I feel like some Christians are so against the whole "going green" movement because the face of it has been Al Gore, and for I'm sure many other reasons as well.
While I don't believe that Global Warming is actually happening, I do believe in going green and living organically. In our home, this means eating organically, and using organic household products, as well as a few other things.
As often as we can afford it, I try to buy organic produce, pasta, milk and chicken. We love shopping at our local Whole Foods, although I've recently started "The Grocery Game" (a whole different post) and they do not offer lists for Whole Foods, yet. My main grocery purchases come from Kroger, Tom Thumb, Albertson's or Target, depending on what store I'm at that day. We try to stay away from High Fructose Corn Syrup as much as possible, and thankfully all the stores I just mentioned carry quite a few different organic products.
We have also added a few organic items to Caleb's nursery, including his crib sheets which are made of the softest organically grown, naturally colored cotton. They are produced without the use of harmful pesticides, chemicals, or dyes, which means i's easier on the skin, and the enviornment! He also has quite a few Gerber Organic Onesies, which we love. And the biggest switch of all, CLOTH DIAPERS!!
I recently posted a picture labeled "Bring It On Sumo Wrestlers", which was a picture of Caleb in his first ever, cloth diaper! We decided to switch to cloth diapers for a couple different reasons. The first being, financial. Disposable diapers can run anywere from $50 - $80 per month, and if you don't potty train your child until he/she is three years old, that can run you up to $2880, just on diapers alone (now count in the cost of formula, if you choose to, clothing and all the other "necessities" that come up every month)! Pretty crazy if you ask me! Cloth diapers have one up front charge (cost of purchase), and then you have the option to either launder them yourself at home, or hire a diaper service. The upfront cost of 20 Bum Genius 3.0 one-size diapers vary from $250+ if you bu used, or $350+ if you buy new. For us, it made the most sense, and allowed more flexibility within our current budget, to go "green" and use cloth diapers.
Now let's look at the enviornmental view of disposable vs. cloth. In an article from TheNewParentsGuide.com, the author (unknown) writes this:
"It is estimated that roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills annually. It takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone. Although some disposables are said to be biodegradable; in order for these diapers to decompose, they must be exposed to air (oxygen) and sun. Since this is highly unlikely, it can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing.
The untreated waste placed in landfills by dirty disposable diapers is also a possible danger to contaminating ground water. Pro-disposable advocates say that cleaning cloth diapers uses more energy and contributes to the load on sanitary sewer systems and potential water pollution. This view really makes no sense if you think about it. The amount of water used per week to wash cloth diapers at home is about the same amount consumed by an adult flushing the toilet four or five times daily for a week. Also, the greater amount of water and energy being used by diaper service companies to wash large amounts of cloth diapers multiple times; the per diaper impact on energy and water supplies is actually less than home washing.
Finally, when flushing solids from a cloth diaper down the toilet and washing the diapers in a washing machine, the contaminated, dirty water from both toilet and washing machine go into the sewer systems where they are properly treated at wastewater plants. This treated wastewater is much more environmentally friendly than dumping untreated soiled disposable diapers into a landfill."
So on top of the financial benefit, we are also helping our earth by using cloth diapers and not throwing disposables into our landfills!We also use organic laundry detergent on all our clothes and diapers, and plan on continuing to add other organic household products as we use our current ones up.
So, as a believer, why am I responding the way I am about going green and living organically? Here's why...
In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 it says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you ar not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body."
I take that verse to mean that because I do not "own" my body, I need to take care of it, for doing so, will bring honor and glory to my Savior. Why would I not want to do that, it is his after all, and he created it perfectly in his image!
Along with that verse above, I also love 1 Corinthians 10:26, which says, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." This verse is referenced originally from Psalm 24:1.
So, if my body belongs to the Lord and I am to take care of my body, should I not also do the same for the earth we live on, since it also is his? I believe that although it is not "our home", it is where are will live until we meet our maker face to face, and therefore believe that we should take care of it. And by doing so, I belive that he will use that for his good and his glory.
Believe what you will, but know that this family will continue to go green as long as we can afford it!
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!
Be Blessed and Encouraged!
While I don't believe that Global Warming is actually happening, I do believe in going green and living organically. In our home, this means eating organically, and using organic household products, as well as a few other things.
As often as we can afford it, I try to buy organic produce, pasta, milk and chicken. We love shopping at our local Whole Foods, although I've recently started "The Grocery Game" (a whole different post) and they do not offer lists for Whole Foods, yet. My main grocery purchases come from Kroger, Tom Thumb, Albertson's or Target, depending on what store I'm at that day. We try to stay away from High Fructose Corn Syrup as much as possible, and thankfully all the stores I just mentioned carry quite a few different organic products.
We have also added a few organic items to Caleb's nursery, including his crib sheets which are made of the softest organically grown, naturally colored cotton. They are produced without the use of harmful pesticides, chemicals, or dyes, which means i's easier on the skin, and the enviornment! He also has quite a few Gerber Organic Onesies, which we love. And the biggest switch of all, CLOTH DIAPERS!!
I recently posted a picture labeled "Bring It On Sumo Wrestlers", which was a picture of Caleb in his first ever, cloth diaper! We decided to switch to cloth diapers for a couple different reasons. The first being, financial. Disposable diapers can run anywere from $50 - $80 per month, and if you don't potty train your child until he/she is three years old, that can run you up to $2880, just on diapers alone (now count in the cost of formula, if you choose to, clothing and all the other "necessities" that come up every month)! Pretty crazy if you ask me! Cloth diapers have one up front charge (cost of purchase), and then you have the option to either launder them yourself at home, or hire a diaper service. The upfront cost of 20 Bum Genius 3.0 one-size diapers vary from $250+ if you bu used, or $350+ if you buy new. For us, it made the most sense, and allowed more flexibility within our current budget, to go "green" and use cloth diapers.
Now let's look at the enviornmental view of disposable vs. cloth. In an article from TheNewParentsGuide.com, the author (unknown) writes this:
"It is estimated that roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills annually. It takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone. Although some disposables are said to be biodegradable; in order for these diapers to decompose, they must be exposed to air (oxygen) and sun. Since this is highly unlikely, it can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing.
The untreated waste placed in landfills by dirty disposable diapers is also a possible danger to contaminating ground water. Pro-disposable advocates say that cleaning cloth diapers uses more energy and contributes to the load on sanitary sewer systems and potential water pollution. This view really makes no sense if you think about it. The amount of water used per week to wash cloth diapers at home is about the same amount consumed by an adult flushing the toilet four or five times daily for a week. Also, the greater amount of water and energy being used by diaper service companies to wash large amounts of cloth diapers multiple times; the per diaper impact on energy and water supplies is actually less than home washing.
Finally, when flushing solids from a cloth diaper down the toilet and washing the diapers in a washing machine, the contaminated, dirty water from both toilet and washing machine go into the sewer systems where they are properly treated at wastewater plants. This treated wastewater is much more environmentally friendly than dumping untreated soiled disposable diapers into a landfill."
So on top of the financial benefit, we are also helping our earth by using cloth diapers and not throwing disposables into our landfills!We also use organic laundry detergent on all our clothes and diapers, and plan on continuing to add other organic household products as we use our current ones up.
So, as a believer, why am I responding the way I am about going green and living organically? Here's why...
In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 it says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you ar not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body."
I take that verse to mean that because I do not "own" my body, I need to take care of it, for doing so, will bring honor and glory to my Savior. Why would I not want to do that, it is his after all, and he created it perfectly in his image!
Along with that verse above, I also love 1 Corinthians 10:26, which says, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." This verse is referenced originally from Psalm 24:1.
So, if my body belongs to the Lord and I am to take care of my body, should I not also do the same for the earth we live on, since it also is his? I believe that although it is not "our home", it is where are will live until we meet our maker face to face, and therefore believe that we should take care of it. And by doing so, I belive that he will use that for his good and his glory.
Believe what you will, but know that this family will continue to go green as long as we can afford it!
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!
Be Blessed and Encouraged!
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