Back on my list of 100 things to do. This also follows along with my Good Earth post.
38. Use canvas bags for shopping, instead of taking home more wretched plastic bags.
So I went shopping online for canvas bags. Naturally, I hit eBay first to see if I could find a bulk lot, and I stuimbled across this auction.
For the love of BOB! People! Am I the only one who can see what’s wrong with this?
I’m going to give these a try as well, but I’d really like something I can throw into the wash and basically use forever and ever.
I think I’ll just go one step further down the green trail and hit some local thrift shops, and buy up all the ugly canvas bags people abandon there. Internet shopping is giving me pause today.
May 13th, 2008
My latest obsession is the environment. I’m going to be throughly honest and say that no, I don’t know exactly where I stand on global warming. I think Al Gore (much like all politicians) is a great big ol’ douchebag, and I won’t watch his movie. That admission aside, I see no reason not to be as kind to our Earth as possible, and DH and I have taken major strides to incorporate eco-friendly products and activities into our lives.
I didn’t post this on Earth Day, because I wish this would be the focus everyday, instead of once a year. Kind of the old Valentine’s Day rebellion type-thing. Luckily, it seems that it’s becoming trendy right now to recycle and pay attention to what’s going on around you, so perhaps this “trend” will truly stick. The things we are doing to reduce wastefulness in our lives are:
1. We use our car only one day per week, if even then. We take the bus, or ride bicycles, everywhere we go.
2. All of our cleaning products are organic.
3. All of my personal care items (shampoo, toothpaste, make-up, facial wash, etc.) are organic. Burt’s Bees is amazing stuff.
4. We’re switching to cloth napkins, and doing away with paper towels.
5. Our home has no central air or heat.
6. We’ll support our local Farmer’s markets as much as possible.
7. We live in California, so recycling is simply what you do. Period. They’ll actually fine you if you don’t.
8. I’d like to start composting, but for a myriad of reasons (primarily that we’re renting our current home and have very little yard area to work with), this probably won’t happen in the near future.
9. Paying off all of our debt. This seems small, but everything matters. We’re stopping the influx of paper in our mailbox. What inescapable bills we have remaining will be converted to paperless statements.
10. Freecycle! Get rid of things there, and get things there. Truly an amazing network.
11. Here in Texas, we save our aluminum cans and turn them in for cash. We put all of the money we receive into a college fund for DS. Not sure how that will work in CA, but we’ll see.
12. Take quick showers (no more than 10 minutes). This one was major for our family. We would sit in there all darn day if we could get away with it.
13. When the time comes that purchasing a new car is unavoidable, we’ll be buying a Prius, or whatever the most reliable super-small super-efficient hybrid is at that time. Until then, our very well-maintained 6 year old Hyundai is cutting the mustard just fine.
That’s all I can think of, but I know we’re off to a good start.
Slightly off-topic… I stumbled across these on BLTD, and I want, I want! I probably won’t end up getting them, because frankly I’m simply too cheap… but I love absolutely everything about them.
May 8th, 2008
