Green light, revisited

So, having reviewed my Earth Day hopes and goals for last year, I’ve decided to extend the deadline through 2010. We’ve made progress: Our house is starting to show signs of home, in no small part thanks to things reclaimed and broken-in. But overall, today gives me a little deja vu, and in that spirit I’m reposting what I wrote last year on April 22nd.

Here’s to the many ways it’s easy being green[er], to the eco-chic trends that are making it cool, and to the three-Rs mantra (reduce, reuse, recycle) that breaks it down so well.

We do a little more all the time to live by it. Since this time last year, we’ve been using cloth diapers alongside bleach-free disposables. When it isn’t freezing, we take the wash out to the clothesline. We have a new compost bin that D built last month out of old wood and wire. We’re using egg cartons and plastic mixed greens packages to start seeds this spring. Jack sports used clothing (I’ve noticed that “gently worn” is the preferred term for it, the way “previously owned” is for vehicles). We shop flea markets, antique stores, Etsy and the classifieds.  Since our rural recycling service began accepting plastics no. 1 through 7, our monthly load of recyclables has eclipsed the garbage we put out each week.

Which all sounds great — but we can always do more (these are a good start) and waste less. I wish for lots of reasons that we could carpool to work together again rather than driving 35 miles each in opposite directions (some day). I look forward to finishing our new addition (hello, footprint) and setting up my sewing machine, so that I can repurpose used clothes of our own. This year I want to do more gardening, more canning. More staying instead of going. I hope I can sustain at least those goals.

Happy Earth Day.