The green meme

There is a green meme going around and I'm jumping in the boat....

1. We have a rain garden and rain barrels. We keep as much of our storm water on our property as possible. And, the rain barrel water comes in mighty handy for watering my potted plants in the summer.

2. We compost... we compost it all if its not dairy or protein. We use the compost in our gardens. We think they like it.

3. We save the water from dishwashing --we don't have a dishwasher -- and from cooking and use it in our garden, or just pour it outside rather than down the drain. We like to keep our water, here, in our aquifers. My husband finds this task irritating and onerous, but he does it anyways.

4. We have a front-loading machine, we wash big loads early in the day, and we have always used cold water.

5. We use canvas bags to bring our groceries home. While this is normal at our food co-op, it can buy strange looks at the big grocery store..sigh. We buy local and organic as much as possible. It just makes sense to get my food from someone I knew who grew it and not from a truck that drove 1500 miles. And we have our own vegetable garden.

6. We buy used a lot. Used whatever as long as it makes sense. The day I read that it took 2 lbs of pesticide to make one standard towel.. that is the day I really started thinking about clothing.

7. We are slowly changing over our lightbulbs.

8. We buy quality goods all the time. We simply don't shop at Walmart. We apply the buy local principly as much as possible. Its my money, I worked hard for it, I want it to go to someone who worked hard and gets fair compensation for a quality product.

Wish list: wish I had a better way to collect all the green water in my house from baths and laundry. wish there was a better hybrid SUV.