1. Using paper towel in my kitchen. It is so convenient and feels clean. I just cannot get myself to use cloth. Will composting the used towels make me feel better? (Note to myself – Buy composting bins by this weekend)
2. Using gas powered mower. I am thinking about buying an electric one. I don’t think I can make a transition to a push mower.
3. Let the water run till it gets cold to fill up a glass of water to drink. I do manage to fill up water in a jug so I don’t waste water; but it only lasts for a week and I am back to square one.
4. Use dryer to dry clothes even in summer.

I am planning to keep adding to this list as and when I remember and I hope I can cross off some items in future

I have been really depressed this week. I have been trying to refinance my mortgage and why not the rates are so low. I thought since i had bought the house when the housing market was already down, it should be easy to refinance. But, no the price has fallen down so mush that i cant refinance without paying another down payment. I don’t know if i should use up my cash balance to refinance, especially in this economy when i don’t know if i will still have my job tomorrow.

Recently our living room and guest bedroom were damaged by ice dam. We have to replace the flooring for the whole house. Insurance is paying @ of original flooring, which is crap. Anyway, i wanted to replace the carpet with bamboo flooring to be more environmentally friendly. As i started looking for deals i realised not all bamboo is the same. You have to be careful where your bamboo comes from, i.e. forest or plantation ( i don’t want to take away Panda food..do i now?). Then if it comes from china what is the cost of transportation? What kind of finish is being used on the end product, what is it treated with..think formaldehyde..VOC etc etc. Anyway after doing a lot of searching i found my floor. I went with Plyboopure bamboo - they come from plantation and are urea formaldehyde free. The adhesive that we are using is also formaldehyde free and low VOC. The only problem is it is costing me double of the regular bamboo that i found at lowes . Being green in this economy is tough.

Welcome to Tuku Musi. My name is Preeti and I look forward to posting stuff about being a mother, programmer and organic living enthusiast.

Why the name Tuku Musi? well it’s the name of my favorite nursery rhyme in my native language of Oriya.

Welcome again and here’s hoping for a greener earth