Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The New American Dream

Whilst looking for ideas for an alternative baby shower I stumbled across this website that is SO awesome: www.newdream.org

I have struggled lately in my quest to "go green" and still do it afford ably without having to change everything about my life around. This site is packed full of advice on how the typical middle class American can make a difference without joining a commune in Arizona. Another plus is that a lot of it is very in-line with gospel principles. I have barely scratched the surface of all the stuff there but here are some highlights:

-Information about buying wisely (with lots of tips and links)
-Loads of articles about being a responsible consumer, including info on ethical investing
-Information on how to "green" your baby care
-The Alternative gift registry

Ok, this last one is possibly the most awesome thing I have stumbled on related to baby stuff. I registered at Babies R Us because it just seemed like "the thing to do" when you have a baby but I was so frustrated by their over commercialized emphasis on buying tons of stuff for your baby rather than actually focusing on taking care of your child. The Alternative gift registry is different in that you can register for secondhand and non-tangible items. For example, I registered for 7 freezer meals. How useful is that compared to a bunch of clothes that the baby won't wear for more than a month? Don't get me wrong, clothes are necessary and needful but I already have tons of clothes, mostly secondhand I might add. I also registered for my natural baby care items that you can't buy at Babies R Us, like g-diapers. This way people know what I REALLY need. The site is www.alternativegiftregistry.org and you just type in my name and away you go. You can also do it for weddings, and if you are really into saving the planet you can even register for guests to donate to a charity of your choice. Now that is truly a step in the right direction.

3 comments:

Lindsay said...

Hi Carrie! I found that you had linked me through my Sitemeter. Anyway, fun to see you've started a blog. :) Congrats, by the way, on your impending arrival. Both Blake and my mom told me a while back about your happy announcement...very exciting. When are you due?

That sounds like an interesting baby registry. After getting married and getting fed up with the whole registry thing, we pretty much bagged the idea completely for Garrett's arrival. Registries are, in my opinion, just too messy and can often be on the wrong side of greedy. Besides, it was our first baby: we didn't have anything, so anything people wanted to send our way was welcome. What we didn't get as gifts we got second-hand, which has been just as fabulous.

Amanda said...

OK--I've FINALLY looked at your registry. That's pretty cool! I just had a question--I was thinking about the freezer meals thing, and know that you don't eat a lot of sugar, milk, meats, etc. So--what kinds of things DO you eat? :)

Carrie said...

Hey Amanda, actually I eat pretty much anything, but in moderation (of course). So basically what that means is that for breakfast, lunch and snacks I watch my sugar and dairy intake, but dinner is much less stringent, or else Andrew would go crazy! As for meat, I love it but much prefer poultry and fish to beef and pork. That has only been since I have been PG though. The only foods that I absolutely will not eat are brussel sprouts and raw onions. Thanks for asking! You are lovely!