Happy Earth Day

Well today is Earth Day. We are going to celebrate by going to the movies and watching African Cats!! We are also going to stop at the nursery and buy a tree to plant as well (but my kids do not know about that!) I must admit that I have been trying to make small changes to the way we live to be respectful to Mother Earth.

Here are some of the changes that we have made:

We recycle more than we throw away

We have a vegetable garden that I can not wait to plant!

We compost... We are building an indoor composter this weekend!

We use fabric napkins not paper

I use recycleable bags for food shopping

I hang the clothes on the clothes line

I use glass pyrex to transport my lunch to work/in a lunchbox

I do not use chemicals on my lawn

I follow several green blogs that have given me some ideas on how I can become more green

Now that the weather is nice I will be riding my bike more and my children will also be riding their bikes so I do not have to go and pick them up in the car!!

I do think making small changes is the way for me to "Go Green" I think if everyone just does a little more it can really add up. My moto with my children is leave a room or place better than you found it.... I guess that is my philosophy for Earth Day as well.... leave it better than you found it!!

Happy Earth Day and go plant a tree!

Extreme Couponing

As I sit here getting ready for my trip to the supermarket, checking my list and cutting my coupons, I got to thinking of a show I watched this week called Extreme Couponing. Curiousity got me to watch.... I mean I would like to get out of the store paying practically nothing and feed my family for the week! If I could learn a few tricks and save some money, I am in! But as I watched I soon realized that extreme couponing is not going to be in my near future!

Organization is not my strong point..... That is putting it mildly.....The people on the show were so organized.... I think OCD organized. A level of organization that would be next to impossible with my ADHD brain. They spent hours and sometimes days preparing for the shopping trip..... One woman actually did a walk through the day before..... Now maybe it is because I am a single parent and I have a full time job....... However I just do not have that kind of time to dedicate to a shopping trip.

I was impressed with one woman having 9 shopping carts her total over $1200 and her paying only $50. BUT...... It took over 2 hours to check out..... The computer crashed...... I thought she was going to hyperventilate..... They had to call for a truck because they could not fit everything in their cars..... Now I understand the theory about buying in bulk and stocking up, but if you already have a 2 year supply of paper towels do you really need to buy 100 more rolls?? Even if it is a great price??? What about 100 Butterfingers????? What you saved at the register you are going to pay the dentist or the gym!

When they show you their stockpiles.... and how organized and alphabatized and color coded (ok I was a little jealous of their organization skills) :) they were, I just kept thinking this is organized hoarding. These family could go to the store once a week to buy their fresh food needs and live very comfortably for years on what they have stored.

Extreme Couponing as a hobby and way of life is just not for me!!