"Meditation," by Lea Keohane, 2009. All Rights Reserved.It's Earth Day! As I'm always reminding my daughter, TURNING THE LIGHTS OFF as you leave the room will help the environment a lot. Sorry for the yelling, I just hate feeling like a nag :) Luckily, through the things she learns at school and what I try to teach her, Indigo is really exited about almost anything that will cut back on pollution and help take care of our planet. Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed when I think about our carbon footprints, but then I remember that we can only do so much, yet we each can do SOMEthing that will make a difference. Here are some things we do around our home:
*I usually paint with acrylics, but when I do use oil paints, I clean my brushes with vegetable oil rather than turpentine, and I refuse to use any solvents in my painting.
*I use rags rather than paper towels to wipe paint off of my brushes, and I use the same rag for a really long time. By the time I clean my brush with soap and water, it has very little paint left on it.
*I rarely buy bottled water. When I do, I will wash and re-use the same bottle for as long as possible.
*We use cloth napkins. I got these cute ones on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=11162202
*Every Wednesday, I get a huge stack of paperwork from Indigo's school. It's really frustrating, but the school does need to communicate with parents somehow, so I understand. Paper that is only printed on one side, I cut into quarters and use it as scrap paper. Printed on both sides? Recycle.
*Rather than buying serving-size food items (frozen dinners, snack packs, etc.), I buy larger items and divide them up into small tupperware containers. Same with dinners--I cook a large amount and divvy up the leftovers into portion-sized, washable containers so I can grab food and go when I'm in a hurry (also helps me with my weight!).
*Instead of plastic bags, I use tupperware as much as possible, and re-usable grocery bags. When I do get plastic shopping bags, I use them as trash bags rather than just sticking them into the trash.
That's all I can think of at the moment, although I'm sure there are a couple more. It's a good start! What do you do to help our planet?
*I usually paint with acrylics, but when I do use oil paints, I clean my brushes with vegetable oil rather than turpentine, and I refuse to use any solvents in my painting.
*I use rags rather than paper towels to wipe paint off of my brushes, and I use the same rag for a really long time. By the time I clean my brush with soap and water, it has very little paint left on it.
*I rarely buy bottled water. When I do, I will wash and re-use the same bottle for as long as possible.
*We use cloth napkins. I got these cute ones on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=11162202
*Every Wednesday, I get a huge stack of paperwork from Indigo's school. It's really frustrating, but the school does need to communicate with parents somehow, so I understand. Paper that is only printed on one side, I cut into quarters and use it as scrap paper. Printed on both sides? Recycle.
*Rather than buying serving-size food items (frozen dinners, snack packs, etc.), I buy larger items and divide them up into small tupperware containers. Same with dinners--I cook a large amount and divvy up the leftovers into portion-sized, washable containers so I can grab food and go when I'm in a hurry (also helps me with my weight!).
*Instead of plastic bags, I use tupperware as much as possible, and re-usable grocery bags. When I do get plastic shopping bags, I use them as trash bags rather than just sticking them into the trash.
That's all I can think of at the moment, although I'm sure there are a couple more. It's a good start! What do you do to help our planet?
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