living "green"

My friend Laura wrote in her blog today about her new year's resolution to live green. It's been something Jason and I have been trying harder to do lately, and I've been meaning to post a site that I'm excited about, but keep forgetting. Laura's post reminded me (thanks Laura! :) ).

In addition to our homemade laundry soap (which, by the way, has been working fabulously), we want to start using more natural cleaning products. Partly because we want to do the earth good, partly because we want to do ourselves good, and partly because when I get pregnant and we have babies, we don't want to have harsh chemicals around our home. So, we're slowly making the switch as our other products run out. We recently ran out of toilet-bowl cleaner, and I got a little bit too excited about having a dirty toilet :)

A website that I have found, and consequently really enjoy, is www.eartheasy.com. They have a very comprehensive list of homemade cleaning products that you can make very easily, from ingredients that you probably (for the most part) already have at home.

I also want to plug B. Lime store, for those of you in C-U. I've only been in there once so far, but it's an awesome store! They are located in downtown Champaign, and have everything you could think of as far as "green things." Rain barrels, cloth diapers, shoes, wrapping paper, skin care...I could go on and on. I highly recommend checking them out!

Lastly, I want to plug Common Grounds food co-op. We don't shop there nearly as often as we should/I want to, mostly because I don't want to drive across town. BUT, it's a great place to shop. Nearly everything they sell is organic/natural/green/earth-friendly/etc..., and the majority of fresh food is locally grown. That's important, because it reduces the amount of food miles, which is better for our world! Also, shopping there supports local farmers, which is always a good thing. If you pay for ownership to the co-op (one time fee of $60), you get to shop with 10, 20 or 30% off during different days of the week, get to help make decisions about what the store carries, volunteer, and more. It's a great opportunity. I took advantage of it a lot more when I was a student, and the co-op was on campus. Now that I live in Chambana, and the co-op is in Lincoln Square, we don't go NEARLY as often. (note to self to start shopping there more!)

Good luck going green!