Living Green"er"

Upon moving to our new town, I've gotten more active in recycling. The city offers pickup for certain items that can be recycled and I jump on the bandwagon as they say. Wow - who knew that we could fill that recycle bucket full each week?! Then again, we go through at least 3 gallons of milk during the week, and I do cook a lot with canned items. I get so many magazines and catalogs in the mail (many of which I just toss immediately). We also make a trip about every other month to recycle the cardboard that comes our way. (I love ordering online and through catalogs; getting things in the mail is something I find fun. Plus with the Southern Living at HOME boxes that come our way, we usually have a lot of cardboard.) So anyway... we do the recycling bit and enjoy it. Find recycling information for your area.

Hubby came home one day with a bunch of the Energy Smart light bulbs. They use less wattage but give off the same amount of light. Are they more expensive? Oh, yes. Do I love them? Yes! I could tell a difference in how hot the room felt the first day. Will's room doesn't get a lot of circulation and was always really warm when the lights were on - it's much more comfortable in there now. I can't say that we've seen a significant improvement in our electric bill, but there has been some. We will continue to use these bulbs and the nice thing is they are now coming in a more "attractive" style than just the curly bulb. Go grab a few bulbs for yourself and see if you can tell a difference - let me know.

Paper napkins. Ugh! Go through a fast food line and they either don't give you enough or they give you way toooooo many. When it's the way tooooo many option, I've started saving them and putting them with my regular "pretty" paper napkins and using them. I used to just toss them in the trash. I've also stopped using paper towels to dry my hands at home. I've purchased a beautiful hand towel holder and use a washable towel instead. If we could all just stop using/wasting one paper napkin each day... I don't know the stats. I'm not that far in to going green. Babysteps for me right now.

Now, for the latest improvement, I never thought I'd do it. Don't know why, maybe from feeling funny about walking into a grocery store with bags or having to tote my bags while I shop. I know, I know, those are both silly reasons. However, one day when checking out at our local Publix, they were selling these Green Bags for about $2 each. I remember watching Oprah one day (which I rarely do) and she was offering some for $10 each; so for $2 I bought two. The clerk packed my groceries in them and out I went feeling "green" and good. I had just saved the landfill from two plastic bags! When I got home I realized that I had saved it from more than just 2 bags - those Green Bags hold a ton of stuff! I felt even better.

The real test for me was now to remember to take them to the store with me, walk in with them, and ask the clerk to use them. I've done this twice now at Wal*Mart. Both times the greeter at the door stopped me to ask if I had returns and I had to explain the bags. Both times the clerk looked at me strangely, but complied. Both times I was amazed at how much stuff fits in those bags and how sturdy they are. I want more bags!! So, I go back to Publix which is of course sold out and doesn't know when they'll get more. I found the Green Bags on the internet for a bit more money , but purchased them anyway because I do love these bags. (Choose The Green Bag under the Product heading.) They've also got some produce bags that I ordered and thought I'd try.

Just yesterday I submitted my and my hubby's info to stop receiving the pre-approved credit card offers in the mail. Again, just stuff I throw out without even looking at it. You can do that, too, at the centralized service for opting out. You can choose to opt-out for 5 years or forever. Do it! Save some trees!

I must say, I am enjoying the "greener" life. I'm not the No Impact Man, but it does makes me feel like I am making a difference. (I got many of these links from No Impact Man which I heard about from a good friend's blog... shout out to Laurel!)

These are just some simple things we've changed in our lives. Got any other simple suggestions? I want to be greenerer. LOL!