Sweet Southern Belle

I’ll be the first to admit that for most of my life I’ve been pretty wasteful and unconcerned about the effects it would have on the environment. I hate clutter so if it’s not useful then I throw it away. I really haven’t spent much time thinking about the landfills I’ve been filling up day-by-day. However, I’ve recently become very concerned about our environment and what I can do to help with global warming.  I want my grandchildren and great grandchildren to have a safe world with clean air. I’ve slowly began doing things that help the environment (and my pocket book). I don’t use many paper products, I use “green” cleaning supplies(www.methodhome.com), I’ve planted my own veggies, I buy local produce when it’s available, and I’ve always ( and will continue to) vote for politicians who support “green” issues.  

However, I recently read a book, Go Green, Live Rich by David Bach. The book gives some great practical solutions to “going green” and I’ve decided to try a few. While I’d like to try all the suggestions some just aren’t feasible for my family, such as buying a hybrid car, downsizing to one car, and buying energy efficient appliances. There were quite a few suggestions that seem easy to follow through with. Here’s what I’m going to try:

1. Get off junk mail lists. I’d never thought about all the waste in junk mail. You can go to www.greendimes.com and they will help you get off junk mailing lists.
2. Use cloth grocery sacks. I actually have tons of cloth bags around the house that I never use. I’m going to start keeping them in my car so I have them when I go to a store. I’m sure I’ve throw away hundreds of plastic bags a month, but no more!
3.  Get a recycling bin. I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t even been recycling basic household stuff and I don’t have one of the blue bins. Today I called the city and requested a new one. Now I need to find a list of what I can and can’t put in the bin.
4. Unplug appliances at night and when going out of town. It won’t take me but a minute to make sure lights and appliances are off and unplugged before bed. (I’m sure my dear husband will be happy about this one since it drives him crazy when I leave lights on.)
5. Stop running water when I brush my teeth
6. Walk when possible. I’ve been known to drive from one parking lot to another just because I’m lazy. But, no more! Just yesterday Little Belle and I had to run errands that were close together so I parked in one place and we walked the rest of the way. It was great exercise too!
7. Buy, sell, and give away stuff! Instead of throwing away something that isn’t useful I’m going to try to sell on eBay and craigslist. I’m going to clean out my attic this summer and I’m also going to list stuff on www. Freecycle.org. It’s a great site that allows you to join a local group to give and get free stuff!

 I’m turning over a new leaf and it’s a green one! Want to join me?!?!?!?!?

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 at 3:06 pm and is filed under Green Stuff, Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.