Check out these awesome cups I have at work. I have a mug and cup (for hot and cold beverages). Everything a girl needs to drink her day away the eco-friendly way. This cuts down on all the temptation to use throw away types of cups at work. Plus I can maintain the sanitary level on them as they are all mine … all mine!
I’ve already crossed this off the eco-wishlist but never blogged about it.
I recently finished reading “It’s Easy Being Green.” In it are a number of recommendations on what you can do to help the environment, a day at a time. So I’ve listed the items I want to focus on here so I can add them to my eco-wishlist.
- Take short showers.
- Turn the faucet off while shaving and brushing your teeth.
- Toss trash in the wastebasket, not the toilet.
- Take care of your vinyl shower curtain.
- Use water-based paints.
- Properly dispose of latex paint cans.
- Use rags instead of paper towels.
- Choose hydrogen- or oxygen-based bleaches.
- Buy concentrated products.
- Don’t wash clothes after every wear unless they’re really dirty.
- Buy phosphate-free, earth-friendly detergent.
- Keep my refrigerator full to cut down on energy.
- Keep the fridge at 37 F and the freezer at 3 F.
- Maintain my fridge twice a year.
- Use the toaster oven for smaller portion cooking.
- Switch to CFLs.
- Turn off the lights when not in use.
- Use ceiling fans to better circulate the air.
- Manage radiant solar gain.
- Buy gift wrap made of recycled paper.
- Reuse gift wrapping decorations.
- Get creative with gift wrapping.
- Recycle my Christmas tree.
- Choose energy-saving Christmas lights.
- Make my own gift tags.
- Participate in St. Jude’s Ranch for Children greeting cards program.
- Shop at my local farmer’s market.
- Eat less meat.
- Switch to cloth napkins.
- Decline silverware, napkins and condiments when ordering out.
- Wash fruit and veggies in a bowl of cold water.
- Turn the faucet using half the volume.
- Buy in bulk instead of single-servings.
- Collect grey water for watering plants.
- Buy quality products.
- Use rechargeable batteries.
- Buy a paper shredder.
- Recycle old athletic shoes with the Nike program.
- Recycle plastic peanuts with loosefillpackaging.com.
- Download software instead of buying the CDs, when possible.
- Buy only plastic bottles labeled with 1 or 2.
- Create notepads out of scrap paper.
- Ride my bike when running errands three miles away.
- Once a week, use public transportation instead of driving.
- Buy eco-friendly antifreeze.
- Decline housekeeping when staying at a hotel.
- Don’t take the complementary bottles.
- Use biodegradable pet bags.
So a number of new items on the list. I’ll indicate that these are from It’s Easy Being Green with an “E” to clarify the source. Here’s to an eco-friendly 2008!
I know this topic might be a bit personal and taboo, but here it goes, because let’s face it, it’s eco-friendly. A few months back, a friend of mine told me how she tried out the Diva Cup on a trip to Belgium. She loved it so much that she put her stamp of approval and raved so much over it, that I had to try it too.
Well, here I am raving too. Not only does it meet some personal preferences I have but it also reduces my consumption of feminine hygiene products. Women consume billions of tampons and sanitary pads each year; all finding their way into landfills around the country. The Diva Cup is reusable and safe, compact (fits under any sink!) and a cheaper alternative to buying products each month.
Filed under: reuse
Why didn’t I do this earlier? I bought a reusable mug this week from Starbucks. I thoroughly enjoy my morning mocha treat. I know it’s pricey, but it gets me going in the day, helps me through the morning commute and energizes me on many days where I’m dragging.
Apparently Starbucks gives you 10 cents if you bring your own cup. That’s kind of a nice bonus. I also like this mug because it has a swing top lid that helps limit splatter.
I’ve used it each day. Ironically it matches my new wool dress coat, which is red.
This satisfies #2 on my eco-wishlist.
I finally got around to making some reusable produce bags using Circle of Life’s pattern. I am very excited about using these. I found the pattern makes some small bags so I want to make some larger ones for things such as corn or more than a few apples.
I’ll make the larger ones out of a blue tulle that I bought at JoAnns. I also brought a reusable canvas bag with me for all my shopping today (and this time I didn’t get thwarted.
I ran over to the local grocery store, reusable bag in hand and I thought I was doing well. I had a small basket full of items (only needed one produce bag—I forget to bring my reusable stash with me) and I headed to the checkout. I asked the nice young man at the bagging station, “Can you put everything in this?” “Sure,” he responds. I’m smiling and I’m happy. I’ve done a small good green thing. I saunter out pretty proud of myself
I get home, still happy as a clam (although I had to fill up my car and the price stung and the lack of options made me smolder). I began unpacking my items. WHAT? I cried. What was in my awesome reusable bag? A plastic bag wrapped around my meat. Ahh! I was thwarted! I thought I did good, but I wasn’t paying close attention. It was nice that the young man didn’t want any meat juices to spill out on any other items, but now I had a grocery bag and a produce bag. Two bags! Even with my reusable. It was a sad moment.
For my one green thing today, however, I am vowing to take reusable produce bags with me to the store (until I get around to making fabric produce bags I found at Circle of Life Foundation, which is on my list). But until then, reusing what I have will be the baby step. Maybe this weekend I’ll get to the fabric produce bags.
I have abandoned the brown bag and dedicated my life to a reusable lunch bag. OK, maybe not that dramatic. Here’s the Target lunch bag I snagged that will transport my delicious midtime meal to and from work. I used to use Starbucks brown bags I’d acquired over time. Since I’m using reusable bags now (yippee!) this plan won’t really work in the long run. I was tempted by Laptop Lunches and the neat lunch box they have, but I resisted considering all the various plastic Tupperware-type items I already own. Best to keep that down to a minimum I thought. Plus I love the colors. It seems to match everything I wear.
I had several errands to run today. A few fabric stores for a project, Target for a bridal shower gift and Trader Joe’s for some odds and ends. It turned out I didn’t find anything at the fabric stores and I only got the bridal shower gift and a mug for a friend’s graduation gift from Target. Once I got in line and the cashier started bagging my items, I remember about the reusable Whole Foods bags in my trunk. Shoot! I should’ve brought it in. But I tried my hardest in a pinch to reduce by asking that only the mug was bagged (the other gift was boxy and clunky and I probably would’ve dropped the mug). So two plastic bags down to one. I’ll count that a half reduce point.
Then I ventured over to Trader Joe’s and I remembered to grab my reusable, 100% recyclable bag and throw it at the bottom of my basket. That worked out great. As I was checking out, the cashier was able to grab it and throw everything in. Yay for reusing! one green thing accomplished. Now I just have to remember to grab the bag more often.
My company recently moved to a large corporate office building with multiple suites and buildings, and a variety of amenities. What was quite surprisingly and shocking to discover is that the complex does not have a comprehensive recycling program for anything but paper. (Pretty amazing considering we’re in the City of Chicago).
Today I decided to collect my recyclables and transport them home every garbage day. Right now I have a spare Starbucks bag that I had in my cube to use but I hope to come across a more reusable canvas bag once I get the chance to take a look around the house. I hope to do this soon.
I also swung by Whole Foods and picked up one of their handy paper bags (they have handles unlike Jewel or Dominicks). I’m hoping I can collect enough page with handles from the Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s of the world so I can take those with me to bag my groceries (when I don’t shop there of course). I also tossed a few reusable Whole Foods canvas bags in my trunk for smaller shopping trips.
