I recently ran across an article in one of our local magazines about living green. Over the past year or so, Jason and I have taken several small steps to become more environmentally conscious. We stopped buying water bottles, we raised our thermostat, we started recycling, and here recently I have been using my reusable grocery bags on my trips to Publix. I always make an effort to not use a plastic bag if at all possible when out shopping. I love that my kids are also becoming more aware of ways to be green, even though they don't really know that they are. Abby Kate is always so good to ask whether her trash should be recycled or tossed. Joshua is the biggest help in taking out all of our items that need to be recycled and placing them in the bin.
The most recent change that we have adjusted to is not using paper plates. This one was pretty hard for me. However, I was quickly turning around and buying packages of plates one right after the other and the dollar signs started adding up very quickly. I purchased another 5 plastic plates and I now have enough small plates for the kids to eat their breakfast, lunch and dinner on. Surprisingly, we haven't had to increase our use of the dishwasher because the plates are small and they don't take up too much space. The one thing that I really need to work on is getting rid of my paper towels. I just don't know if I am ready to make that switch, but I also didn't think that I could get rid of the paper plates. I'm pretty funny about my cloth towels that I use. I can't stand for them to get "that smell" to them and then smell it all day long on my hands. I guess that I should spring for some newer ones since I've had them for about 7 years. Maybe that would help...
Anyways, I decided to test my green-ness and came across this sight that has a questionnaire about green practices. I love that this website not only asks about your green practices, but that it also explains why those practices are important. As you can see, I scored a 34 out of a 100. Not the best score, but I am "heading toward greener pastures" according to my results.
On a different note, we received our water bill! I was very surprised and very thankful! Somehow we came out of that whole wastefulness of water with a small $40 bill. Our water consumption was double what it normally is, but I am grateful that we didn't have such a big bill. I am still holding my breath until we see next month's statement just to make sure that there hasn't been some kind of mistake.
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5 comments:
Things are looking great for you guys. Depending on the type of plastic used to make the plastic plates I would make sure that they can be used for a long time and not have things in them that can be harmful when used long term.
hooray for that water bill! i might be scared about next month's! i only scored a 21, but we never use paper plates & i do use my canvas bags. i almost feel bad to just throw away a can or bottle if i'm out & not at home with my bins. i bought a huge thing of vinegar to see if i could really clean with it, but i'm still not sure. the initial smell is something i've always thought is so gross. it does go away though. could be better, could be worse!
that looks fun. Ill have to check it out...
Have you checked out this site? http://www.greenhome.com/ They've got some pretty cool stuff.
Ashleigh
I'm so glad that your water bill wasn't too high. Whew! I know you are relieved! Let me know what you do about cloth napkins. I want to make the change but can't imagine a good way to do it without lots of strain treating and $$ for buying new ones all of the time.
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