Crunchy Inspiration

So, I am a diehard Crunchy Chicken reader. I have been inspired by her in the past, and she's gotten us to do crazy things. We've made some smallish green changes to our lives in the fall that have actually stuck. We line dry all of our clothes in our spare bedroom, we've put all home entertainment and computer electronics on powerstrips so that we can actually turn appliances off (for real for real), we made a toilet sink, we reuse ziplock baggies, we've switched to cloth hankies, we have a stash of cloth grocery bags for all store trips, we have bought biodegradable doggy bags (elly uses a lot and i feel so guilty taking something that IS biodegradable and wrapping it in plastic)... and we've tried two of her challenges. Her first was the cloth TP challenge, which we've used for part of our needs (we'll leave it there). And, of course, the freeze your buns off challenge, which was much more difficult for me to survive with minimal whining than for poor Daddy P who is actually HOME all day in the cold house. We managed to keep the temp at 63 during the day and about 58 at night. We still own the truck (boo) but it hardly moves since Daddy P works at home, and we're selling it this summer for something more baby-friendly and environment-friendly.

But, this whole baby thing brings up all new kinds of issues. I mean, babies are just made for our consumption culture. Crunchy's current challenge is to "buy nothing" (new) for the month of April, and Daddy P and I are taking this to heart for baby stuff.



I think we are starting our own Buy Nothing New for the Baby challenge. The exceptions I think might be a crib (for recall and safety reasons) and a breast-pump (because, ew, gross!). We've begun by finding a gently used Pack N Play that is ready to go. I'm debating extending this whole thing to maternity clothes, too. I've been told ebay has some great stuff, as do the thrift stores, but I might have to give up my newly acquired vanity for clothing...