I'm Feeling a Little Crunchy

I was going to put off this post until Earth Day (Mark your calendars!) but both the girls are asleep and John is downstairs watching the Mariners, so I figured I'd jump the gun a little. We've already established that I celebrate quite a few unorthodox personal hollidays and Earth Day is really no different aside from the fact that it's written in most calendars and, luckily, corporations latch on to the green movement in any way possible in the hopes of profiting from us silly hippy folks.

My giddy anticipation of Earth Day must have started in 2nd grade when all the students in my class were given baby pine trees to take home and plant. I think mine is probably the only one that survived...and that's really just because we buried my sister's dead goldfish, Fluffy, under it. (p.s. I highly recommend dead fish as fertilizer--we did the same thing for our baby Blue Spruce out here. It was a touching ceremony. I sang 'Circle of Life' from the Lion King.) Anyway! Back to second grade! Being the goody-two-shoes kid I was, I really got a kick out of feeling like I was making a difference in the planet by planting this tree...a tree that now boasts a single poof of foliage about the size of a grapefruit. But STILL! Every year after that, I looked forward to Earth Day. It made me feel good to be crunchy.

Now every year Earth Day seems to signify a new year for me; it's a time to reevaluate the choices I make in my life and try to make them more environmentally friendly. Having kids has also changed my perspective on how crunchy I'm willing to be. It is amazing how much children pick up simply by observing the people modeling behaviors around them. And if I'm committed to loving my planet, hopefully my kids will be too.

This Earth Week started out as many before have; I have plans for planting in my garden and my main goal was something small-- to get back on the cloth diaper wagon for Bailey since I've been lazy and probably only doing half and half. But, fortuitously, my cousin Jinnie sent me a link to a blog post at Sorta Crunchy. I started following the blog. And then I became obsessed with reading the archives. And before I knew it I was washing my hair with baking soda and contemplating giving up toilet paper. It's a slippery slope. And I just love being crunchy.

so, without further ado, here is my 2010 list of ways I want to crunchify my life:

• I finally convinced John to buy a universal battery charger. Kid's toys/gear suck up so much battery juice and batteries are expensive! My inner Scrooge McDuck cackled when I got my hands on that new charger. And I get to play it off as being concerned for the environment.
  
• Using hankies instead of paper tissues: we already did this with the girls, but why not ourselves? I've started putting a stack of flannel 'wipes' in the bathroom for this purpose and I hope to invest in some quaint handkerchiefs.
  
• Using cloth in the kitchen: it is so, so easy to just reach over and grab a paper towel to dry your hands, but I've been trying to catch myself and reserve the paper towels for messes so yicky-sticky I wouldn't want to try washing it out. On that note, I'd also love to convert to cloth napkins eventually.
  
• Natural, homemade shampoo and 'conditioner': This one John was (read: IS) very skeptical of and it might just merit it's own blog post some day.
  
• For food: growing our own produce, composting, buying local meat/milk, fair trade coffee and trying to shop more at our local farmer's market/health food store
  

Now, I have to clarify that most of the things I want to commit to also speak to my inner cheapskate self. Going green in many cases saves money and I love saving money! It's an excuse to feel better about my gluttonous Starbucks addiction.

I also want to make sure this does not come off as an excuse to toot my own horn; there are many areas of my life that are hideously wasteful and making strides in areas I do enjoy conserving makes me feel a little less guilty about taking sinfully long hot showers or forgetting to turn lights out when I leave the room. Everybody has their own areas they feel more comfortable going granola in and mine tend to be more extreme than the average bear...or Midwest resident. Seattlites and Portlanders, though? This steel-cut-oat-eatin' Mama's got nothin' on those wack jobs. Now go hug a tree.