Old Dog- New Tricks

While I think the whole "global warming" thing is a hoax, there are a few things that I think we can be doing that are environmentally friendly. Old habits die hard, but here are a few ideas I have found.

Reusable shopping bags, instead of plastic bags.

Many of the stores have these available now. The trick here is always having the bags in the car and then remembering to take them in and use them! I am hoping to eliminate to two large trash cans full of plastic bags, that we keep saving for some reason :) I am having a hard time giving up on my plastic sandwich and snack bags, though. I'll still have to work on that one.

Refillable plastic water bottles.

I have been working on buying less bottled water for some time now. The other day I found these fun plastic water bottles- there were five of them in the package. Easy to drink out of and they don't taste like a plastic bottle.

Rechargeable batteries and compost bucket.

These two things don't actually go together :)

I don't use very many batteries, except for my camera- but I decided recharging those batteries was a simple task.

The bucket is how we collect "compost" for the garden. All of the veggie/ fruit/food scraps go in there until they go out to the garden.

Economy size mouthwash and hand soap.

There is actually one size bigger, economy, mouthwash than what is in the picture. I keep a small bottle and just refill it from the big one. I also discovered that my favorite hand soap has a refill, economy size, and I can reuse the cute plastic dispenser bottle instead of throwing it away. I also do the same, "refill", idea on shampoo and laundry soap. Always check the price on the "big sizes" to be sure they are actually an economic value. I have been surprised lately that the "bigger", "two bag" cereal box actually costs more than buying two smaller boxes that equal the same amount of cereal. I am also trying to stock up and buy bulk in things like light bulbs, toilet paper, etc. My motivation there is simple- having extra on hand to keep me from running to the store at the last minute when things run out.

So no, "new ideas"- just I'm finally catching on :)hehe