I got tagged with 2 green memes by Rach at Left of the Middle

I've never heard of these things before! But here we go:

1) Link to Green Meme Bloggers. (use image if you like)
2) Link back to whoever tagged you. (no need to wait to be tagged!)
3) Include meme number
4) Include these guidelines in your post
5) Tag 3 other green bloggers.

Im not tagging anyone - just doing it for fun

Here goes...

1) Name two motivations for being green?

Because all my friends are. No just kidding, because it is the way we are meant to be. Man has been out of harmony with the earth since money became more important than family, love, well being, wholesomeness, community, compassion ... you get the picture

I want to teach my kids more about harmony with the natural world, than consumeristic rape and pillage.


2) Name 2 eco-UNfriendly items you refuse to give up?

Well hubby loves to travel internationally when we can, and i just dont have the heart to oppose him. (You think i am joking again, but Im actually serious, I could happily give up o/s travel).

Plastic. I have tried living without it, but it is everywhere.... our clothes, cars, cooking pots even have plastic coatings.... I know what you are thinking - just give up plastic bags as a starter. Well I have given up some, and i wash and re-use the ones i use for fruit and vege shopping... but there are still plastic bags when you buy other stuff - we recently bought a new phone - each component was plastic wrapped.... So I have to confess that I am not willing to give up all those conveniences yet.

3) Are you at peace with or do you feel guilty about number 2?

Im assuming this is referring to kids. I am totally at peace. Australia is not facing a population crisis and so i dont see how my off spring add to the global crisis in this regard. If I lived in India then i would probably be feeling a little guilty?? Maybe

4) What are you willing to change but feel unable to/stuck with/unsure how to go about it?

Plastic!!

5) Do you know your carbon footprint for your home? If so, is it larger/smaller than your national average? (http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx)

No idea but i am doing what i can and am happy with that.


6) What's eco-frustrating and/or eco-fantastic about where you live?

Eco-frustrating - Our state govt is planning a desalination plant - crazy

Eco-fantastic - We live near the most beautiful pristine, unspoilt beach;


7) Do you eat local/organic/vegetarian/forage/grow your own?

I follow a Nourishing Traditions diet and we have our own suburban orchard and vege patch, as well as 8 adorable chooks that help with the gardening and give us eggs.

8) What do you personally find the most challenging in being green?

The constant battle to make change happen - from asking our green grocer to make a box of 3kg of oranges for us instead of the regular bags, to lobbying our govt to reuse rain water run off instead of desal.


9) Do you have a green confession?

I make way too many short trips to the shops because i am disorganised and forget stuff all the time.


10) Do you have the support of family and/or friends?

We are all a bunch of hippies - so yes.


------------------------------
Green meme #2

1. Do you use baking soda toothpaste or baking soda shampoo? If not, would you consider it?

I buy chemical free versions of both.


2. Do you make any home cleaning products?

Enjo does the trick at our house.


3. What is your top green issue at the moment?

Desalination!

4. Given unlimited cash, what is on your fantasy green wishlist?

Rain water tank for every house and outhouse in Adelaide to over come our water shortage issues.

5. Have you implemented any new green act/behaviour/product this month?

nope

Little fingers

It is amazing to me the amount of uncomplicated trust a small child has in the ones around him/her.

My 18 month old neice shows me this everyday with her pudgy little hands.

Each morning we go for a walk together and Samantha confidently waddles along the road in front of me chattering away about dogs, cats, and cars that cross our path. She is proudly independent, happy to set the course for our walk, but whenever there comes a large pot hole or a patch of uneven ground that her tiny feet cant navigate, she simply raises her arm for me, trusting that i will take her hand.

She does not look up to see if I am available. She does not wonder if it is any inconvenience to me or if i will be willing to help her over these bumps. She does not look anywhere but the path before her. Her chubby little fingers rise above her head knowing i will be there. And as I take her up on her offer of trust - taking her little hand - there is a moment of wonder and joy that floods over me, knowing that it is me she has chosen to trust.