My (nearly) green home

Since this is Earth Day, I decided to show you some of the ways in my home in which I try to help our beloved Mother Earth. We only have one home and we have to do our best to keep her healthy.

(click to enlarge)

Starting at the top left and going clockwise:

1. Our barn is built from recycled vintage barn wood. Now we can't take the credit for building it, but it was a primary reason for us choosing this house.
2. I keep a roll of paper towels in my kitchen, but I rarely use them. I have stacks and stacks of these white cotton towels that I use instead.
3. We raise some of our own food in the warmer months as many of you do. The older raised beds are built from a recycled wooden fence. We use horse and chicken manure and finished compost as fertilizer and we use organic methods to control pests whenever possible. The chickens are a great pest removal system, but they also like to  eat the veggies!
4. I try to dry as much of my laundry as I can on the clothesline.
5. A few of my reusable shopping bags, and I really do use them.
6. Cardboard boxes that I'm getting ready to take to the recycling center, along with anything else that can be recycled. We don't have curbside recycling out here in the country, so it's up to each individual. My grandkids think I'm funny when I bring home yogurt and milk cups and other #1 plastic containers from fast food places. FYI, I do try to avoid those places, but sometimes it just happens. I'm not perfect.
7. The rain barrel at the corner of the barn, donated by my father-in-law. We use the water to nourish the veggies in the garden. I hope soon to install one at the corner of the house for my flowers.
8. My chickens recycle lots of vegetable and fruit scraps, even stale bread and spaghetti noodles. This watermelon was forgotten at the back of the fridge and got a little too soft. The hens don't care about that! They especially love a cold one on a hot summer day! (And I don't mean beer!)
9. The items that my chickens can't eat go into the compost heap in the corner of the veggie garden. I include coffee grounds with the unbleached paper filters and tea bags, too. This little composting bucket sits right beside my sink.
10. We only use cloth napkins. I made a bunch of these (some of them are fifteen years old) and I also buy them at thrift stores when I can find them.

These are but a few of the many things that I do in my home, and outside, to help preserve our precious gift. Do you love our Mother Earth as I do?

This is a slightly expanded post of one that I did at Lens.Us.Together for Earth Day.

For my blogger friends who have already commented on LUT, you don't have to comment here, unless you really, really, really want to! ;-)