Making date balls feels like one of my few secret tricks in life. When I have a stash of date balls in the freezer, I feel ready for anything - school lunches, a hike, a rushed breakfast. They’re also a great way to get kids to eat nuts if they’re adverse to the texture (my oldest, for example, doesn’t love almonds). They’re a bit time consuming to make, but just go for it. Once you get started it’s really not that bad (can you tell I often need to give myself a pep talk, too?). And you’ll be so comforted to know they’re in the freezer.

Here are three of my go-to recipes. I’m starting with simplest, and then the second and third recipes are just a tad more complicated. But not much. Don’t be scared.

Coconut Apricot Balls

3 cups dried apricots (if they’re not very moist, soak in hot water first)
2 cups raw cashews or blanched almonds
1/2 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut (desiccated coconut)
2T maple syrup or honey
1t vanilla extract
1/8t salt

one / Add all the ingredients to a food processor. Pulse until well combined. Add water if the mixture seems dry.

two / Roll into balls, place on a cookie sheet or plate, and freeze until solid. Store in the freezer in an airtight container. Leave out at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before eating.

Apricot, Date, and Cashew Balls

1 cup cashews
pinch of salt
16 dates
1/4c dried apricots
1T almond butter
1/4c sesame seeds
1/2t cinnamon

one / Process the nuts and salt in a food processor until the nuts are coarsely ground.

two / Add the dates, apricots, almond butter, sesame seeds, and cinnamon. Keep processing the mixture until it starts to stick together a bit. When you can make a ball and it stays together, you’re good.

three / Roll into balls, place on a cookie sheet or plate, and freeze until solid. Store in the freezer in an airtight container. Leave out at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before eating.

Date, Cranberry, and Cashew Energy Bites

2 cups raw, unsalted cashews
1 1/3 cups lightly packed pitted dates
1 cup dried cranberries (or dried cherries, if you're feeling spendy!)
1-2t cocoa powder
1/2 cup raw pecans
1 or 2 pinches fine sea salt, to taste

one / Process the cashews in a food processor until they are finely chopped. Leave a few bigger pieces, but take care not to process the nuts so much that it becomes flour.

two / Remove 2/3 cup of the processed cashews and set aside for the final step.

three / Add the dates and cranberries to the food processor and process until finely chopped. The dough will start to become sticky.

four / Add the cocoa powder, salt, pecans, and the reserved 2/3 cup cashews. Pulse as needed to incorporate.

five / At this point, the dough should be sticky enough to roll into balls. If it is too dry/crumbly, add a teaspoon of water at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.

six / Roll the dough into small balls and place on a plate or cookie sheet. I use a 1T cookie scoop. (Unlike cookies, though, it doesn't matter if the balls are uniform in size since you won't be baking them.)

seven / Freeze balls on the cookie sheet or plate. Once frozen, store in a jar in the freezer. Leave out at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before eating.

//

What’s your favorite recipes for energy bites or no-bake cookies?

Household waste reduction feels harder than ever these days. The pandemic has forced our focus elsewhere, increased the emphasis on hygiene and safety, and created unprecedented circumstances for all of us to navigate. I’ve found myself contributing to the single-use madness with items like paper grocery bags, more restaurant take out materials, disposable masks (thanks Omicron), hand sanitizer and more.

But even with the pandemic concerns and constraints, there are a few things I just don’t buy. If you’re looking to reduce your household waste, maybe these are places you could make a change!

one // Tissues, paper towels, and napkins. Use cloth. Find a system that works for your family. I like to cut up old clothes and I have several wet bags around the house than can be thrown directly into the washer. I have smaller wet bags for my kids to keep in their backpacks for blowing their noses at school. Everyone’s lifestyle looks a bit different, but cloth is a sensational replacement for single-use paper products.

two // Baby wipes. And cleaning wipes. And makeup wipes. I bought a few packages of baby wipes for my first child, but after that we switched completely to cloth, even for traveling. Cloth works better than disposables for all messes, in my opinion, and I just hate the idea of so so so many baby wipes polluting the earth. As for Clorox wipes etc., I make my own bleach wipes with cloth and bleach + water. Most messes I clean up with a towel.

three // Bottled cleansers and lotions. These days, there are many ways to obtain zero-waste beauty products. I like to stock up on at a refill store near me (like Joyfill, Zero Market, or Simply Bulk) but there are also stores online that sell low- to no-waste shampoos, lotions, and soaps. I use soap bars for my face and body, and get liquid lotion in reusable jars. (I occasionally buy shampoo in a plastic bottle because I haven’t found a low-waste option that works for well for my hair, but I only wash my hair once a week so a bottle lasts me at least a year.)

four // Disposable period products. Menstrual cup, period underwear, and cloth pads. Nothing more to buy or throw away! There are several quizzes online that will recommend a good menstrual cup for you (based on how many kids you’ve had, your flow, etc.). Do a quick internet search and you’ll find one!

five // Plastic wrap. I haven’t bought any kind of plastic wrap for years. Occasionally a visitor to my kitchen will ask for it, but personally I’ve never missed it. I store food in jars, glass containers, and silicone bags. To cover items, I use clean cloth towels and beeswax wrap. I also just save plastic bags and aluminum foil that comes into my life; even when you don’t buy these items, they still appear! Which leads to:

six // Plastic baggies. Reusable containers and reusable bags serve our needs well, but we also manage to acquire a lot of plastic bags without buying them. Tortilla bags, produce bags, the occasional bread bag…Recently I bought my son some new face masks and each one came in a plastic ziplock bag. Ugh! I save these and reuse them when I need a bag. But typically, I have way more than I can use!

seven // Muffin wrappers. I make a lot of muffins. I invested in 30 silicone muffin wrappers a few years ago (24 regular size and 6 jumbo). I use them constantly. They’re a bit of a pain to clean, but I know the earth is thanking me. This is one of those items that might not seem like it has much environmental impact since they’re small and usually compostable. However, the production and shipping of paper products is significant. Reusables are a better choice when you’re going to use them over and over again. But, if you only make muffins once a year, then paper might be a better choice!

eight // Dairy milk. Until about a year ago, I was singing the praises of local dairy milk in a reusable glass bottle. But more learning taught me that there’s just too great of an environmental impact from dairy farms (and almost all animal agriculture, really), so I just stopped buying it. My kids missed it a little bit, and they still haven’t been able to give up cheese 100%, but we’re no longer buying dairy milk and it feels good from both a health and an environmental perspective. (Don’t let anyone give you a hard time about almond milk. Sure, almond growing uses a lot of water, but WAY less than dairy milk requires! The impacts of animal agriculture, particularly cows, on the environment is HUGE.)

nine // Dryer sheets. Wool dryer balls for the win! I also try to line dry my clothes as much as possible.

ten // Single-use batteries. This is a change I wish we’d made MUCH sooner. It was one of those “duh” moments…why had we been using disposable batteries for so long!? We now have a supply of reusable batteries in a variety of sizes, and a big plug-in charger in the basement. I worry so much less now about the kids leaving a flashlight on! It is also so nice not to have to deal with safely disposing of batteries since you should never put them in your regular municipal trash bin!

For some reason I just can’t get into audio books (I love reading hard copy books in bed at night!), but I adore podcasts. Whenever I’m doing housework, walking or driving somewhere, or just hanging around, I like to put on a podcast. Here are my top five podcasts that I keep going back to.

Quick note: these are all ongoing podcasts where each episode stands alone. There are lots of great podcast series (um, Serial!) but I’m leaving those out of this list.

one. // Up First {NPR} - Available by 6am ET every day except Sunday, this news podcast covers the top three news stories of the day. An episode is about 15 minutes long, and I find it a good way to make sure I don’t miss any big news. I usually throw it on when I’m doing the breakfast dishes or after I’ve gotten the kids off to school.

two. // How to Save a Planet {Gimlet} - This is hands-down my favorite podcast. It came out about a year ago, and each episode tackles an issue related to climate change and breaks down the science in very accessible language. Hosts Alex Blumberg and Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson ask the big questions: “what do we need to do to solve the climate crisis, and how do we get it done?” They end each episode by asking one of the experts they’ve interviewed, “how screwed are we?” It’s a balanced and educational podcast for people interested in learning more about a whole host of issues: electric vehicles, regenerative agriculture, kelp farming, recycling, eating vegan, sustainable seafood, etc. etc.

three. // The Daily {The New York Times} - I pick and choose episodes from this podcast, which does in-depth episodes on significant current events. I listen to episodes on issues of interest to me, and enjoy the perspectives the NYT journalists provide. It’s a very well-produced, well-researched podcast.

four. // Rough Translation {NPR} - This podcast “explores cultural mistranslations and what we can learn from them.” Past seasons have explored issues across the globe, but the current season is looking at the cultural divide between American civilians and the military. Episodes drop every two weeks, so it’s easy to keep up with.

five. // Short Wave {NPR} - Despite being a big believer in science (a phrase I would have never used a few years ago), science content isn’t what always piques my interest. I’m not one to listen to an hour-long science podcast, but the quick Short Wave episodes (all about 10 minutes) are really enjoyable. The hosts break down scientific data and concepts into very basic terms and I always find myself sharing with others what I’ve learned from the episodes.

How about you? What podcasts do you listen to regularly?

I saw a meme a few weeks back. Or maybe it was just a screenshot of a Twitter post. It said something to the effect of “stop asking me about my summer plans; I liked it better when I was being applauded just for staying home.”

I laughed out loud and could totally relate. My kids finished up school last week, and in the weeks preceding, I got asked innumerable times about our summer plans.

I get that it’s a conversation starter. It’s like when people talk about the weather. But I also bristle a little bit at the idea that summers should be filled with camps and pool days and hikes and lemonade stands. Don’t get me wrong, I adore all those things (ok, except lemonade stands!). But I also love days at home. Days where we stay in our pajamas until noon and dig up bugs in the backyard. We turn on the sprinklers for a few minutes and we read lots of library books. We save the gas money and pool money.

Our family has plenty of summer plans: we are going camping, biking, hosting friends and family, and meeting up with people around the city and beyond. But if the time home during COVID taught us any lessons; if we truly did find some “silver linings,” maybe this summer can look different than the summer of 2019 for many of us. Maybe we don’t need to go back to “normal?”

Don’t feel bad if you’ve asked me about my summer plans. I’ve most likely asked you about yours!

I am honest with my answer: I tell people I’m looking forward to not doing much. I am grateful for that privilege. I know not everyone has it. But I think more people have it than realize they do. I also have some of my own pains. I occasionally find myself envious of those with more child care than we have. We've all go our challenges. Some more significant than others; I get that.

But I’m getting off track! My point is this: if it doesn’t come naturally to you to “just stay home,” try intentionally planning nothing for a few days this summer. Or this fall. Do it on purpose. Make it your plan. See how it feels.

I’ll be over here, too, doing the same. And maybe occasionally we can meet at the pool to discuss how it went ;)

Happy summer, friends!

I love cake. Deeply.

Back in the days when we went to kid birthday parties I was always internally outraged if there was only cake for the kids and not the adults.

I like cake for special occasions and also just because.

During the pandemic, we started celebrating half birthdays in our family. Cameron and Zoë’s half birthdays are in April, and in April 2020 we needed some pick-me-ups. We’ve continued the tradition: half cakes for half birthdays.

Despite loving cake and loving baking, I’m not into precious cakes. I don’t have the patience for beautiful decorations (even though I love it when others do it!); I’m mostly about taste.

That said, here are five of my favorite recipes for easy, vegan cakes you can make for a holiday, or just because! I highly recommend you make one ASAP.

one. // Gluten-Free Zucchini Cake {Minimalist Baker} - I am not gluten free, but this is hands down my favorite zucchini cake/bread/muffin. I’ve made it as a cake, and also as muffins. It works well both ways. It’s actually not vegan as written, but I make flax eggs to substitute and it works great (1T flax meal mixed with 3T water = 1 egg). I also usually omit the frosting because I think the cake is sweet enough as is, and not dry at all thanks to the zucchini, but if you wanted to spruce it up for a festive occasion, I’m sure the frosting would be delightful. I often double or triple the recipe; muffins or cake pieces freeze well.

two. // Vegan Chocolate Olive Oil Cake {Mamalina} - I made this the other day for Zoë’s half birthday. It’s super easy to make (one bowl!) and works great even at high altitude. I usually use a mix of 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 white and cut back the sugar a bit. As written, this recipe makes about 1.5 standard 9” cake pans so you can use smaller pans or make a few extra cupcakes.

three. // Vegan Coconut Cake {Nora Cooks} - I found this recipe after I bought a bunch of coconut flour with no real plan for what to do with it. Coconut flour can be a bit tricky to bake with, but if you follow this recipe exactly, you won’t be disappointed. I highly recommend the frosting, too: the cake is a bit dry without it.

four. // Vegan Coconut Cornmeal Cake {Bad Manners, formerly known as Thug Kitchen} - This recipe is from the Thug Kitchen cookbook. I love how simple this cake is, but it totally satisfies a cake craving. I recommend including the coconut frosting; remember to put your can of coconut milk in the fridge the night before!

five. // Vegan Banana Bread {The Simple Veganista} - Ok, I suppose technically this is banana “bread,” not “cake,” but honestly, where’s the line? It has sugar in it and it’s a sweet treat. Cake-ish in my book. I’ve tried dozens of banana bread recipes over the years and this is my favorite. Works well as muffins too.

Which will you make first? What’s your favorite kind of cake?

I am all about super practical tips that help us all make concrete changes that simplify our lives and reduce our environmental impact. I believe that individual actions keep us connected to the broader issues of the climate crisis. It also feels good to “do something” where you can.

I was thrilled when Redfin asked me share my best tip for a more sustainable kitchen.

I had trouble narrowing down my tips to just one, but thankfully they compiled tips from sustainability experts all across the country, so there is plenty of detailed advice. Read more:

Experts Dish Their Secrets for Keeping a Sustainable Kitchen

Which of these practices have you already implemented in your kitchen?

Are there any tips you’d add to the list?

What new habits would you like to adopt this year?

What changes do you think have the most environmental impact?

Five years ago, I started doing daily advent activities with my littles. I’ve always been a planner…spontaneity doesn’t come naturally to me. Having a master list for the month of December seemed like a good way to enjoy the holiday season and all it’s potential activities.

We’ve kept the tradition going, but each year I’ve scaled it back a bit. My goal is for it to be festive and memorable for the kids while not being too much work for us parents. The first year or two were a bit stressful. And stress is not what any of us need; not ever, but definitely not this year!

Here’s what we’ll be up to by way of activities this month. Typically there are a few holiday parties in the mix, but unfortunately not in 2020. Hopefully next year!

december 2017.

• Head to the mountains and cut down a tree!

• Watch The Grinch with special snacks

• Make Pizzelle cookies

• Write letters to Santa 

• Watch Claymation Christmas

• Make orange peel decorations

• Make holiday cards for your extended family

• Go for a walk after dark with hot cocoa

• Bake cookies to deliver to the neighbors

• Fancy family dinner

• Snuggle on the couch + read some holiday books

• Dance party to everyone’s favorite song

• Write a list 10 things you’re grateful for

• Family facials!

• Spinach balls and drinks by the Christmas tree

• Family bike ride to see holiday lights

• Stay in your jammies for breakfast + watch Home Alone

• Go on a bird hunt: see how many birds you can find on a walk 

• Drop food off at a local food bank

• Bake gingerbread friends 

• Enjoy reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas before bed

And that’s all she wrote! A few that didn’t make the list this year involve nail polish (not relaxing for me with my 3 year old!) and putting food coloring in our cereal milk (we ran out of green food coloring and I’m not sure when I’ll get around to buying more…).

I also reserve the right to change the activities ahead of time. I put the activities on pieces of paper in the pockets of our reusable fabric advent calendar and also keep a master list on my computer so I know what’s happening. I swap days or change activities as life indicates!

What about you? Do you do advent activities? What are your favorite holiday traditions?

one // Buy an ethically-raised turkey. Or skip it all together. Don’t support large-scale factory farms; order at least an organic turkey but perhaps go a step further to get one that was humanely raised, like a “pasture-raised.” These practices improve the health of the turkey and the health of the farm. However, don’t be hesitant to skip meat if possible. The environmental impact of raising animals is very significant, so eliminating meat from the meal would go a long way towards reducing your impact.

two // Use reusables not disposables. Food always tastes better off a real plate with a real fork. It’s a great time to bust out the china, if you have it. Your ancestors definitely weren’t eating with petroleum-based silverware!

three // Don’t buy any new decorations or clothing. Use what you have! Be grateful for what you have! Holiday decorations are the single-use plastic of home decor. If you already have some, great, but no need to go out and buy more. Especially during a pandemic!

four // Minimize food waste, and try to compost whatever you can. I’m always the person who takes compost home from a family party. Even though we’re having small gatherings this year, perhaps there’s someone who can collect the food scraps in a paper bag if you don’t have a way to compost yourself. Alternatively, there’s likely a compost drop-off point near you.

And nip food waste in the bud at the outset by making sure you don’t cook too much food, fill your plate too high, or forget to properly store what’s leftover. Also, make turkey broth from the carcass or send it home with someone who will.

five // Enjoy mashed potatoes! Did you know potatoes have one of the lowest carbon footprints of any food we eat? It only takes 3 gallons of water to produce one potato. They’re super sustainable, so be proud of your second helping.

six // Get outside. A walk or a “trot” before or after the Thanksgiving meal is always a good idea. The more we connect with nature, the more we think about the ways can help be good stewards for the earth.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I no longer own any cloth diapers.

After almost eight years of cloth diapering my three little ones, the youngest is officially potty trained. HURRAY!

Cloth diapering actually came pretty easy to me. It always just made sense to me. Use, wash, repeat. No trips to the store, one-time investment, use for multiple children.

However, while the big-picture decision to cloth diaper was a no-brainer, there was definitely a steep learning curve and several bumbles along the way. There are literally thousands of guides to cloth diapering on the internet, so I’m not going to rewrite one of them here. Instead, I’m going to give my eight biggest tips for cloth diapering. One for each year!

one // All-in-one diapers (AIOs) are a great starting place, but they are less versatile and don’t last as long as other diaper options. With my oldest, Willa, I registered for exclusively cloth diapers. I got bumgenius newborn diapers and a set of 12 bumgenius AIOs. They worked great and I loved them! But, I’d gotten one pocket diaper for free with one of my bumgenius orders, and found myself gravitating towards it when we had babysitters or wanted to stuff the diaper with extra cloth for nighttime. By the time my second baby came, I wanted more pocket diapers. But pocket diapers need to be stuffed, and when you’re sleep-deprived and swimming in laundry, that’s a lot. Enter: diaper covers. Just lay the cloth inside the cover, and you’re done. By the time I had my third baby I was using mostly diaper covers with cloth, and a few pockets.

two // Do not use too much detergent. Less is more! I completely whiffed on this one. The first time I cloth diapered I used way too much detergent and ended up with terrible build-up in my diapers. This means the soap is lodged in your diapers and so they can’t absorb the pee. I had to wash those first AIOs I had a bagillion times to get the build-up out and that ruined the elastic. I gave them away to someone who knew how to sew, and got new diapers for my second baby. This was a big fail, as ideally cloth diapers should last for multiple babies. Don’t use too much soap! Less is more! Just a teaspoon or so, depending on the soap.

three // Babies get diaper rash. Statement of the obvious, right? It is, but I think often parents think one type of diaper is more likely to give them a rash than others. This may be true (it probably is; you know your baby!) but I think it’s good to just accept that your baby will have some rashes and carry on with the cloth. That said, I recommend using diapers of natural fibers (cotton, usually). And there might be bits of time when you need to use some disposables, but don’t give up on the cloth. Change is the only constant and everything is a phase. I recommend a cloth-friendly cream for daily use. There’s a good list here, and I like this one.

four // Use what you have or what’s cheap. The cloth diaper options these days are extensive. It’s a huge market. There are tons of cute patterns and fancy buttons etc. etc. It’s easy to drop hundreds (perhaps thousands?) of dollars on new cloth diapers. But I don’t recommend that! If you get diaper covers, you can use a variety of cloth inside to absorb your child’s pee and poop. We used cotton towels that we already had, and I also bought some 100% cotton flour sack towels from WalMart. At less than $1 per towel they’re much cheaper than what you’ll find from the cloth diaper companies.

five // It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. So often people make a decision that they’re going to use cloth diapers OR disposable diapers. While I would obviously encourage you to use cloth diapers, replacing even a small number of disposables with cloth will save you money and help the earth.

six // You can travel with cloth! I shied away from traveling with cloth diapers for a long time. It just seemed like disposables were what you should use “on the road.” But eventually I realized that it’s not that hard to bring the cloth along. If your destination has a washing machine that you and your host are comfortable with you using, you’re all set. Or, if it’s a short trip (such as a long weekend camping), just bring a wet bag for the dirties and bring them home with you. I always figure it’s better to lug home laundry than trash!

seven // You do not need disposable swim diapers OR a special cloth diaper for swimming. Just use one of your diaper covers! Or even an all-in-one diaper. You’re going for containment not absorbency. Any tight fitting undergarment will do. These are one type of diaper we can definitely keep out of the landfill.

eight // It’s not easy, but nothing is with parenting… Oftentimes people will remark that cloth diapering is hard, or not as easy as disposables. I would respectfully disagree. Meeting a baby’s needs takes time and energy and diapers don’t change themselves. Any way you slice it, you’re parenting.

//

Did you cloth diaper? What would be your biggest tip?

I know it, you know it: we have a toilet paper problem right now.

For many, that problem is that they keep running out and there’s not enough in stores. But from my perspective, the problem is much bigger than that. Americans use a disproportionate amount of toilet paper compared to the rest of the world. And that’s becoming even more obvious in this time of global pandemic which has increased demand and disrupted supply chains.

According to a 2019 article in The Guardian:

“[A] report found that major brands’ refusal to switch to sustainable materials in toilet paper is having a devastating impact on forests and climate. About 28m acres of Canadian boreal forest have been cut down since 1996, an area the size of Pennsylvania. Virgin pulp, the key ingredient in toilet paper, accounted for 23% of Canada’s forest product exports.

Americans are particularly to blame for this crisis. They make up just over 4% of the world’s population, yet account for more than 20% of global tissue consumption. The average four-person household in the US uses over 100lb of toilet paper a year.”

I’ve thought about writing this post for awhile, but avoided it because it’s a bit “icky.” People don’t like potty talk. None of us really want to think about how others clean their bum.

But it’s time. Time to get real. Time to push you to reevaluate your systems. As I see it, there are several easy ways YOU could reduce your toilet paper use. Or at the very least, become a more responsible consumer of the product. Let’s run through them in order of the easiest to hardest changes you could make if you grew up using toilet paper:

EASIEST // Buy thinner toilet paper.
Sacrifice just a tiny bit of luxury. The thinner your paper, the fewer trees were used to make it. You don’t have to have quadruple soft Charmin. I promise. Your bum will be okay.

EASIEST // Use less toilet paper.
Obvious and easy: use fewer squares each time you pee. Teach your kids to do this too; in my experience, they’re big offenders!

EASY // Buy “tree-free” toilet paper (and paper towels and tissues!).
Several companies make toilet paper from bamboo and other resources, such as sugarcane, that are much more renewable than trees. Yes, these products might be a tad more expensive than the big-time name brands, but use a few fewer squares a week and it’ll all even out. Some brands to check out: Who Gives a Crap, Grove Collective, Public Goods, Rebel Green, and Caboo.

MODERATE // Switch to “disposable” cloth for pees.
Cut-up some old cotton clothes that were destined for the landfill anyway. Cut them so they’re about the size of 4 squares of toilet paper. Place them in a container near the toilet. After you use one to wipe, throw it in the trash. Wash your hands.

HARDER // Switch to reusable cloth for pees.
Same as above, but add a bin or wet bag for the used clothes, and then wash in hot water. I use a two compartment wet bag, which allows me to put the clean cloths in the front compartment and then the dirties go in the back compartment. When it’s time to wash, I throw the whole bag in the machine.

HARDER // Buy a bidet or bidet attachment.
I can’t speak to this one first-hand, but I plan to try it out in the near future. Aside from a few bidet experiences in Europe and Japan, I am firmly in the wiping camp. But those in the bidet camp feel strongly that it’s the only way to go. That it’s the cleanliest. People love the relatively inexpensive Tushy toilet attachment, but there are tons of options out there at every price point. Can you say heated seat? Many are sold out at the time being though.

HARDEST // Use cloth for everything.
If you’ve used cloth diapers on your kids, this shouldn’t be too much of a stretch. A little poop comes off in the wash. A lot of poop? No. But Most of the poop is going into the toilet, right? Right.

Lastly, remember it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. We use a combination of these methods in our house. Any reduction of toilet paper consumption will help the forests. And you wallets!

With that, I’m out. I know it’s easiest to keep doing things the way you’ve always done things, but think about the forest people. Think about the trees. Think about your kids and the air you want them to breath. And they ask yourself if you really, really need super-soft toilet tissue.

What do you think? What do you use? Could you make a change?