Are they all yours?

Mr. Greenhab with daughter Jackie, Felix, Fletcher and Macy.

I've been contemplating the topic of this month's APLS Carnival "When does size matter?" but haven't come up with anything all that insightful or unique to say. Like many of the other posts I've read on the subject, the size of our family does affect us in some ways but, in most, we still try to do the same things we did when we were a family of 3 -- as opposed to the family of 6 - 8 that we are now (it's a complicated story).

Just 2 years ago Mr. Greenhab and I lived in the city with Baby Greenhab, doing our composting, recycling, walking to the grocery store and living a simplish life. Over the past two years we moved to the mountains, out of walking distance from anything. We adopted two children. Grandma Greenhab moved in. Uncle Greenhab's child lives here part time too. We're just one gigantic, chaotic family now.

I can no longer line dry 100% of our clothing. I'm not saying it's impossible. It's just too impossible for me. I do multiple loads each day. In the summer they can all dry outside, but the summer only lasts about 3 months here. In the cooler weather it takes more than a day for the clothes to dry inside, so I can get behind very quickly.

I can't drive a Prius. I can't even fit everyone in our SUV some days. Yes, I own an SUV {hangs head in shame}. It's probably worse that we actually own 3 cars {GASP!}. To our defense, we had the SUV and one compact car. We got the 2nd compact as a hand-me-down when Grandpa Greenhab passed away. So we drive the small cars most of the time, but if I have all three kids, well you just can't fit three car seats in the back of a compact car. We also use it in the snow.

Anyway... Those are really the only two big ways in which the size of our family affects our "greenness". Of course we could discuss the general environmental impact of having a big family v. a small one, but that's not really what this topic is about.

I find the bigger contention lies not in how many people are in our family, but what those family members are willing to do. Each member in our family has different beliefs, worries, goals, and things they're willing to do. And I'm good with that.

Mr. Greenhab has adapted to many of my "crazy" ways. He's used to not having paper napkins or paper towels in the house. He likes composting and doesn't mind that I clean solely with vinegar. But take away his meat and WATCH OUT! He's a carnivore through-and-through and dislikes 90% of all vegetables. He's also The Cheapest Man on the Planet (yes, that's an official title!) so our meat is usually purchased on sale, or in the clearance section of the meat department. Basically, you can forget getting him to spring on local, organic, grass-fed beef or free-range chicken, and he won't touch most veggies with a ten foot pole.

On the other hand, we can't afford (financially or environmentally) to feed meat to the whole family. Instead, I make meat for Mr. Greenhab, then lots of veggies and side dishes for the rest of the family, who eats a smaller portion of the meat.

Grandma Greenhab has taken on the role of Family Recycler! On a weekly basis, she loads her car up with our recycling and takes it into the town recycling center to sort. She rocks! With all we compost, recycle and refrain from buying, our family of 6-8 usually only has 1 or 2 bags of landfill trash each week. Grandma is a pastaterian (meaning she's a vegetarian, but she doesn't actually like many veggies) so getting her to eat local organic foods is also out of the question.

So you can see that our greenness depends a lot more on what everyone is willing to do, rather than how many people there are.

In a recent interview with No Impact Man Colin Beavan, Beth Terry asked him who his heroes are. His response, in part, was "...the reason why Gandhi and Martin Luther King and also Tolstoy are heroes of mine is because of the principle of non-violence. Because the idea is not to get angry at other people, it's to love. That basically you love people into change. You don't hate people into change."

And that's basically the approach I take with my family. I try to push them a bit to the brink of their comfort zones. I encourage them. I sometimes plead with them! But mostly I love them. And they show me they love me by joining in on some of my hair-brained journeys.

This post is my contribution to the September APLS Carnival that will be hosted at CRSTN85.