Surprisingly, until right now, we haven’t considered how our investments are impacting or contributing to the world.  Just like every dollar spent is a vote for a company’s ongoing behaviour, so is every dollar loaned or invested.  For this reason, we want to take a closer look at how our investment dollars are impacting our local community and the world at large.  Although we know the names of the funds we’ve selected for our investment portfolio, we don’t really know much about the companies that make up these funds. Our plan is to break-down our research into the following steps:

1. Our first step is to look at our current investments and identify the funds we currently hold.  A percentage score will be assigned to each fund in relation to the amount of dollars vested in comparison to the rest of the funds in our portfolio.
2. Our second step is to identify the companies that comprise each of the funds in our investment portfolio.  We want to know which companies we are supporting (I think we’re in for a big surprise).
3. Once we have identified the current state of affairs for our investments, we will do the following:

A.  Create our very own personalized ethical and eco-friendly investment criteria
B.  Identify companies or investment mechanisms that will closer match our investment criteria
C.  Look at the transition strategy for moving our investments away from current investments that do not fit our investment criteria.  Also, we will identify the penalties associated with moving investments out of certain funds.  This will factor into our transition strategy.
D.  Dive in and start “walking the talk” all around.

Stay tuned for our next post where we will disect our investment portfolio and document the process we have gone through to create our own personalized ethical investment criteria.  You can join our RSS feed to have future posts sent straight to your inbox.

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This got me thinking, “How much money have we saved by cloth diapering?”  And, of course, “Has it really helped the environment?”

How much money have we saved by cloth diapering?
We have a daughter and a son. Some people balk at this, but, of course, both of our kids used the same cloth diapers – so far.  (Tip: If your first is a girl like ours, try to avoid the temptation to buy colors and patterns that you wouldn’t also use for a boy.)

We use FuzziBunz pocket diapers and they’ve held up amazingly, although I did see that BumGenius has better environmental ratings.  Here’s our inventory.

18 x FuzziBunz Cloth Pocket Diapers – Small

12 x FuzziBunz Cloth Pocket Diapers – Medium

6 x FuzziBunz One Size Cloth Pocket Diapers

Note, If I were doing this all over again, I would probably skip the medium diapers and invest only in small diapers and one-size diapers.  I found the one-size diapers too big for a newborn, so the small were still necessary; however, by the time our kids were in the medium, the one-size diapers were more than adequate.  The medium do fit a little closer, but both the medium and the one-size do the job just fine.  In fact, if the one-size had been available when we first bought the medium, we wouldn’t need to now buy large diapers for our son.

We paid $20 per diaper on average nearly 4 years ago.  (It seems the price has dropped somewhat since then.)  So, in total, that’s around $720 to date.  For our daughter, this was enough, but it seems our son’s: (a) a little larger, and (b) a little later learning to communicate his potty needs.  So, we’ll soon be adding another 6 x bumGenius One-Size Snap Closure Cloth Diapers to our diapering collection.  (As babies get older and more “scheduled”, you don’t need as many diapers, so we think this should tide us over.)  This will bring our grand total to $840 for 2 kids.  Our diapers are still in great shape, so I really don’t anticipate ever buying another diaper beyond this point – more kids or not.

Besides cloth diapering, we also used cloth wipes much of the time, which also saved us some money, but I’m going to leave that out of this analysis since I really have no clue how to compare the number of wipes used between cloth and disposable.  I just know that when I use disposable, I use more.  Many more.

I’m also going to assume that the cost of dirty diaper storage is pretty much comparable, although those disposal diaper units seem perhaps a little more advanced.  We basically use a plastic garbage can with a lid that is lined with a washable, waterproof cloth bag.

So, that really only leaves the cost of additional washing to include in my cloth diapering cost analysis.  I think that it costs about $1 each time we wash our diapers.  We use a really hot cycle to make sure the diapers are as sterile as possible.  Along with that, we just use our regular soap and a couple of drops of tea tree oil – a natural anti-bacterial.  Our diapers always come out spotless.

On average, we wash our diapers about 3 times per week.  For a newborn, it’s more or less every other day.  For a baby, it’s about every 3 days.  So, I think I’m being objective when I say laundry costs us about $3 per week.  Our daughter was done with diapers before age 2.  I’m guessing that our son will be done somewhere shortly after age 2.  So, I’d guess that washing cloth diapers has cost us $3 * 52 weeks * 4 years = $624.

That brings the cloth diapering total in at $840 + $624 = $1464.

Now, how much would disposables have cost us?

Let’s assume that we would go through an equivalent number of disposable diapers as cloth diapers in the run of a week.  So, 3 times a week, we wash 18 diapers.  This means that we wash 54 diapers per week. (Again, more at the beginning, less at the end.)  Apparently the average diaper costs 28 cents, so that means that disposable diapers would cost 54 * 28 cents * 52 * 4 = $3144.

So, could it be that we actually saved $3144 – $1464 = $1680 by cloth diapering our 2 kids?  Even for only 1 child, we would have saved $540 according to these calculations.  Even buying the extra 6 diapers my son needs for only 6 months will save us $273.  Boo-ya!

How does cloth diapering help the environment?

Let’s forget for a moment that cloth diapering is super cozy for our baby and keeps him always-dry and rash-free.  (And let’s also not mention that they are super-cute.)  Cloth diapering keeps diapers out of landfills.  We actually recently gave our small cloth diapers to a friend who is expecting.  I know it seems weird, but they are completely santized and bacteria-free, so there’s really no good reason to avoid sharing them.  Regardless, even if we only used the diapers for our kids, we would be reducing the world’s waste and reducing the cost of energy required to create all of those disposable diapers.

Of course, cloth diapering does create additional laundry, which requires additional energy to heat water and run the washer.  It also uses more water for cleaning.  The question is: does the additional use of resources required for cleaning offset the “goodness” of saving our landfills from all of those diapers?

According to GoodGuide, it largely depends on (1) how re-usable the diapers are, and (2) how they are laundered.  If the diapers are washed using an energy-efficient machine and are dried in an energy-efficient dryer, or, better yet, line dried, then cloth diapers edge out disposable diapers from an environmental impact factor – even when bought anew for each child.

Having said that, if you live in an area with limited access to water, an environmentally-sound (i.e. biodegradable) disposable may actually be a better option.  (I almost can’t believe I just wrote that.)  GoodGuide recommends Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Diapers.

So, there you have it.  We live in Canada and, as such, are happy to be doing the best we can for the environment.  And, it certainly doesn’t hurt that we’re saving a mint!  Hope this helps you make an informed and healthy decision about how to diaper your little one.

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Here’s the interview video. You can check out the full post on Inhabitat.

This book is an excellent resource. It is both well-organized and thought provoking – and it really explains things at the right level of detail. (For me, this means a lot of detail.)

Self Sufficiency for the 21st Centuryprovides lots of ideas on how to lead a simpler and greener lifestyle. For more than a year, Andrea and I have been looking into ways to minimize our carbon footprint and to lead healthiers lives. This book gave us many fresh ideas and instructions on things that we’ve always wanted to do – like making our own cheese from scratch! (I tried it and it works, although I had to read between the lines on some of the instructions). We plan to try out many ideas from the book, including
(1) making our own coldframe storage to stretch out the vegetable-growing season,
(2) building a goedesic dome for greenhousing various plants,
(3) growing mushrooms on a mushroom log, and
(4) building a solar water heater.

Some may find some of the material in this book a little too extreme. For example, there are step-by-step instructions on how to kill your own chickens by stretching them out and snapping their necks. Like many of you, I’m not sure we’re ready for this one just yet. Still, although it made me feel a little queasy, it also made me think seriously about how much more respect I would have for animals if I had to kill my own food. As a nation, I think we would eat much less meat if we really connected the dots on how it came to be on our plates. (BTW, if you’re interested in cutting back, check out our previous post on becoming a flexitarian.)

Reading Self Sufficiency for the 21st Centurybrought to light our general disconnectedness to producing and sharing the things we need. In a sense, I think we’ve stopped thinking and feeling about the important things in life. We go to work each day and we come home with a paycheck. We then use that paycheck to buy groceries and pay for heat and all of the other things we need, but we don’t really think of this paycheck as a substitute for growing our own food or making our own heat. I remember Andrea saying once: “we are so far removed from our basic needs, we don’t always know what’s important anymore”. This book helped us re-connect.

Andrea and I would like to give a little more attention to protecting the things we care about: our kids, our health and the environment. We’ve realized that our lifestyle choices have not always been in line with this goal. We think this book is a great reference in our quest to make the world a better place – one small change at a time. We hope that it helps you too.

Of course, this has not always been the case.  When we first started our quest towards greener and more sustainable living, becoming a flexitarian seemed like the shortest way from Point A (non-sustainable living) to Point B (sustainable living), so we signed up.  And it helped, but the lack of vegetarian “go-to” meals was a definite challenge.

Now, thanks to the contributions of other bloggers and friends, we’ve built up a repertoire of dozens of healthy, quick and child-friendly vegetarian meals.  We’re often asked what exactly we cook, so we thought we’d share.  Here are 5 “go-to” flexitarian recipes that we cook often,  especially when there isn’t time to make a lasagna and we just want the kids to eat something healthy.  Hope these also work for you.

1.  Lentil Shepperd’s Pie.  (We snagged this one from Simple Bites.)  This is  delicious – and protein packed – with spiced lentils, corn (or peas) and a sweet potato (and/ or potato) topping.  Here’s the recipe.

2.  Leek Torte.  This is a hand-me-down from my mother-in-law.  It’s dead simple.  The eggs provide plenty of protein.  I like to add mushrooms along with the leeks for an extra vitamin bump.  Here’s the recipe.

3.  Vegetarian Chili.  This one comes from the Dieticians of Canada’s “Great Food Fast” cookbook.  It really is quick and easy and packed with all of the things you need.  Cumin is a wonderful way to blend all of those healthy vegetables into something delicious that even the kids will eat.  Recipe here.

4.  Tuna Melts.  In case you haven’t noticed, we are egg and fish-eating flexitarians.  (I’m sure there is a label for it somewhere.)  As such, my mother’s tuna melt recipe often hits the spot.  Here’s the recipe.

5.  Bean Quesadillas.  When time is really running short and we want to get our kids to eat something that will provide them energy in a hurry, we like to go Mexican.  Both of our kids eat avocados (a small miracle), beans and corn.  (We try to buy only frozen, organic corn when not in season as non-organic corn is largely genetically modified and I’ve yet to find a can of corn that is BPA-free.)  Here’s the very short recipe.

There’s a lot more where those came from, so, if you like them, we’ll promise to post more.  Hope these help you through soccer night and make giving up meat – at least sometimes – a little bit easier.

We’d also enjoy hearing about your “go-to” vegetarian meals, so please feel free to post comments.

Image: nuchylee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

And why not?  Moms have the best reason ever to save the planet.  Our children.  Let’s face it.  The stakes are too high to risk this one.

Many moms control household decisions and day-to-day spending.  So, if we all want to go green and we have the means to go green, why is the world not yet green?  I have a few thoughts on why we’ve yet to reverse global warming.  But don’t worry, there is a silver lining.

Change is hard. We can’t just become something different overnight.  It takes time to figure out new balances.  This is certainly what I’m finding.  One small change is easy.  Once they start adding up, all of a sudden you’re living someone else’s life.  And green is new.  It’s not the way we were taught to live, which makes it even harder.

Parental resistance. Our parents’ generation is trying to learn this new way just like us.  And they’ve had much more practice at the old way, so there’s more for them to let go.  I personally find things like recycling, composting, avoiding  plastic and breastfeeding difficult to explain to my parents without making them feel judged.  My parents are wonderful.  They always did what was thought best for us at the time, but, times and thoughts both change.  Currently, global warming and the resulting extinction of the human race is not thought best.  Give them time and credit – they’ll come around.

Learning curve. The green mommy sites out there are really a testament to our appetite for knowledge.  This gives me great hope.  Once we know what to change, we will.  I know that I am personally in this category.  Carl and I are trying to come up the learning curve quickly, but there is certainly a lot to change.

Fear of the unknown. Organizational change is Carl’s field of study.  He always tells me that people don’t mind changing, they mind the unknown after the change.  (Sorry hun, I know I’m para-phrasing, but you get the point.)  And what will life be like after we’re all green?  I have no idea.  But at least we might be around to find out.

Doubt. You know what makes changing extra hard for me?  Wondering in the back of my mind if I’m doing it all for nothing.  Perhaps it doesn’t matter what we do.  Perhaps everything is going to be alright anyway.  Perhaps it’s not and that’s inevitable.  We can never really be sure of anything.  I think that’s partly what makes life joyful.  The wonder of choice.

So, what is needed to overcome these hurdles?

I read an amazing statement on Tiny Buddha yesterday in a blog about knowing your path.  (Don’t ask – it’s meditation week on our Tales of Goodness blog and I’ve become temporarily surreal.)  It said “Trust in our truth.  Faith in ourselves.  And a little bit of surrender.”  I immediately wrote this on my whiteboard as a sort of reminder to keep moving forward.

I feel strongly that climbing this learning curve one day at a time and doing my best to do my part is what’s right and good.  I’m just going to have to trust that.  And I’m clearly not alone.  You are all out there.  Helping me.  Informing me.  Supporting me.

I’m positively overwhelmed by the sheer volume of our army.  Good work, eco-moms.  Keep marching.  We’re about to win a battle not for religion or country, but for humanity.  We’re about to tip the scales.  And what a triumph that will be.

Special thanks to Natural Parents Network for originally posting this in November 2011.

This story starts a week or two ago. Carl and I sat down for a meal with our kids. It was one of those rare moments when everyone was actually seated at the beginning of the meal. Carl and I sort of exhaled in unison and gave mental thanks for our meal. Then we started talking about how much we like and value the ritual of grace – the idea of paying hommage for our fortune and nourishment. In short, we think the idea of grace is meaningful and wonderful. The only problem is – well – we’re not really religious per se.

Now, don’t get me wrong, we aren’t the kind of people who think we are so lucky because of something specific we’ve done. There’s a certain element of mystique in it. We believe in the existence of a higher power, we’re just not really certain which one. But why should that stop us from giving thanks for our meal – from expressing gratitude – and sharing it with our kids?

And so we set off in search of a secular grace.  As usual, we started out by simply googling “secular grace”. This returned a variety of results – short and long – formal and extremely casual. The question came up: what do we really want from these words? And so our list of criteria emerged. It looked something like this.
1. Short
2. Focused on gratitude (for our many blessings) and joy
3. Positive
4. Kid friendly

We then took our top candidates and tried them on.  Here’s how it went.

(Note: Most of these were adapted from the comments on a great post by Helen Jane Hearn that we found on Offbeat Mama.)

Thank you for the world so sweet
Thank you for the food we eat
Thank you for the birds that sing
Thank you, Earth, for everything

(We love this. And we’re pretty sure this would be the winner for the kids. The only thing missing is a specific reference to our many blessings.)

For what we are about to receive let us be truly thankful

(The old standby.  It’s wonderfully short, but we felt it was missing a certain element of charm.)

We are thankful for these and all the good things of life. What we desire for ourselves, we wish for all.

(This last one was adapted from a Woodsworth quote we found on Debate and Discourse.  We quite like this, but it feels just a little too grown up.)

For the Food Before Us
For the Friends Around Us
For the Love Between Us
We Give Thanks.

(This one feels really good as well, but, again, we’re missing that reference to the root of our gratitude – an acknowledgement of the many blessings we have.  But wait, what if we make a slight modification?)

For the Food Before Us
For the Love Between Us
For the Blessings All Around Us
We Give Thanks.

Ding ding ding.  We have a winner.

So, now, each night, we say grace.  We’re experimenting with the delivery.  Hold hands or not?  Close eyes or not?  But I think those things are a matter of personal preference.

And maybe the words are as well.  Perhaps our kids will want to change them someday.  Perhaps we will as well.  But, for now, we have a ritual.  A moment each night to just be present and acknowledge how wonderful our life is.  And, it feels really, really, really good!  Amen.

Interested in hearing more about our challenges?  Check out The Goodness Challenge.

Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I believe our stress comes from not leading the lives we ultimately desire, but, how much of our thinking time do we spend closing this gap? For my own part, I can honestly say “very little”. I lie awake at night allowing distractions to keep me up. Work planning. To do lists. Allowing, in essence, my brain to run me. (Carl often frets about the little things too, although he has less of a problem with sleep.)

Our Challenge

This week’s challenge is to shift our thoughts to the things we care about. For me, this is a pretty short list. It looks something like this: (1) my family (their health, safety and happiness), (2) my community, (3) my own health and balance, and (4) protecting and cultivating the planet at large.

How are we going to do this? Well, our plan is to simply replace each thought with a more “targeted” thought each time we catch ourselves thinking about the distractions. In principle, it’s conceptually similar to using a mantra during meditation, but not limited to the meditation period.

Of course, there will be times when we need to shift into tactical thinking mode – like work or making a grocery list – but we’re aiming to take back our free time. After all, the brain is great at solving specific problems. It’s just that we want our free time to focus on solving the problems that contribute to our own goals. We’re hoping this will leave us more contented and balanced. (And for me – rested.)

Our Tale

More often than not, our challenges don’t turn out exactly as expected.  This challenge was no exception.  Apparently, it takes more than a couple of days to re-train your brain and establish an alternate thinking process.  Furthermore, it’s darn hard work.

Here’s how the week went down. As always, feel free to skip to Our Findings if you’d rather not indulge in a good tale.

The Log

Day 1  How hard can this be?  Alright.  I am going to bed.  I’m thinking about work.  Now what am I supposed to do?  Right, change it.  Now I’ll think about our family – happy and healthy.  Peace of mind is restored.  I drift off to sleep.  (This is going to be a snap!)

Day 2  Things are still going pretty well.  Day 1 provided ample inspiration and I am still riding on the optimism.

Day 3  I come down with a stomach virus and sleep all day and night.  There is no time or energy for distraction.

Day 4  The relapse begins.  Being away from work for a couple of days has left me needing to work at night.  I go to bed with my head full of little dilemmas. I keep applying my “mantra”, but it doesn’t last long.  My brain reclaims some previously conquered ground.  In the end, I lose some sleep, but I am diligent.  My efforts pay off after 90 minutes and I drift peacefully into sleep.

Day 5  Easier than day 4.  Again, I am repeatedly distracted, but it is easier to re-direct my thoughts and let go.

Day 6  All good.  Focused only on the good.  The odd distraction popped up, but I just let go.  Felt good all day and night.  The planets have aligned.

Day 7  Still good.  I think I am on the path.

Our Findings

In short, I don’t think this re-focusing technique is the only tool I need in my “peace of mind” toolbox, but it did provide a much-needed subtle shift in my thought processes.  I already meditate (albeit not as regularly as I would like) and I think this exercise is a nice complement to my meditation practice.  (For more information on Meditation, check out our previous post: The “Un-Challenge”: Can Meditation Help The World (Starting With Us)?)

Since I started this challenge, I’ve been fully present with my children, which clearly lines up directly with my goals.  I’ll definitely carry on with this.

And how did Carl do?  Carl also liked this challenge, but he prefers a more structured practice.  He has decided to reinvoke his past “Morning Predictions, Evening Revisions” practice – another form of mental preparation and aligning with your ultimate goals.

The Goodness

So, will this do any good for the world at large?  I have no concrete proof that it will.  But, for those of you who follow this blog, you know we’re big believers in the kismet/ karma/ “pay-it-forward” factor, and this one is ripe with potential.  Taking back our headspace enabled us to be happier and calmer.  It helped us to be really present with our loved ones.  And to leave the little things where they belong – far, far, far away from conscious attention.  I can’t help believing that there’s good in that.

Interested in our other challenges? Check out The Goodness Challenge.

Image: Victor Habbick / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We’re back from our brief hiatus from goodness – and our even briefer vacation time down south.  (Big sigh.)  It seems we’re thirsting for more life change.  So, we’re renewing our committment to living a better life and stepping back into The Goodness Challenge this month.  Any ideas about what we should tackle next?  We are still far from perfect, so please do share.  Drop us a comment here or on facebook or twitter.

Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net