I’ve been “going green” for about a year now, very slowly because I know that when I make huge changes all at once I get overwhelmed and give up. So instead I’ve made one little change at a time, and have a lot more to make. It really has been so easy to do it this way, and I feel like I’m learning to live more responsibly and to be a better steward of what God has given me personally. This is what I’ve been working on.

Recycling
This one’s pretty obvious – but one of the harder ones for us because we have no recycling pickup and the nearest center is about five miles up Pelham Road. Also, we have to separate everything out individually (paper, glass, plastic, metal, plastic bags) and my apartment is so small that I don’t have room for that many different trash cans! So I just keep one trash can in the kitchen and put it all in there, and then separate it out at the recycling center. I admit, sometimes my “recycle bin” gets full before I have a chance to make a trip, and I end up throwing a few things in the regular trash can. That’s my next thing to work on! I’d love some suggestions for how to streamline the process!

Cutting back on using the car
Owning one car instead of two makes us do this more than most other couples, but we still use the car far more than I’d like to ideally. There are lots of little things to be careful about though – like not idling the car, not topping it off at the gas station, carpooling when possible, saving up errands to do all at the same time, and parking in a central location and walking between stores. I have a bike, but the combination of hilly terrain in Greenville and my being fairly out of shape make this not as practical as I’d like. My goal is to gradually increase my bike usage over this spring and summer – maybe even experiment with taking it to work (4 miles) and certainly to the library (2 miles) a few times over the summer, just to get used to it a bit more, and go from there.

Saving Energy
I already use energy-efficient light bulbs and I’m very conscious of turning things off throughout the day whenever they’re not in use, as well as making the most of oven heat (cooking 2 or 3 things at a time when it’s on, or using the toaster over for small things instead of the large oven). In the future I’d like to change my schedule to make better use of daylight (getting up and going to bed earlier) but at this stage in my life that’s difficult because of Daniel’s late work schedule.

Food Choices
This comes down to choosing local/in-season/organic food whenever (financially, lol) possible. It’s a win-win situation for the most part because that kind of food is normally better quality anyway. The local part is important not only to support the community, but also to cut down on trucking things from all over (think of how much gas the commercial trucking industry uses!). For now that just means I think twice about buying apples (from Washington) instead of peaches (from SC or Georgia), although I admit I still have a hard time saying no to avocados (from South America)! The in-season part means that there are fewer chemicals and unnatural preservatives in the food. I definitely need to learn more about this part because I’m not always sure what is in season when, but usually what is local and on sale is also in-season .The term organic has a lot of technical definitions, but in general it means that the food was grown in a natural, sustainable way. (Sustainable means that you could keep growing that much, that way, until the end of the world without running out of anything you’re using . So – I get my meat at the BJU Educator’s Marketplace, and they get it from local farmers who don’t use antibiotics or growth hormones. I get my veggies and fruit from the Farmer’s Market in the summer, and from the year-long Farmer’s Market, Earth Fare, or (carefully) from Publix in the other seasons. I get organic quinoa from a co-op, and organic grains and beans (which are still very inexpensive) from Earth Fare. I also get a lot of organic things from the Sidewalk Sale at Sav-Mor, which, though it doesn’t directly support the organic industry, at least benefits us health-wise. We generally use raw milk from the year-long Farmer’s Market, but sometimes to save time we get Publix milk which is at least hormone-free. Growing my own food is a future goal, but as far as I can see, living in an apartment that faces north (which means that I have no land and no sunlight at all in my house or patio) makes that nearly impossible. Any suggestions? I also want to have my own hen-house some day.

Saving Water
I’m a little rebel about this one – I like my long showers and baths! This is probably the next step for me – to work on saving water. I’m at least conscious of not running the washing machine or the dishwasher unless I have a full load.

Using natural things
I have so much to learn about this! My laundry detergent, dishwasher soap, etc. could all be better I’m sure. It’s a tough to find the balance between using things that work and things that are good for the environment. I’ve tried Seventh Generation products quite a bit (and they’re very expensive!) but they don’t work very well. Right now I’m using a Palmolive brand dishwashing liquid that has no phosphates in it, but other than that I’m still looking for good things to use.

Saving Paper
This is a very gradual process for me! We still use paper towels and paper napkins instead of cloth, but at least they’re from recycled paper (as is our toilet paper). I need to get in the habit of reaching for a cloth towel to clean up spills, and I need to figure out what kind of cloth I can use to clean mirrors with! I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to talk Daniel into using cloth napkins though! This is something we’ll just have to keep working on.

Other
One thing I want to do in the future if/when we have kids is to use cloth diapers instead of disposable. Disposable diapers take 500 years to break down in a landfill, and they make up 2% of the entire contents of landfills in the US. Using cloth diapers is much cheaper if you clean them yourself, and a service (they provide diapers and an odor-trapping hamper for the dirty ones, and deliver clean ones and pick up dirty ones from your house weekly) is still less expensive than buying disposable diapers.

So… I’ve come and long way from a year ago, and I still have a long way to go! I believe it’s very important to start making changes, but not to change overnight. One change at a time still makes a big difference – even just getting into the habit of be conscious of the resources you use!

The long-anticipated Spring Break is here, and I have a nasty cold to go along with it. Which isn’t as depressing as it may sound, as I had no intention of doing anything this week but staying home and relaxing, and this cold is not getting in the way of that. I’m working on a 1000-piece puzzle, cataloging my music on the computer, dabbling in WoW slightly more than usual, and catching up on the movies and books I’ve not had time for recently.

And as a dramatic backdrop to all of this relaxation, our new church is deciding on a temporary location and a statement of faith. Daniel and I have been busy with writing emails and meeting with different people to get our (rather strong) opinions on the table about what our new church should be like. It’s a blessing to be able to be involved like this in the very early stages of a church, but on the other hand it can be frustrating (but not unexpected) when people don’t see things the exact same way you do. It’s a lot of work to get your ideas and beliefs out there to be considered. I’m so thankful that all these people love the Lord and are learning and growing along side of us – Daniel and I have been so impressed by the spirit of love among everyone at our new church. So it’s a good growing experience and we’re very happy with where the Lord has us for right now.