Slowly Turning Green

It's been awhile since I posted here, but little by little we have been going greener.  I save all my wrappers from protein bars, candy, etc. along with recyclable bags and things that I can give to Kate to send to terracycle.
We barely have any trash each week.  We eat on ceramic dishes and only use glass cups and glasses for drinks. 
We use wash cloths instead of paper towels.
We've even started eating home-grown eggs, since Leon's friend at work raises chickens and gives us all of our eggs now.  They are so good and we will continue to purchase eggs like this when we move to NJ.
I only run the dishwasher when it is completely full (probably once or twice a week).
I try not to buy items that aren't recyclable.
We don't get drinks at Chik-Fil-A anymore, since they only use styrafoam.

There is much more we are doing and will continue to do to try and save the earth. 
I plan on going to the beaches almost everyday once we move down the shore and pick up trash when I see it and maybe during those excursions I may find an ocean treasure like sea glass or something :)
Anyway....just wanted to fill you in.

The Queen of Green

My daughter, Kate, has been working so hard trying to make a difference in the world and last month she initiated a recycling program at her son's school through Terra Cycle.  After months of hard work, the school came in 2nd place in a contest that Wal Mart and Terra Cycle were running to see how much each school could recycle in a certain amount of time.  Their reward - $30,000 - incredible!!!!! Great job Kate...you are such an inspiration.  So everyone, think before you throw away those plastic bottles, chip bags, juice pouches, etc.....they can all be recycled!

I'm Recycling again

I took about a month off from Recycling because I was so busy, even though I felt really guilty about it.....but now I'm on a roll again.  Kate, my daughter, keeps me motivated to continue and I feel good when I do.  Here' some of the things I recycle.  Empty plastic egg cartons, plastic cups from Fast food places, pill containers, plastic lids, wrappers from food, plastic containers that can't go in the regular recycling, etc.  I save them and then bring them to my daughter who separates them and sends them into Terracycle and they in turn pay cash for some things.  Thanks to Kate's help....I don't have to throw these things away.
There's also a place that will take all of your styrofoam too.....I'll get you the info next time.  Happy recycling!

Trying to Make a Differerence

I was one of those people that wasn't AWARE of all of the plastics and throw-aways that I used until my daughter started educating me on recycling.  It took a long time of listening to her and realizing that what she was saying was impacting our EARTH.  But little by little I took her advice and I tried reusing, recycling, regifting and reinventing ways to not WASTE things.

As time went on I didn't need to be reminded....it had sunk in....I was on my own....and I loved it!  Now I make a conscious decision every time I buy something whether or not it will impact our EARTH.  I always take my reusable bags to the grocery store and I've even purchased reusable produce bags that I love!
As I was talking with Kate today, I realized that most people aren't AWARE of how much they throw away that is destroying our EARTH.  We all need to be educated more.  The grocery stores and T.V.  Ads brainwash us into thinking we need more and more and WE DON'T!!!!!!!!
What did we do before all of this stuff was put out there?  We survived and we were happy.  Now there is so much stuff out there to clutter up our lives....take up our time.....and even make us fat!
I feel good now.....it wasn't hard at all.....it's just being AWARE.  Take time to be AWARE, just as you take time to breathe.  Slow down in life.  Pay attention to our beautiful EARTH and what we are all doing to destroy it.  We can all keep it so beautiful if we just become a little more AWARE:)

Something to say about Green

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures he leadeth me beside the still waters.

It Does Have an Impact

Since I've decided to become more aware of being "GREEN" I am also aware that what we do does have an impact on other people.
My husband, Leon, was never conscious of living a green life, but since I have been trying to be greener, it is having an affect on him also.
Once in awhile we used to use paper plates for snacks or even dinner, but now I notice he always grabs for the Corelle plates.  I've noticed many areas in which he is just as aware as I am and together we are working (at least in our home) to make this world greener.
We just ran out of paper towels and I plan on not buying anymore.  I have tons of wash cloths and kitchen towels, so we will try to manage and see how it goes.
Our compost is coming along nicely and we just planted our vegetable garden this past week.
Just seeing the stuff we accumulate that can't be recycled, I can now comprehend what our landfills and oceans look like from what everyone in the world is throwing away every day. 
But let's not ever think we can't make a difference!!!!!!

Using Less

Well, I've managed to collect two large trash bags full of recycling materials that our area does not collect, so I will be bringing them to Kate's for her Whole Foods.

When shopping at Boscov's this week, I asked each cashier (3 in all) to put my items in the one plastic bag instead of using three.....that worked well!

I'm still having trouble not using some paper towels.  I buy frozen fish and shrimp and I thaw them out in a dish, but before I cook them, they need to be dry.  That's where the paper towel comes in.  But what I do afterwards is put it in my compost.

I wrote to Hellman's today to see if they could put their mayo back in glass jars.  They said they have an 8 oz. glass jar - that's one cup - get real.  And what is the cost of that tiny jar?  I told them to think bigger.