Still Thinking Green

I love this little gem of a site which I just stumbled on. It is user friendly and stupid proof - very important for me since I seldom learn anything by just reading or listening - I need PICTURES. Not diagrams... pictures!

Anyway - because Earth Day was just this week and because when I give someone a present I like it to look like I put some thought into wrapping it and preparing it for them (presentation is half the "battle" - no?) and because I am just not crazy about wrapping paper, anything that offers an alternative to that is okie dokie with me I share with you a great way to reuse toilet paper rolls!

Ta Da! Supah cute and a great way to re-use something you might otherwise throw away! (Don't say I never gave you anything!) :)

Baby Steps...

Earth Day is once again upon us. This is a fantastic opportunity to look at our lives and pick a few things we can do to take better care of our planet. The biggest problem I see with this is that people tend to let their perfectionist attitudes get in the way of success. Look - it is a big planet - with a lot of problems. We can not fix everything - we can't do everything perfectly every time, but that doesn't mean we are off the hook. We need to try. Start small.

This story makes this point rather well:

One morning a man was walking down a beach that was covered in dying starfish. The tide the night before had been especially strong and thousands of starfish had been washed up on shore, too far up for them to make it back into the water by themselves. The man shook his head as he trudged along thinking what a shame it was that all of those starfish would die on the beach.

He came upon a boy who was throwing starfish back into the ocean as fast as he could. He was out of breath and it was obvious that he had been at this task for a while. "Son," the man said, "you might as well quit. There are thousands of them. They are washed up all over the beach as far as you can see. There is no way you can make any sort of a difference." The boy did not even pause in what he was doing. He kept bending and throwing but as he did, he spoke to the man, "I can make a difference to this one, and this one, and this one." And the man thought, and he knew the boy was right. He began to help return the animals to their home, smiling at how life's biggest lessons sometimes came from the smallest people."

Every little bit counts. Maybe you can switch to reusable bags when you shop. Maybe you can be more conscious of packaging and buy more products that are NOT packaged individually (pssst - it is cheaper too!) Maybe you can pack your lunch each day to reduce waste - Laptop Lunches are a great way to do this! It is healthier and you will save money too!

Share what baby steps you and your family can take to help our planet - don't overwhelm yourself. Pick one or two things to work on this year - make them your habit (remember - it takes 21 times/days to make a habit!!! Be patient with yourself, you won't get it right 100% of the time right away!) In a year you will be greener - you will be doing your part...

For my part this coming year I plant to work on reducing waste by making more things from scratch and packing lunches for my son and me. What about you? What will you work on??

Lunch - in a box...

I can hear my grandmother's voice in my head "There is nothing new on the face of the earth" she would say. Pretty much this statement rings true. The idea of eating lunch from a box is certainly NOT new, nor is it unique to the American way of life. So after decades of the disposable being chic, we are finally headed back to sensible, ecologically friendly alternatives... Packed lunch from home - in a box...

When I was "asked" to return to the office for work I knew I had to do something about lunch. Buying lunch everyday was just not a feasible option - I just don't make that kind of money. So, I brown bagged it. But even though I brought my bag home and used it over as much as possible I still felt like I was creating a lot of garbage, and wasn't thrilled with the whole experience. So, I looked into it and decided to buy a "Laptop Lunch". Inspired by the bento boxes of Japan, this little treasure makes lunch - well - fun! And I am able to take an interesting variety of foods. The lunch featured here is a turkey sandwich with raisins (don't knock it 'till you try it), some watermelon, a granola bar and some yogurt (I am able to buy the big container of yogurt! Cheaper and less waste!) Along side is a 12 oz bottle which I fill with water or sometimes iced green tea. It all zips up in a nice little case - very snazzy. I chose pink, no surprise, but the offer many different color choices including a very sleek looking red and black. OH! And yu also get your very own special little fork and spoon!

By now you may have checked the price and suspect that I have have hit my head on something. Yeah - I know. It is a little pricey - BUT - I have to tell you - I have not one time since I have this, been tempted to skip packing my lunch and buy something. I eat healthy at lunch while so many around me are eating fries and burgers. There is something very satisfying about having everything all laid out in front of you in neat little containers - People are always checking what I have on any given day in my lunch box.

William is after me big-time for one of his own. I believe I shall get him one... Not sure how I feel about school lunches anymore... I think you all know what I am talking about.

So - think about it... good for the environment, good for you... probably can save you a bit of money in the long run too... Be sure to come back and tell me if you buy one!

Down with Plastic Bags...

I am trying to do what I can to be kind to our planet. One thing that I have done is purchase reusable bags to use instead of plastic grocery bags. I have done so only after extensive research - naturally. So - I believe I have found the ideal bag. Now, understand this: these bags are NOT the cheapest. But the have some excellent features which I think make them worth the money.

First - they fold into a little tiny square when not in use. This allows me to keep one in my purse at all times - I can use the bags at convenience stores too because there is always one available to me. I love this!


Second - they are designed to fit over the bag rack at grocery stores - this makes them extremely easy to load.

Third - they are strong. Really strong. You can fit more in these bags than you can in plastic bags - and while one would assume that you could over-pack them, make them too heavy - they are astonishingly comfortable to carry, so they don't seem so heavy, This one, I can't explain - you would have to try them yourself and see.

Fourth - you can wash them. If they get icky - you can just throw it in the wash. So far, not relevant but in this house it is only a matter of time.

So far - since receiving them on Wednesday - we have avoided briging 12 plastic bags into this house. He even used them when we went to Kohls!

I ordered mine from reusablebags.com, they are ACME bags (not THAT Acme, LOL). And come in three colors!