Meet Greater Sac’s Greenest Family

Living the green life is nothing new for Joel and Beth Dubois. It started sixteen years ago with a compost bin in the small backyard of their apartment in Massachusetts when Joel and Beth were a newly married couple in grad school.

That same compost bin followed them through six moves, across the country, and finally settled with them in Sacramento. The couple has already taught this “4th R” (“reduce, reuse, recycle—and rot!”) to their children, 9-year-old Theodore and 2-year-old Zoe.

The Good Life
The Dubois' "green" lifestyle not only saves resources, it saves money too, enabling Beth (a part-time nurse practitioner) to be home with the children during the day. Beth conserves energy in the kitchen by using a small countertop convection oven rather than turning on the much larger gas oven. The family also saves electricity by keeping their thermostat and hot water heater on a lower setting. Before turning up the heat when they're cold, they first try putting on warmer clothes and slippers. At night, they turn the heat way down and snuggle under wool comforters, with a sleeping bag on top for extra warmth. They wash their laundry in cold water and use a clothesline for drying much of the year.

"Eating lower on the food chain” is another way the Dubois reduce their environmental impact. Their diet is mainly vegetarian. (Occasionally they’ll have sustainably harvested fish.) The Dubois buy their grains, legumes, nuts and seeds in bulk to reduce packaging waste. They shop at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op and their local farmers' market. Not only do they bring their own reusable grocery bags to the store, they reuse their plastic bags for produce.

When mealtimes are over, the Dubois compost their food scraps. The rich soil they create by composting helps them grow new food in their garden, which Joel and Theodore tend. “Nothing is more delicious than eating a just-picked, garden-fresh red pepper or cucumber!” says Beth. Composting has also let the family drastically reduce their waste output. They’ve opted for the smallest garbage can available, and still only have to put it out once a month. "Since we compost everything perishable, our garbage doesn't smell," says Beth.

With household items, the family enjoys receiving hand-me-down clothes, shopping at yard sales and thrift shops, and offering unused or outgrown items to friends and thrift stores. "By passing on what we don't currently need, we're keeping stuff out of the landfill, and other people can use it, without using any resources to produce more," says Beth.

Outside of the home, Beth, Joel and the kids further minimize their environmental footprint by opting to walk or ride bikes instead of taking the car to the park, on errands, and to appointments. Joel, a professor at Sac State, rides his bike to work, rain or shine. "As our family learns more about the natural world around us, the reverence and wonder we feel gives us an even deeper inspiration for a 'green' way of life."

Molly is one bright green momma herself. She lives in Auburn with her biodiesel-brewing husband and their two young nature-lovers. Check out her blog posts (by Mom-Made).