"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away?"

Author: Unknown

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Garden Bloggers Sustainable Living Project, 2010

                               Earth Day is April 22, 2010

  

   Its all over the news, there is even articles in magazines about it. We are all encouraged to do it. We need to save our Earth for our children and grand children. People are beginning tobe conscerned about our future generations living with polluted air, littered lands, or even long term illnesses due to chemical pollution of our land, water , and food supply. It is our responsibility to step up now. The new praise now is to " Reduce our carbon footprint",or "living green". What ever you call it, lets all do our part.
   Jan at Thanks for 2day, is asking bloggers to prepare a post show how we are contributing to a greener world in honor of Earth Day. Bloggers around the world are encouraging others to save our Earth, and do our part so future generations can enjoy the beauty of nature, and the satisfaction of breathing crisp, clean air. I grew up learning to make do with what I have,or even make what I need from what I have. During those years we didn't live in as much of a disposable society as we do today. While you read some of the things I do to try and live greener, think of ways you can participate. Every day, not just on Earth Day.

1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle:
   I am trying winter sowing this year, so I am saving all my milk jugs, juice bottles etc to sow seeds in. Right  
   now I am up to 150 containers. Reusing these saved me lots of money,instead of buying pots, and
   traditional  flats.I try to reduce paper waste and save trees on a daily basis. .
2. Conservation:
    I buy very few paper towels  Mostly I save  old worn out towels and tear them into smaller rags to use to
   dust furniture, clean spills,  and windows. I only run my dishwasher with a full load, but I have to admit, with
   a family of 6 adults, and  1 child thats pretty easy.Same with my washing machine. I wash mostly with cold
   water to reduce heating  use.We  have an all electric home, and keep our thermastat turned down to 65°. I
   try to keep bedroom doors closed during the day year round. That way I am not paying to heat/cool these
   rooms that are not getting used during the day. Turn off the lights in rooms that aren't being used.I only
   water my garden when things are getting extremely dry. My yard is left to fend for itself.We also bought an
   energy conserving front loading washing machine. This guy uses much less water than our old top loader.
3. Composting: I just started a compost pile last summer.I save my useable kitchen scraps to go in here. Also
   you  know all those leaves that some like to rake up and bag to be picked up? We run our lawn mower
   over them to chop them up and be blown back onto to the yard to give back to the soil. I also save some to
   put in the compost bin.
4. Do Not Litter: I have taught my kids from a very early age that we do not throw out garbage for any
   reason. There is no excuse for littering. Toss it is the closest garbage can, bag it up, or stick it in your
   pocket, until you find one. You may think that little piece of paper is no big deal, but multiply it by the
   millions of  people living on earth. if we all did that, our children's children will have to tunnel through the
  debris.Its only a slight momentary inconvenience, but can make a big difference.
5. Stop pollution: To me this is a biggy. Has anyone ever stopped to consider why there seems to be so many
    more  cancer diagnosis today than ever before? Seems like everywhere we turn someone else is being
   diagnosed.I have  had a few deaths from cancer in my own family. My gardens have always been chemical
    free. I use natural products to deter deer, and insects. What I can get rid of I live with. You can always find
    japanese beetle damage on many of my flowers.I am going to plant vegetables this year, in attempt to
    reduce the amount of chemical laden food I buy from the store.I also enjoy watching my grand daughters
    enjoying the flower and vegetable gardens. I couldnt do that if I had to worry about them coming in contact
    with some chemical.

    No one smokes in my home...EVER! I refuse to expose myself or my family to this anymore than we have
    to. I do  have a couple of son's that smoke, ignoring my pleadings, but they will never smoke inside my
    home.

    Even growing plants at all, whether inside or out, helps to filter the air, and add oxygen back. Now thats a
    cheap air purifier!
      

6 comments:

  1. I'm going to go link this and I'll be back to read it! Thank you for participating, Tammy!

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  2. You sound like a very smart recycler and conservationist. Such a good thing.

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  3. I enjoyed reading about all the ways that your lifestyle helps keep the earth a healthier place, Tammy. It's difficult to do this and I am really thinking hard about all the things that I do that help, and DON'T help. You have given so many great examples...we should all try so much harder. Some things require more effort than others...but every little bit helps. Thanks for joining in;-) Jan

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  4. Thanks Tina, but there's always much more than can be done.

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  5. Your right Jan, even as much as I "do", there is so much more I could, and should be doing.

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