The nice thing about most people in life is that we talk about sports, the weather and nice places we like to eat.
With kids you get:
“Hey mom, we’re going to be dirt one day!”
Pardon me?!!!
“I guess we better treat the earth a little better then….”
Thanks to my kids unabashed willingness to talk about the big issues, I’m usually forced to confront the way I live my life even when I’m not ready to think about it yet. With Earth Day this means I need to make sure my efforts last a little longer than a day.
We actually did celebrate Earth Day in a positive way that I’d like to remember again for next year. Pike Place Market had an event called Arcade Lights where local food and drink vendors sampled delicious small bites for the Market Foundation (a really good cause that lets our city’s biggest tourist attraction also support a food bank, a health clinic, a preschool and a senior’s center. This foundation is one reason I’m super proud of this city!) My friends and I had a great time, but I couldn’t hold my food plates, my drink glass and snap pics-my standout favorites were Seattle Pops, Pink’s ice cream, Delaurentis and Commonwealth Cafe. I hope they all come back next year!
In Pike Place Market I’m also thankful for Sur La Table becuase they help my family be a little greener too. We love coffee in this house and we use those Nespresso capsules that make the news every so often for being wasteful. Thankfully they can be recycled and Sur La Table takes them and also takes care of the food waste IN the capsules, so I’m feeling less guilty about my daily habit. (I try to convince myself I don’t DRIVE to coffee and we drop the capsules off on the way to work or shopping, so I’m reducing my footprint a little….)
And I use green cleaners like Method in my house, but I didn’t think about the products I used to clean with until I received some Twist cleaning supplies. I need to switch to sponges and cleaning brushes that can biodegrade or be recycled and I like the way these ones cleaned.
I also haven’t finished the Japanese Cleaning book but I went to Goodwill the other day and learned that everybody puts 70 pounds of clothing in the garbage every year!!! I frantically looked for some things holding space and not sparking joy-maybe they will be able to be useful for someone else. And, Goodwill even takes clothes that have holes because even if they can’t be reused as clothing they can break them down further and recycle the fibers with Threadcycle. So it’s really easy NOT to put clothes in the garbage and I’m so thankful for this program.
We are also trying to green up our travel too! I’m trying to research new places we can travel to via electric car this summer. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could really do submarine mode in the electric car…..I have a feeling this will be a reality sooner than we think!
(PS. I received some green cleaning products to review but was not required to post and these opinions are my own.)
(PPS. the Submarine Tesla Easter Egg is unlocked using the code 007.)
How to create or start an instagram accountPPS. if you have ever wanted to start an Instagram account and don’t know where to start, this might help. )
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)