Sustainability Party

I would argue that climate change is the biggest issue facing girls and women in our community.  I am considering joining the board of a local chapter of a girls organization and hope to bring sustainability issues to the group if I help lead it.

I talked to an energy audit service provider this weekend about scheduling an energy audit soon. I plan to take the steps they suggest and potentially increase insulation on my house.

Since this eco challenge started, I am constantly surprised by the amount of food waste we have. And I am making a sincere effort to reduce our food waste. I've read that since most food waste is fresh fruits and vegetables and its better to buy frozen, just to reduce the amount of food waste. It seems to be true. Almost everything we've had to...

This week has been great for using small plates and creating zero waste meals. The whole family is on board and we are feeling at one with the Earth! :)

Our schools are under consideration for redistricting, and if my children are sent to a school significantly further away, our family's carbon footprint will increase.  I wrote to the school board today and urged them to consider the environmental impacts of their final choice in terms of carbon dioxide emissions.

While the wasted resources of seeds, water, energy, land, fertilizer, labor, and financial capital are all concerning, what most motivates me to reduce food waste is thinking about the anaerobic production of methane when the discarded food would later go to rot in a landfill.

I started using my new bamboo toothbrush yesterday.  So far so good!

On Saturday, my two daughters and I went for a walk to explore neighborhood playgrounds. We took along a used bread bag to collect trash. We collected a bag of trash before we even got to our first playground! The girls had fun doing it (it was a new adventure and we even saw a snake!) and all weekend after this, if my youngest saw trash...

I went for a walk on Sunday morning and checked off a lot of boxes. I used muscle power instead of driving to the library to return a library book. After the library, I walked to Giant to buy vegetables to make vegetable lasagna (#plant-rich diet!). I packed up my groceries in my backpack (no plastic bags!) and walked home. I got exercise and...

I explained to my family that I am in a eco-challenge and part of that challenge is to not waste food. My youngest daughter said "Mommy, I want you to win" and then she actually ate all of her dinner- mind blown! I have become the human vacuum cleaner like my dad used to be when we were growing up--eating the stuff in the fridge that...