What started as a joke with our neighbor has grown into a tiny obsession in our home. Months ago on a warm spring day our neighbor chatted with my husband Andy and I about the surrounding homes running their AC full tilt so early in the season. Since our windows were open, we could hear the incessant humming of the machines. Who wouldn’t long for the cool, refreshing breeze wafting into their home after a long winter we wondered.
Once the conversation turned to greening our lives, I made a wager with my neighbor that he would turn on his AC before us.
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I’m calling myself this today. When it comes to going “green”, having a green website, being recognized locally for my efforts and just being noticed more for going green in my small town…I sometimes feel the pressure. For example, I had coffee the other day with a family member and as we drank “organic” coffee I added sweet and low to my drink. She seemed surprised and called me out on this. “How can you be green and natural and use man made sugar?”, she said. Good point. Except, I went through weight watchers and lost a ton of weight and became addicted to diet soda and sweet and low because of the “0” points.
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Although we lived in the city, I grew up in a pretty simple family compared to many of our neighbors and friends. There was no microwave, dishwasher or cable television in our home. No packaged cereals, boxed juice or single serving lunch snacks for school.
We grew and made nearly all our own food. My father was trained in horticulture and he studied bio-dynamic and organic farming in his spare time. He put all his knowledge to work on our gigantic family garden. I can’t tell you how many times I cringed at the sight of another soggy sprouts, cucumber and tomato sandwich in my elementary school lunch!
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Summer is upon us and as the temperatures rise, so does our need to stay cool. Is it possible to beat the heat without (gasp) air conditioning? As someone who has been living in an A/C-free house for most of her life, I can tell you that it’s not always easy or pleasant, but I have picked up many techniques along the way to keep myself and my family as cool and comfortable as possible. Going without air conditioning might take a little getting used to and some creativity, but with my tips below, you will soon be on the path to living a cooler, greener summer.
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For all of you who’ve been patiently waiting for us to fix our button code, we are finally all set and ready to go. Go to our Link To Us page now, and grab a badge for your blog or website.
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We have been working hard. So very hard, and there have been people not sleeping and versions and revisions flying madly back and forth, but now we can finally share this secret with you. This very green, very special and very important secret. Our new baby, 5 Minutes for Going Green has arrived!
It all started when 5 Minutes for Mom co-founders Janice and Susan had a vision for the future. That vision included expanding their highly successful blog to add sister sites for specific topics that moms (and others!) are interested in, searching for. Thirsting for. Today marks the day that 4 such sites (with more to come) are launching simultaneously.
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What could be more summery than a quick dip in the pool and a giant glass of iced tea? A brisk scrub-a-dub-tub to get the popsicle goo off your legs? All of these things are so refreshing, and so dependent on our unbelievably reliable stream of fresh, clean water. We’re lucky in the US; more than a billion people worldwide don’t have access to fresh, clean drinking water. (To help out people worldwide, check out Lifestraw and donate to provide a family with an incredibly simple device that can help them filter their children’s water). How can we ensure that our kids remain so fortunate?
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