Thursday, June 19, 2008

Kermit is a liar, its totally easy to be green!

So I am on a "green living" kick. Im really enjoying it!

I have made a few small changes in my life, none of them totally drastic, but I know its helping.

We gave up plastic bags. If I can carry it on my own I will tell the person "No bag" We also purchased reusable shopping bags and in 1 month have brought home less than 10 plastic bags (Random shopping trips where the bags weren't used)

I thought to myself "How much difference does that really make?" Well I found out when I took our old bags in to be recycled. In 3 months we used up 2 very large, very stuffed garbage bags worth of plastic. Its incredible how that adds up!

I also am using my own mug when I get coffee. No more throwing away a lid, sleeve AND cup for me!

We also have a water delivery service that re-uses their bottles. I dont buy bottled water anymore. Its such a HUGE waste!

We are using bio-degradable diaper (Pull ups) for Ava, they are more expensive but they are made from a corn oil rather than plastic so they will actually break down eventually.

I signed us up for www.greendimes.com I just started it so I am not seeing a huge difference now, but hopefully soon all of that junk mail will be a thing of the past. Also signed the petition for a "Do Not Mail" list (like the do not call list but with junk mail)

We are looking at Terra Pass but at the moment we cant afford it. But it will be something we do in the future.


None of these were especially hard, none of them cost us ridiculous amounts of money but all of them help, if we all changed a little. Thats a HUGE difference.

6 comments:

Lisa said...

Congrats on this.
I've been using re-usable bags for shopping for about 4 maybe 5 months now. I love it. I only need 5 for all my shopping and I can carry everything in the house in one trip. When i forget to get my bags, I re-use the plastic grocery bags for trash can liners around the house. I've also stopped buying bottled water and have a Brita pitcher I refill all the time. I've never heard of the diapers, that's something to look into around here.
I know what I do isn't a lot, but it's something. And if everyone would do a little something, it'd add up to a lot of something.

Je suis Carla Rrrrrrobinson. said...

as thomas would say...hippy. it's a good thing you're moving up here. you definitely belong in eugene.

Sara said...

I've done a lot of the same things and I feel so good about myself for it. Pat us on the back! I've recycled since I was a kid, but its amazing how a few little tweaks make such a difference.

Anonymous said...

That's so awesome that you're doing this. I've been bringing my own bags to the grocery store for a while now -- HK stores sell some really cute bags (I know...lame, but I'm that kind of person). I might start copying you on the coffee and water thing. I'm a horrible offender in those two areas. Yay Manda! You're an awesome role model for Ava.

Unknown said...

nerd. and oh yeah... hippie. but from what it sounds like with your friends comments, you are in good company

Christina said...

Very cool! I'm impressed by all the steps you've taken, I still live very non-green although I did recently switch from those little bottles of water to a big water cooler. The bottles are reused and I am wasting far less oil in the plastics. No more guilt trip when drinking water, yay!