What's with the name?

Tiny Little Tree Huggers... that's what my boys are and they don't even know it yet. I am hoping to teach them to respect their planet and to keep it nice for all the other people to come. It's, in my opinion, a nice way to learn about the simpler things in life. There's no need for 50 gajillion plastic blinking, annoying toys. No need to be buying new things all the time just for the sake of buying them. We should all learn to love what we have - to repurpose and reuse.

Over the past, oh I don't know, 8 months or so there have been many changes occuring in our house. I walked around and took some pictures of some of the things were are doing as a family to be more eco-friendly. We have stopped using most paper products. This was a huge change for us! We went from using plastic cups, paper plates and paper towels like crazy to pretty much not at all! Now we use cloth napkins, real plates & glasses and cleaning rags. Lots and lots of cleaning rags!!

Here is a sample of our cloth napkins. There are many more but they were all in the wash. I figured nobody would want to see dirty napkins. ;)

We no longer buy bottled water. We began using our filter once again. We also have begun using metal water bottles in place of disposable ones.

Aside from being eco-friendly we are using more products that are human-friendly. No harsh chemicals. No frangrances. I now have even stopped using traditional, drying face washes in favor of something more balanced with my skin... oil!! Seems counter-intuitive, I know. But my skin has been much softer and clearer since beginning this regimen. You can read more about it here.

The Oil Cleansing Method

Here are the oils I used to make my face wash.

We use reusable sandwich/snack bags instead of plastic ones. When we do use plastic they get washed and reused.

Our cleaning products have almost all been eliminated and replaced with vinegar. Here are some of the ones we still currently use.

One of my favorite changes, as anyone who knows me already knows, if that we began using cloth diapers! They have become somewhat of an addiction for me but I'm working on that. It's been a few weeks since I have bought one. ;)

Here is a picture of our stash from May of '09. It has changed and grown a little since then.

Another change made but no pictures taken is that our fabric softeners/dryer sheets have been replaced with wool dryer balls. The balls bounce around in the dryer allowing more air to circulate, shortening dryer time. They also reduce static. Very cool.

All these changes are pretty small but I feel they make a big difference. Not only in the amount of waste we produce but in the amount of money we are able to save!