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One Small Change: Official Wrap-Up

April 23rd, 2010 | Add a Comment

The One Small Change initiative officially wrapped-up on Earth Day. However, since the project has gotten such a great response, with several of us planning to continue making changes through the year, Hip Mountain Mama has decided to keep the blog going, complete with prizes and guest posts. So, this is my review of the first four changes we made this year:

January – Eat More Local Food
February – Use Cloth Diapers More
March – Build a Garden
April – Start Composting

Our first radish harvest

Local Food – this one got off to a slow start, but now that the farmer’s markets are opening, and the Argenta Market is in business, it’s much easier to find local food resources. Our little garden in the back yard has started providing a little bit of produce as well: radishes. It doesn’t get much more local than that! We’re also getting ready to pick up our second Basket of the Month. We skipped the April basket because we were out-of-town. That’s one of the benefits of the BAM – you don’t have to get a basket every month.

Cloth Diapers – still doing well with this, although all the extra use means that I need to “strip” the diapers, which I have not done in a long time and need to look up instructions for. I am hoping to get Callen potty trained this summer, so I might have a good deal on some cloth diapers come fall!

Garden – our Garden is growing right along. I’ve made several rookie blunders: I don’t think I planted the radishes deep enough, and trying to grow the tomato and pepper plants from seed was a mistake. This weekend’s plans include a trip to the garden store to purchase a few established tomato and pepper plants. Our rain barrel works wonderfully, gathering rainwater from one of the downspouts so that we conserve water and save money.

Composting – I am still learning about composting, so I’m not really sure that I am doing it right, although the basic process seems fairly easy. It certainly has reduced the amount of food waste that is going into our trash can, which makes me happy. The composter is getting pretty full, though, so soon it will be time to take some of the good dirt out and spread it around. Last month we also took part in a recycled landscaping project: our neighbors thinned out several of their bushes and were nice enough to let us have them to plant in our back yard. Right now the leaves are all brown and dead, so that’s another research project: should I cut them back, or leave them alone until fall? Either way, I’ll be pampering them with some compost.

I am planning to continue the One Small Change project through the year. It’s a great way to keep me focused on making earth-friendly changes in our household, and one change per month isn’t overwhelming. Stay tuned for our May change!