The Family

The Family

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Day #48: It's not easy being green, or is it?

   On to my next venture. I'm going to take on recycling. I am, admittedly, the world's WORST green/eco-friendly mother on the planet. I go through paper towels and plastic baggies like no ones business. And although we actually have curbside  pick-up for recycling, I still don't recycle. I'm just being lazy and not wanting to sort trash. But I've been thinking and asking some of my eco- friendly mother's for some easy tips. I gotta start slow. It's like a diet, if you take on too much all at once, it ain't gonna happen. So here is my proposed plan:

1. Use less plastic baggies for snacks and more Tupperware. Same goes for paper plates. But paper plates are so easy, especially when I don't feel like doing dishes. But alas, I will reduce my paper plate use! This also goes for paper towels (I can use a sponge/washcloth) and napkins (I have some cloth ones, I think I could handle a switch).
2. Turning off the lights when they are not being used. I blame my children for the bulk of this. But I'm guilty as well. just a little.
3. Sorting trash from recyclables. I am going to get another trash can and make it my recycle bin and put it right next to the trash can.
4. Reuse. I always forget that reusing an item is a form of being green and I actually do reuse my plastic baggies already. I will attempt to reuse other things as well.
5. I am hesitant to commit to reusable bags at the grocery story, that seems like a BIG step. Plastic is SO easy. I wonder if I can bring back my plastic bags to reuse? Does that count as being green?

That's what I'll start with for now and I'll see how/where it goes. These are all very easy changes. I guess when I hear "going green" I think of big inconvenient changes. I think of solar lighting, cloth diapering, and Hybrid cars. But it doesn't have to be big at all to make an impact.

Any other tips would be helpful; I'm open to suggestions. What green lifestyle habits have you adopted?

1 comment:

  1. Recycling is very hard for us - our neighborhood just started the program - WE TRY! I reuse bags and plastic bags all the time as well. I guess my biggest contribution is going to cloth diapers and I love them! One step at a time right!?

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