Love your Mother (Earth), a post about New Year's Resolutions

Ok, ok, so it's the end of April. I just wanted to say that lately I have been really making strides on accomplishing all those goals I set for myself for this year, and for life, really. Most of them have to do with becoming more green, sustainable and aware of our environment (emotionally, physically, and artistically) and really raising Owen and Elliot to love our planet. And, since it's Earth Week (Earth Day is Wednesday, everybody), I guess I wanted to share how we as a family are working together to live a more wholesome life.

We are a green family in some obvious ways already: we recycle, we have switched to CFL light bulbs, I walk Owen to school whenever possible, we eat organic foods whenever possible, we drive a hybrid vehicle, we eat mostly vegan food, we re-use our cloth grocery bags, we use cloth napkins, I pack low-waste lunches for Owen thanks to the Wrap-N-Mat and the Laptop Lunch.

All those choices have been easy and have been fully incorporated into our life for awhile now. This is not to gloat over anybody or anything, just to show you how easy it actually is to make small changes: seriously, if we can do it, so can you.

However right on my New Year's Resolution list are three glaring omissions that kind of negate all the good work we do. They are: hang a clothesline to reduce electric consumption (we already have an energy saving appliance, but the sun uses even less energy), plant an organic garden to raise our own vegetables, and start a compost bin to collect all the peelings, rinds, seeds and such of all the produce we eat...

Well, take a look at what we accomplished this past weekend on the hottest day of the year: our first family garden. All of us out there digging, planting, sweating and dreaming about what might happen in this little plot. It was truly one of the best experiences making this dream come true. Today after school, Owen came home and watered the garden a little and carefully inspected each little square inch to see if the growing had started. He is so excited about it, and so am I! I am no green thumb, so I will be asking you all for advice as we go along, I'm sure. But the wonderful thing is our family is learning about it together.

Also, I hung a load of clothes on the line today. Elliot helped by chasing after me with clothespins and playing hide and seek in the sheets hanging on the line.

It's so funny how you can think about doing things and never actually get to them, and then once you actually accomplish them you wonder why you didn't do this always.

Next up: compost, compost, compost!!!!!!

This whole process had made me feel so happy and content, like I am actually doing something good with my life and with my family.

Those of you out in computer-land, I'd love to hear what you are doing to love your Mother Earth this week, and for always. Let's celebrate the good stuff we are doing instead of dwelling on all that bad news! Please post in the comments!

And by the way, check out Simple Mom's post today about 40 ways to Go Greener at Home. More inspiration!