Dementia for 2

While I could never be Lee Stroud, I do try to live a little greener life these days. I find that it takes a conscious effort and some planning to live like this.

My newest adventure is to read my food labels more. This is a real chore for me since I absolutely HATE to go to the grocer. I just want in and out. Even though I go in the wee hours of the morning, it still such a chore! All that label reading...ugh! But, I have noticed that a lot of quick foods are very high in sodium. This has caused me to rethink what I put in my lunches. No more fast food from the grocer if I can help it.

I also have a compost bin that I have decided is too small. Hubs and I built if from pallets and it has lasted about 3 years now. I thought of buying one of those enclosed tumbler types, but, they are quite expensive. So I found some plans on the web to build my own for around 60 bucks if I can reuse some of the items required. If not, it still won't cost near what they are going for.

I have replaced most of my light bulbs with the new florescent ones. These are more expensive but they do last longer. I also discovered that Home Depot will take the burned ones and recycle them for free. So now I know where to take them when I have to replace them.

I use those reusable grocery bags to cut down on my plastic use. These I love! I find that the cashier will put more in these bags than they do those plastic ones. I also reuse my produce plastic bags. I will eventually buy some reusable produce bags, but for now, I have plenty of these to use til I have to recycle them.

Since my glasses kept disappearing from the kitchen, I started using jelly/pickle/mayo jars several years ago. The reasoning behind this is simple. If you want to take a glass with you, take one of those so I can keep my matching glasses. Unfortunately, now that is about all I have in the cupboard. If I ever do any real entertaining, I will have to invest in some decent glasses.

When the kids come over for dinner, they always want to take home the leftovers. This is a good and bad situation. Good because it frees up room in my fridge. Bad because they take my Tupperware with them never to be seen by me again. So I have started saving my butter/cheese/cool whip type bowls. Even stuff I get from the deli that comes in a resealable bowl I save. Now when they come over, they can take stuff home in those. What is funny about this is they will bring that stuff back for refills. Go figure.

I also recycle cans, newspapers, etc. I have a lot of mixed metal in my garage that I need to get rid of soon. Magazines can be donated to your local schools,libraries, or even nursing homes.

So there is my green list. I do have some things I want to accomplish this year to live a little greener. I don't know if I will get to all of them since some are quite expensive, but every little bit helps. I have found that I save money in the long run by doing some of these things, and that is never a bad thing.