A few posts back I mentioned that I had read a book about "going green", as they say, and was going to start incorporating items and practices into our everyday life to help us start being more green.
So far, I have started to buy organic milk. It is more expensive (and Jared continues to roll his eyes!) but with coupons I think I have been able to make up the difference. I am also buying Kraft organic macaroni and cheese. Unbelievable how different it is without all the junk from the regular blue box! Jared isn't super happy about that change, but he will eat it. I think it's good. I have begun to seek out organic vegetables, both canned and frozen to replace our normal brands. Surprisingly they really aren't much more expensive. The eggs are not organic yet, but they are local, as is much of our produce. (Beautiful produce!)
As for our diet, I have tried very hard to cut down on red meat and pork. we have been eating a lot of chicken, turkey, fish and whole grain pastas lately! No soda pop unless there is an upset tummy. Only 100% real fruit juice and I have been buying brands that only use fruit grown in the USA. Brown rice instead of white (Jared really doesn't like this change). And at the moment... that is all I can think of.
I have gradually switched over almost all of my cleaning products, as I've run out of them, to Seventh Generation or Green Works formulas. I think they clean just as well as my old cleaners and they sure smell better! I have also really limited my use of swiffers. Back to a bucket and hand and knees for the floors.
The two things I would like to do next are to switch over my baking supplies to organics. I bake a lot! And I really love to make things like pizza dough, bread, cake, pastry, cookies, etc. at home. With organic ingredients for all that it would make a large part of what we eat organic. However this is going to be a pricey switch. Good organic baking ingredients are expensive! The brand I am going to use is King Arthur Flour since I have used their products before and love them! The commissary carries some of their products, but they have an extensive website as well.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/landing.jsp?go=Home
The second thing I would like to try is switching my slightly more expensive green cleaning products over to homemade ones! I came across the book 'Naturally Clean Home' by Karyn Siegel-Maier at the library. It's fascinating! The recipes she gives you really aren't hard and I know I could get the ingredients here locally. And as she says, once you invest in those ingredients and some reusable containers you are cleaning for pennies compared to purchasing natural cleaners at the store! Below is a link to her book.
So that is the latest from the slowly becoming green Scherff household! If anyone has other resources or products related to this topic to share, I welcome them!
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