The Organ family have decided to start being a little more aggressive in our journey to living green and reducing our carbon foot print. We are starting slow for a couple different reasons. The first reason is cost. We don't have the budget right now to go completely green and organic. The second reason is that I don't want to overwhelm myself with a ton of lifestyle changes. Especially when most of them require some sort of research. So my plan is start slow and add new changes once I feel comfortable with the changes we have already made. One of the major reasons why I came to the decision to start making better choices for our family is because living toxin free and eating organic (both as much as possible) will be a wonderful gift that I can give to my husband and eventually our children (sorry for the long sentence). By the time we have children we will hopefully be out of the transition stage and this will just be the way we live. I would like to share with everyone the few things that we do.
1. Recycle, Recycle, Recycle!!! This is something we have done for years. We are lucky to live in a city that offers free curbside pick up of recycle materials. Our only problem is that we fill our recycle bin up so quickly and pick up is only once a month. We usually have to make one or two runs to a drop off facility. But I guess that's not such a bad problem:)
2. Reuse, Reuse, Reuse!!! After looking around the kitchen one afternoon I realized that we could really decrease our use of paper products. We were using a ton of paper plates, napkins, and paper towels each week. So I made the decision no more paper plates, napkins, and paper towels. I bought reusable plastic plates and sewed a ton of cloth napkins. Another item that we reuse are cloth grocery bags. You can get cloth bags at almost any store now for .99 cents. Here in Nashville if you use your cloth bags at Kroger they will take .04 cents off your bill for each bag.
3. Non-Toxic Cleaning Products!!! I have been wanting to use non-toxic cleaning supplies for a while now, but the problem I tend to run into is that I can't find a store that always has a full supply of every product. So it seems like I can't find what I am looking for when I need it. Problem solved! Mike and I have decided to try out an online company that has been around for years. The company's name is Shaklee and in 1960 they made the first biodegradable household cleaner in the world. So they have been around for a while. To help cut the cost we decided to order the new products as we run out of the old products. This will be a slow process, but it is the best option for us.
4. Martini: Our dog lives better than we do. She eats all natural/homeopathic/organic food, she is bathed with all natural products, & we have even found a home remedy/mixture to take the place of here Frontline (flea/tick medication). I can tell that since we do this for our dog, once we have kids it will be a piece of cake. The things you do out of love:)
5. Food: This category will be the hardest thing for us to change for a couple different reasons. I think this will be the most costly once we buy all organic. Also, even though Nashville has a Whole Foods, it is not very convenient, and while Kroger/Publix carry some organic products, their selection is somewhat limited. Here are the few products that we already buy organic: dairy, coffee, peanut butter, cereal & some meats. Spending money on organic meat is something that Mike and I do not see eye to eye on, yet. That's okay, like I said we are starting out slow.
There are a few more things I would eventually like to add to our "going green" lifestyle. Once we move from a town house into our own free standing home I would love to start composting. Also, thanks to the Glissons, we have been introduced to a neat rain catching system. It is basically a big trash can that hooks to your gutter and has a spout at the bottom so you can use the water to water your plants, wash your kids, or serve at a dinner party...just kidding:) I would also like to eventually use all organic beauty products: shampoo, conditioner, lotions, deoderant, etc.
Unfortunately there are things in our life that are definitely
Not green, but if we can change the small stuff first maybe the others will follow. I hope some people found this helpful. I am not writing this to pat ourselves on the back, but I would like to help encourage others. After all, reading what other people are doing is one of the reasons I got started. Also, let me know if you have any other ideas. I'd love to hear them.
This is a picture taken the very first day I arrived at my new home!
This is my favorite spot in the house. I love to lay on my pillow in front of the window and be a watch dog.
This is my very first snow day. Mom and Dad took be to the dog park. 
Hunting Rabbits
Playing with my two best friends Angel & Lily. They are Labradoodles. 
I love my Mom!
I love my Dad!
Pictured here is what I call "Daddy Time." It happens every night around 10:00. I cuddle for around 20 minutes then I go settle in my house (crate) for the rest of the night.
I love to give "high-fives" in return for ice!
I love riding in the car!!!
I love to ride with my head out of the sunroof!
Dad is playing a game we call "chuck-it." He throws the ball and I go get it.
Here I am playing with some of my friends.
This is my obsession...TENNIS BALLS!!! I love them so much I can get two in my mouth at one time:)
Isn't this so sad:(
The whole family
Here is the whole collection. I even found some fabric to make hand towels (those are the orange things on the far right). I had a blast making the napkins. In all I spent $17.00 in fabric and ended up with 73 napkins. That averages out to .24 cents a napkin!
