Environmentalist

This week I have been thinking quite a bit about the environment and being an environmentalist. I have decided that even though I do not believe in following the 'green' movement, I am doing more for the environment than most people do. I do it mostly for the $ and partly for the health of my family.
I use vinegar to clean my floors because you never know when Akira(and soon Rora) might eat something off the floor. I don't use bottled water because it costs too much money. By buying one water bottle and reusing it everytime we go out, thats roughly $10 a month saved.
This week I was able to coerce Josh into hanging two clothes lines for me. Again I do it for the $, yet I also do it because it makes your clothes smell great and is great at avoiding build-up in diapers.
Cloth diapering is one of those things that makes me feel old fashioned. The majority of people that use cloth diapers use them because they don't want to 'fill up the landfills.' I use them because of the $. It costs roughly the same amount to cloth diaper one child versus using disposable diapers on one child(with coupons.) So for each consecutive child we have, we already have the diapers and don't need to worry about buying them. Yes, I need to wash them and they take a bit more planning when we go out, yet overall they are better than disposables. I never have to deal with diaper blow outs, or diaper rash due to the chemicals in disposables.
We have a garden. Fresh food is delicious and costs so much less. Plus I can can the excess and we can enjoy it all year round, once again saving us $. I count breastfeeding as an environmental act because you don't need any 'products.' No bottles, nipples, empty formula cans, etc. I even use washable breast pads; again for the $. We either receive or buy used clothing, again because of the $. We donate all our used clothes since they are still in good quality. We recycle because it just makes sense. We don't litter, it makes no sense.
Since I now count myself as an 'environmentalist.' I am probably doing more 'green' things than the average person. I will never be one of the tree hugging environmentalists, yet I do enjoy all the activities that we do that are good for the environment. I feel great doing my part for my family by saving money and building memories. If I happen to do something that helps lower our energy consumption, or keeps the earth clean, it doesn't matter. All I really care about is saving money and enjoying life.