Some facts....

Great posts about taking care of the environment! Here are some things to consider as we continue to care for the earth:

It takes about 35% less water to use the dishwasher than wash the dishes by hand. So do not feel guilty when washing a full load of un-rinsed dishes. (Of course, DO NOT stand there with a faucet of running water and pre-wash all of the dishes. Sheesh - that is why you are putting them in the dishwasher. Don't waste food by making too much and loading the plate too full and having to throw a bunch away in the first place, and if there is quite a bit of waste (like the watermelon rind corn cob stuff during the summer you should be putting that stuff in the yard waste bin or your own compost bin/pile).

And here is something easy - did you know that it takes less energy to bake with glass pans than with metal ones?

It is not that difficult to use cloth napkins. The key is to have napkin rings- a different one for each member of the family just like the historic use of the napkin ring. That way, one napkin can be used all day long (unless, of course, the mess is too great). This is one of the many things that my husband and I constantly quibble over. I love the cloth napkins, and he loves the el-cheapo recycled product paper napkins that stick to your fingers. It depends on who is setting the table and whether the laundry is up to date which one we use....I've kept my eyes open over the years at Target and other stores for the clearance clearance sales and pick up 8 or more when they are down to about a dollar a piece. If you keep a napkin ring for each member of the family, and make sure that the napkins are a variety of patterns which complement each other, all you need to do is toss them into the laundry. Not too much to do there. And they sure feel great.

My first mother-in-law was mother earth herself. Drip irrigation, compost pile, organic gardening, recycling, yada yada yada. My mom and dad taught us to do all sorts of environmentally friendly things because we could not afford to do otherwise (who in the world would have thrown away a paper towel when they could use cloth over and over again?) And my dad always told us that we did not own stock in the utility company. He also built one of the first methane digesters that anyone ever heard about from waste in our backyard, and was very pleased when I majored in Environmental Science, built a parabolic solar stove in college using grant funds, and had some other good times rallying around alternative fuels and other ec0-things back in the 70's.......) We only rode bicycles around the first 2 1/2 years of marriage (including when I was 8 months pregnant) because we had no car. Also took the bus to work. Whew. Three kids and many washers full of cloth diapers later, I've become a little lax. When our old faithful VW camper vanagon burned up, we bought a mini-van to schlep our kids and their friends around (and are very glad that we did that. Always had plenty of room, and the kids and their friends knew they could count on us for rides). Compost bin in the front yard hasn't been re-loaded in quite a while. I take the lazy way and just put things in the yard waste container. It still ends up as compost, I just don't use it as an amendment in my yard. And I don't like fluorescent lights in my bathroom- does everyone else really have them there? I've also been very involved in the community in environmental issues..... but that is another story. Right now, it seems like my heart is more into serving the people that are needy while I continue to try to not impact the earth unnecessarily. But just the fact that I had three kids instead of 2 means that I overstepped the limits of my replacement footprint here on earth. But I would not trade any of the three in to save the earth.