My Earth Month Efforts

Okay, so April is Earth Month. I feel like I'm better than most at being "green" all the time. But my family is going to step it up for this month. I took Aiden to the library yesterday and we got some books full of ideas. So here is what we are going to do this month:

*No eating fast food (all of the packaging that comes with fast food is very wasteful and they do not recycle)

*No driving unless we NEED to be there (obviously Joe needs to go to work and I need to go to school, anywhere else we need to go we will go on the way to or from work or school; no special trips)

*Along with that, we will play outside and walk to the two parks within walking distance from our house, as well as do fun activities at home; without using materials or gas

*We will not buy anything we don't need (the only things we will buy are essential groceries and essential gas; there is no need to clutter our lives with things we don't need)

*We will make meals from what we already have and only buy things that are needed ( we have so many things in our cupboards and freezer that we always just pass over, we will also eat all leftovers before making new meals to cut down on waste)

* When we do buy groceries, I will not buy processed foods or overly packaged foods

* We will make an effort to recycle or reuse everything we can

*I found some great programs going on in the area this month. We are going to several programs at the EcoPark on animals and nature, we are going to do a marsh walk/cleanup, we are going to go to the Green Fair at the Waldorf School on Earth Day and much more stuff!

*April 11th is "Pull the Plug" Day, we will not use any electricity on this day (the only exception being keeping our refrigerator plugged in, but everything else will be off, including lights. I'm excited for this one...should be interesting :)

*April 19th-25th is the annual Coulee Region Turn off the TV Challenge. No TV!

I'm sure all of this sounds excessive, at least that's what my husband said :) But it's only for a month. I'm hoping that after a month of "green" living, we will adopt some of the changes permanently.

Thus far...not so good :(

Well, it has been a reallllllly long time since my last (and first) blog. Let me just explain by saying, "I hate winter!" What does this have to do with writing a blog entry you might ask? You might think that winter would be the perfect time to cozy up with my laptop and spew my life/feelings out into the world, but for me, you'd be wrong. I hate winter so much that not only does my outdoor activity cease, but my indoor activity pretty much ceases also. Some call it the "Winter Blues"...I call it, "I live in Wisconsin"...that should be explaination enough for those of you privilidged/cursed to live in the midwest. Don't get me wrong, I love the area that I live in. We have beautiful bluffs, gorgeous rivers and awesome people. I just hate winter. I wish I could enjoy things like skiing, sledding, ice fishing or playing in the snow...but I am so daunted by the insane, bitter cold that I can not possibly enjoy any of these activities. In the winter, my outside exposure consists of walking from my car to school/the store/wherever I'm going. For those of you who are thinking that I deprive my two children from the fun winter activities, don't worry. I make their dad do it :)

Now, as I stated last time, I have a couple of things I want to work on. I have been doing pretty good in the areas of money and doing meaningful activities with my children. Now what I have downright sucked at is the being healthier part. I am also blaming winter for this one. On a cold winter night, I just want to snuggle with my kids and watch a movie or snuggle by my self and read a book, or snuggle with my hubby...I'm sensing a pattern :) But now that spring is sprung, I am going to start pushing myself to start accomplishing something. Now, the good news is that I haven't really gained any weight...which when you spend a whole winter sitting on your butt and eating comfort food, is pretty good, but I haven't lost any either. I'm really hoping to drop at least one size by the time summer is in full swing...I'll keep you posted.