down. Best of all, it gives my an immense sense of satisfaction to see my clean laundry blowing in the breeze. As Cjane would say, "I am a housewife after all." Oh, and that's not my laundry and it's not my grass either (I live in a desert!)

2 comments:

Kimberly said...

Even though you probably won't read this for a week I loved this post. I always want to wash and dry the blankets and sheets every spring because it makes everything smell so good! Love you!

Juli said...

I did read this. You're so sweet.