Going/getting green

Ooooh look, a GREEN post on St. Patrick's Day! Just a coincidence, I swear.

So many people are working on going green, living more simply, etc. That's great. There are some things that I'd love to do that aren't super practical right now, just due to where we're currently living. I thought I'd post about what I do and what I'd like to do in the future...

What I do now:

1. Most food scraps are sent through the garbage disposal.

Believe it or not, this IS a green thing. Better for the food waste to be sent to the sewage treatment plant than to just sit in a plastic trash bag.

2. Recycle newspapers/fliers, magazines, bottles, cans, and some plastics.

My town is weird about which plastics are OK, which sucks, but I do what I can. I even put the magazines in our complex's laundry room in case someone else would like to read them.

3. Reuse plastic bags from the grocery store.

I know you're probably thinking, "Get the reusable bags!!!!" And I would, except DH does the shopping...and he's a guy, so he'd probably forget the "green" bags at home, in the car, or leave them IN the grocery cart at the store...lol. The plastic bags are great for cleaning out the litter box or for wrapping meat/chicken up to freeze (over the store wrappings, people!). I also use them to line the little trash cans in our bedroom and bathroom.

4. Take my lunch/snacks to work and school in plastic containers.

Sure, they can be bulky and I often look like I'm bringing in enough food for a week, but I don't use any foil, plastic wrap, baggies, etc. I'm always on the look out for new containers that I can rescue from the garbage--deli containers, takeout containers, etc. DH thinks I'm nuts, but I don't care.

5. Make rags out of old clothes.

Old t-shirts are SUPER soft and make great rags for cleaning. Then you just toss 'em in the washing machine. It's harder to get DH to make this transition, but hey, if he cleans, great!

6. Hang up some clothes to dry (no dryer).

This wasn't really meant to be green, this was more or less me trying to save my clothing. I'm always the unfortunate victim of shrunken clothing, so to save money (for new clothes) and my sanity, I started hanging up my clothes to dry years ago. But it also helps cut back on power and laundry money!

I'm sure I have more things that I do, and I just can't think of them right now.


Here's what I'd LOVE to do:

1. Use a clothesline!!!!

I grew up with one, I used one at my last apartment, but this complex that DH and I live at now doesn't allow them. Boo. I miss that fresh-air-on-your-clothes-and-sheets smell.

2. Make my own laundry detergent!

I've seen many people (including Michelle Duggar, who I secretly envy) do it. It's not hard, but we do have to transport our laundry to a common laundry room--I'm envisioning the detergent going everywhere! Storage is also an issue in our place. Where to store those gallons of product?

3. Have a garden.

Last year, DH and I had tomatoes (I think I posted the issues we had with them on here) but I'd love to get more things in the ground. As I posted a few weeks ago, I'll probably be planting things at my parents' house this year.

4. Use less paper towels and napkins.

I'd love for us to use cloth napkins at dinner (not to be snooty fancy) but it's hard when you don't have a washer/dryer IN your place and have to really plan out when you're going to do your laundry. Using cloth napkins wouldn't be too bad if we could just do a load of laundry every few days, right after dinner or whatever.

5. Start a compost pile!!!

Kinda hard to do while living in an apartment, lol. I haaaaaaate throwing away food scraps. And it would go hand in hand with the garden.

So those are my green accomplishments and goals. What are yours?

I have some good news that I forgot to share!

I HAVE TOMATOES FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not big ones, not red ones...but tiny-to-small-sized tomatoes. I was excited a few weeks ago to see the buds starting, but when I went out the other day to water them and actually saw GREEN BALLS, it was amazing!

I can't WAIT for them to keep growing and for them to turn red!

(Yes, this means that I'm allowed to keep my plants--they are on the back deck, but they can stay! I have an awesome landlord who went to bat for me with the condo board.)

The image I've used here is NOT from my plants. My growth isn't this big, yet, but it's a good stand-in.

So I disappeared for awhile...

...and everyone was worried about me. I disappeared from teh interwebs, that is. Not from real life. I belong to a private message board and was gone from there for about a week and a half. Very bizarre for me. But work has kept me so busy I haven't had any time to check in during the day, and then at home, I've been busy with home stuff. Everything is fine, though, and I'm sorry I might have freaked some people out. I haven't even blogged in approximately 2 weeks, either!

I started my "garden" last weekend. DH and I went to the local Agway and bought some plants: basil, two types of tomatoes, petunias, impatiens, two other kinds of annuals. I had some pots from previous gardening attempts, but I still had to do a Wal-Mart run and get MORE, plus tons and tons of soil. I must have spent around $150 on all of this, which is NUTS, but I figure that we're going to need this stuff when we get a house too, and we can re-use the pots and soil, so it's more like an investment. The plants themselves were pretty cheap, so that's good!

What SUCKED is that we might have had a frost last night. WTF it's MAY!?!?! Anyway, last night, DH and I covered everything in a big tarp and hoped for the best. This morning, everything looked OK. We'll see. Tonight I think I need to finish potting the plants that I never got around to doing last Sunday--ran out of time, pots and soil. This will make our deck a little more "lived in" and not so bare.

I have also been scouting around for some more furniture. Two weeks ago, when we took DH's grandma out for her birthday, I saw some lawn chairs that were marked "free" sitting on the side of someone's yard. By the time we passed the house again, they were gone! I should have snatched them up while they were there. Oh well. I'll check out some yard sales, too. I really don't need brand new stuff--as long as it's clean (or can be cleaned) and is safe, I don't care. We waste too much stuff in this country as is, and people always want NEW NEW NEW.


In other news, DH had an interview on Tuesday and wasn't thrilled with the prospects of that position. Not a good fit at all. He'd rather work directly with the population, and this job was more clerical. Today he has another interview for something that he really really wants to do, and I'm so excited/nervous for him. He would be SOOOO happy if this position were to come through, so please, send prayers, good thoughts, crossed fingers, etc.

A bit better

Whatever funk I was in has seemed to pass. I started cleaning off the deck, in anticipation of planting things in my pots. I emptied all of the leaves out of the pots and flipped them over to drain and dry out. Pretty soon, I can get some kind of flowers or something to put in them, and I have the potting soil I need. I also need to figure out how to separate my aloe plant. It's HUGE! I need to put the babies in smaller pots.

Today, I'm off to RI to see my roomie from college (B) and her kids! I is almost 3 now and A is 6.5 months (I think?). I should know this since he was born the day before my wedding, lol. I bet they are huge! I haven't seen them since late October, at A's baptism. It's going to be gorgeous out so we might go to our old college and walk around. Ha!

Have a great day!