How We’re Doing on Our Green Goals for 2009

With July already well underway, I realized it’s time to review our goals for 2009. I wrote about the annual goals we set earlier and since then we have added a few more. Here’s how we are doing so far.

Mission Accomplished!
•    Expand our garden beyond containers. We now have a small garden going in our backyard. After doing some research, we decided to stick mostly with herbs this first year while we build up the soil. Even with our record breaking drought, the garden is doing well so far. (Fingers crossed!) Thanks to Heather at Simple-Green-Frugal for answering my newbie questions about gardening in Texas!
•    Find an affordable source of non-toxic, eco-friendly furniture. After checking out some (lovely) sources of new eco-friendly furniture, we decided both our hearts and wallets are more interested in gently used pieces. We love the idea of reusing a piece that might otherwise head to a landfill. We also dislike supporting the notion that green items can only be expensive. I found a great local upholstery store called Spruce Upholstery that has beautiful pieces, many of which are reupholstered with organic fabrics and paddings. Now we are searching for just the right chair for our home.

Almost There
•    Use homemade cleaners. Virtually all our cleaning products are now homemade. We are now using vinegar and water as our glass cleaner, baking soda as our cleaning powder, and vinegar to mop our floors. The one commercial product we still use is Seventh Generation’s All Purpose cleaner. This has purely been a time issue – sometimes is it simply easier to pull out something premade. I hope to complete the switch by the end of this year.

Still to Come
•    Begin composting. We’ve gone back and forth on the composting issue. I have serious concerns about composting in a plastic container since we plan to use the generated soil in our garden. We’ve taken many steps to remove plastic from our life so I hate to add it back in, especially when it could get into what we are consuming. All the commercial tumbling composters I’ve found are plastic so we have been discussing other options. We just (as in, this afternoon) decided to go with a chicken wire cage. We know this method will be more work but we feel more comfortable with it.
•    Learn how to sew. After checking out several sewing books, I decided sewing was going to be like knitting for me. Books are useful but I need to use my hands and try out the techniques to really understand it. I’m now signed up for a basic sewing class at the wonderfully named Glitzkreig Stitch Lab and am really looking forward to it.

As we have gone through the year, we have also added More Goals to our list.

•    Use our HVAC less frequently. This winter we realized that our programmable thermostat wasn’t being fully utilized. We were using it to adjust the temperature at night but weren’t making any changes to the original programming over time. Using the programmable thermostat to inch our way warmer, we have moved our AC from 78°F last summer up to 82°F during the day and 79°F when we first go to bed. We’ll keep moving the temperature a degree at a time and see how much more we can change it.
•    Be vigilant about keeping our house cool in the summer. The massive heat wave in Texas triggered this change. I’ll post more about our effort on this front later this week as I know many are working to stay cool without spending every dime on energy bills.
•    Honor nature more. This one has been a lot of fun. We’ve made an effort to experience nature more as a family. This has involve everything from going camping to taking micro-hikes in our backyard. We also gathered together our books on animals on one shelf and, along with a tray of found items, created a nature nook for the girls. Now all their treasures have a place of honor.
•    Switch to toilet paper and paper towels made with recycled paper. While we’ve greatly reduced our use of paper towels, we knew we weren’t going to reduce our use of toilet paper by too much. When our Costco started carrying these paper products with recycled content, we made the switch.
•    Think reuse before recycle. We’ve made a significant mind shift this year. Now our first thought is not, “Can we recycle this?” but, “What can we do with this?” This change was triggered in large part by the creativity of our kids. We would pull out junk mail and see items to recycle and they would see materials for a mosaic. We would pick up bottlecaps and see metal to put in the recycling bin and they would see components for jewelry. In fact, our eldest is starting a website on her ideas for art – we’ll let you know when it goes live! We started asking, “What else could this be?” with all kinds of things and have been amazed at the answers, and all the cool things we’ve created. Raggedy tshirt becomes cool tank for working in the yard? Check! The cut off sleeves turn into headbands? Check! Poncho tie out of extra yarn? Check! Who knows what will be created next?

This has been a busy year for us so I am pleased with our progress to date. We’ve knocked out some goals already, are still working on others, and added even more to our list. I look forward to seeing what happens in the second half of the year!

How are your resolutions for 2009 going?

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