The guidelines.

When I originally thought this up I was thinking of these as "rules", but being that I'm not exactly a legalistic kind of person, they were quickly changed to "guidelines". Our main guideline is:

"We will do our best, at all times, wherever we are, to actively reduce, reuse and recycle."

Transportation

-use our feet and bikes, NOT a car

-use buses and sky train for farther adventures

(being that we live 6 kms from our local bus routes, I know there will be times when there are no alternatives except a car, but we will do our best and always try to plan around it.)

Food

-no processed/packaged food bought by me or in our home

-replace all dairy/eggs in cooking and baking

-reduce meat consumption (and only eating what is in our freezer) on the following timetable:

1-2 times per week in June

1 time per week in July

1 time every second week in August

-replace all "whites" with whole grains

-get rid of sugar

-NO RESTAURANTS/TAKE-OUT

-work diligently to grow our own organic produce

-eliminate ALL toxins and chemicals from the house - including hygiene products, cleaning, laundry, etc.

(I am going to go hard core and do three months with no meat, dairy or sugar. I will have a physical and blood work done before and after to see what the health differences are.)

The boys are going to try their best, but they are free to make their own choices when they are out with friends, etc.

Consumerism/Resource Usage

-no purchasing of anything new

-drastically reduce use of electricity (we are keeping the fridge, stove, washing machine, one power bar for cell phone chargers/ipod charger, a coffee grinder and a blender - everything else will be put away. The blender and coffee grinder are for grinding flax seeds and medicines for Dylan. The furnace is off and the hot water tank has been turned down12 degrees, to only provide warm water.)

-we will use the internet/computer at the library

-goal is to produce only one bag of trash over 3 months

-use NO disposable goods

I think that about covers the general stuff. The hard part will be a transition away from the Xbox and DVD's. I am not taking it all away cold turkey on June 1st though. It will be unplugged and put away, however and not readily available. We did agree that we would have one week in each month when we put it ALL away - no cell phones, ipods, computer (even at the library), etc. That will be like our vacation time and we can spend some time out of touch from the world and in touch with each other. That could be interesting...

The first project is for the boys to build a solar oven for us to try out! Dylan is to take on the role of Director of Art and Games, Brendan will be the Director of Music and Entertainment and I will just be in charge!

We officially start on June 1st and end on Sept.1st - 92 days to change our family. My secret hope is to come out the other side connected, still happy and THINNER!!

Oh, and I will blog at least 3 times a week to keep you in the loop with The 3 Peas! Become a follower on the blog and you won't miss any of our excitement! Feel free to leave comments and let us know if you're making any green changes this summer too!