It’s here and you can celebrate with me for three reasons. First, we get to save the planet today like Batman or Super Why. Second, there is still a ton of free stuff up for grabs over at Seattle Mom Blogs for anyone in the US to win. Third, today is the last day I’ll be talking about green things for a while. After today I will go back to blogging my kids’ vomit and my adventures in parking.

It seems like for every good thing I’m doing, there are ten more things I feel like I should be doing and then half the good things I’m doing turn out to be not as good as I thought they were. I think I’ve taught Laylee pretty well just to do her best and that her best is good enough for me. I guess my best should be good enough for me too. Here are a few things I’m focusing on this year.

1. Buying more whole foods and cooking from scratch, organic when the price is affordable. I can afford more organic if I plan carefully and don’t let produce rot as much. I frequently end up throwing away food because I over-buy or under-eat the good stuff. When I can’t buy organic (which is more than half the time), I wash produce carefully in diluted vinegar to remove surface pesticides and other contamination.

2. Buying more gifts from local artists and craftspeople instead of stockpiling sale gifts I may or may not WANT to give from my gift drawer when occasions arise.

3. Buying less of everything and being mindful of where things come from. I plan to do more with freecycle, eBay and Good Will this year and shop at one of the many antique stores in my area.

4. Figuring out what to do with my composter so I can build my very own useful landfill in the back yard for the benefit of my garden.

5. Growing a successful container garden that actually lives long enough to produce something edible.

6. Remembering my reusable grocery sacks at least half the time.

7. Turning off the water while I’m brushing my teeth.

8. Finding a way to wean off bleach by 2010.

9. Buying at least one fair trade item this year and research my favorite companies to see which of them have responsible business practices and treat their production employees well.

10. Walking to the library instead of driving. Teaching the kids to think it’s fun that we’re walking to the library instead of driving.

12. Turning the heater down 2 degrees next winter.

11. Buying thousands of hamsters to run in little wheels that will power my computer for blogging purposes.

If you’re interested in getting a free copy of Gorgeously Green (which I highly recommend), I now have 4 copies to give away at SMB.com. There are also gDiapers, Klutter Katchers, Belli Facial Care, and Method Baby products. Today’s the last day to put your name in the running.

I love to buy stuff. I know you can’t buy happiness but I truly am very happy most of the time when I’m shopping. It feels good to find a “treasure,” snag it for my very own and then have the power to purchase it. Now if I can get that treasure for close to no money, even better.

The more I read about health, environmental friendliness and green living, the more I realize that nearly everything I own is either toxic, wasteful, irresponsible or unfair to humans or other animals. It makes me want to get rid of everything I currently have and then buy all new organic, non-toxic, fair trade versions of my possessions. Oooo, it’s fun being green if it means you can shop shop shop. I don’t think this is the answer either however.

If the tree has already been killed, the slave has already labored, the item already purchased and used, then unless it’s filled with lead or some other posisonous substance, it’s probably more responsible for me to use up the item I have than to chuck it in a landfill or even recycle it and keep buying more.

I have to refrain from buying more reusable grocery bags every time another store comes out with a cuter, more environmentally friendly version. Even things that are produced using resources responsibly are still using resources and anything you buy will have some impact on our world. One of the best things we can do to help the environment is to stop buying so much junk and that’s something that should fit into anyone’s budget. The next time you pick up that ill-fitting t-shirt on clearance for 3 dollars and consider buying it because it’s ONLY 3 DOLLARS, think about whether you really need it or whether you can make do with what you have at home and save that 3 dollars for something else, like a present for me.

In this spirit, I’m not going to go out and buy new organic cotton sheets until those I already have wear themselves out. When I’m buying new because I need them, then I’ll get the good stuff. I need to think about my decisions carefully instead of setting fire to all my earthly possessions so I can save the world.

I’m feeling a bit better today, one million supplements later and a trip to the naturopath that scored me a prescription for antibiotics — ear infection. I didn’t even know grownups could get ear infections, nor did I expect to be put on antibiotics by my uber-natural naturopath but I suppose I need them so there you go.

My post today at Parenting is about my sickness and woes and how the kids are dealing with it. They’re actually dealing quite well. I applaud their bouce-backishness. I’m bouncing back too, thanks to a little help from someone I’ll hereafter refer to as The Pregnant Cleaning Lady. I call her this only because she is pregnant and a cleaning lady.

Stephanie told me that a friend of hers was having a rough time and really needed work cleaning houses. I’ve never hired anyone to clean my house but I wanted to help her out and I guess I’ve been wanting to help her out subconsciously for weeks now because between the road trip and the plagues, it’s been far too long since my house has come in contact with a cleanly hand.

Enter pregnant cleaning lady. It was a strange sort of feeling to hire a woman in her late second trimester to clean my house. I knew she needed the work and I knew I needed help but it was very strange and guilt-inducing to have someone in that state scrubbin’ away at the mess I’d built up because I had a case of the sniffles (and an earache people, let’s not forget the ear ache… and the fever… and the sore throat… and the chapped lips… and the adult acne.) But even with all my infirmities, it still felt wrong to have a pregnant person cleaning my house. If she’s pregnant, she probably has all those infirmities and many many more and they’re all normal because, you know, she’s pregnant.

So I showed her where my supplies were and gave her strict instructions not to bend much or pick up anything too heavy or do anything that made her the least bit uncomfortable. Then I headed to Costco with the kids. When I came home, it was like a fairy godmother of joy had vomited pixie dust all over my house. The entire main floor was spotless. In 2.5 hours she had cleaned my kitchen and dining room from top to bottom, including buffing things that are supposed to be shiny but never are, scrubbed the bathroom, dusted, vacuumed, washed windows and straightened up everything.

Now as I blog in my immaculate house, what earlier today felt so wrong is starting to feel so very very right and addictive. If only I had the money to do this every week. My word, it would be fantastic.

Lots of fun is happening at Seattle Mom Blogs this weekend. We currently have a book giveaway and a great set of organizing bags for kids’ toys. In the next few days we’ll be giving away gDiapers, Method products, luxurious pregnancy-friendly Belli facial care items and more. Keep checking it.

Also, my lovely friend and neighbor the homeopath has made her blogging debut in honor of Earth Day. If you have a moment, please go give her some comment love.