I WILL NOT:
- Be sucked into “post-holiday,” “going out of business” or similarly themed store sales, as it leads me to purchase excessively packaged, plastic, convenient crap that I really do not need.
- Attend such sales without my reusable shopping bags. (I am human, after all.)
- Patronize Chinese restaurants that use Styrofoam for takeout. Goodbye, Tong’s. (Although this might mean driving farther to find a more eco-friendly restaurant; does the increased carbon from fuel offset the non-biodegradable Styrofoam?)
- Feel bad about re-gifting well-conditioned items. If I’m keeping stuff out of landfills and making someone happy, what does it matter?
- Gorge out on meat every day. A few days of veggie meals means happy cows and pigs plus a happier planet. That being said, I will not give up bacon. Ever.
- Lazily toss the empty toilet paper tube into the bathroom wastebasket because it’s easier, but instead remember that Sofie is undoubtedly lurking nearby and learning from my actions so it’s best to carry the tube to the kitchen recycle bin.
- Waste money or trees on subscriptions to celebrity magazines, but get my Hollywood fix online or via the local library’s subscription.
- Nag husband for being less eco minded than I would prefer. Sometimes marital harmony outweighs the health of the planet.
- Waste money or car fuel on unnecessary doctor visits and prescription medicines before first trying natural healing methods. Case in point: infected toe from bizarre holiday incident. Treated by self both internally (raw garlic, Echinacea pills and yogurt containing lactobacillus acidophilus) and externally (hydrogen peroxide soak and tea tree oil application). Infection healed within a few days!
- Make snarky comments about people who drive HUMMERS.
- Throw away something without first trying to repair, recycle, repurpose or donate it.
- Obsess over how to monetize this green blog and make it go viral, but instead enjoy the blogging process and allow it to happen organically.
I WILL:
Blake Shelton on “The Voice”
- See if budget allows for switching to organic wine and beer.
- Try to buy all of Sofie’s clothes and shoes for the year at community swaps or second-hand stores.
- Spend more evenings being creative and less watching TV in order to cut down energy usage, radiation exposure and fantasies about Blake Shelton.
- Borrow and share more resources instead of buying. (e.g.: our neighbor’s lawn mower, which we happily use in exchange for craft beer.)
- Only buy products packaged in easily recycled #1, 2 or 5 plastics, even if it means passing up that economy pack of chocolate-covered raisins.
- Use goodsearch for my go-to search engine as it’s a relief to know that my search for “funny fart jokes” means that somewhere a tree is being planted or a child is being fed.
Check out the Love Food Hate Waste blog. The writer sits on my RI Food Policy Council group. She brings reusable tupper-ware to take out places, etc to reduce waste and lots of other cool things! Erica Hanson
Thanks, Erica. I’m excited about checking out some of the Love Food Hate Waste recipes: http://england.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes
Another great post! One suggestion, I had the same problem with recycling the cardboard tubes from the bathroom (how lazy is that?) — so i found a spot in a cupboard to keep a box and just put them there, then empty it when it’s full like the wastebasket. For some reason that works better, though it’s probably not really any less work! I agree about the excess packaging at takeout and even at the grocery store… voting with $ i guess is the best way.
A spot in the bathroom is a great idea - thanks!
Funny thing: after I wrote this blog, I noticed a toilet paper tube on my daughter’s dresser. She had rescued it from the trash herself to use as a “hamper for her Barbies.”
You keep your bacon, I’ll keep snarking at people who drive Hummers. People wouldn’t like me if I was too perfect.
Deal!