Here's the thing, I convinced my other half that we should practice what we preach and actually take real steps towards a sustainable future. I felt that keeping a blog would help keep us focused and track our progress on such an enormous project. I believe that if we take a fun, casual approach perhaps the task will seem less daunting. In the past few days we have changed a few things around the house.
First off I took three separate bags and designated each for different recyclable items. We don't have a bin yet, but I plan to get one soon and this will have to do for now. Also Mike bought 8 new CFL Ecobulbs for some of our light fixtures. They are 60watt replacements that use only 13watts of energy saving a nice chunk of change as time goes on, and also claim to last 10 times longer. I will update if any blow anytime soon. I highly recommend this effortless switch-over because even though the initial investment per bulb is higher, this will actually SAVE you money! This company in particular even has a website that can calculate your savings HERE. I don't imagine many people will read this blog, but i plan to share my growing experience nonetheless. My father owns a furniture store, so I am fairly sure his savings would be notable and I hope to convert him soon. Muahaha!
Secondly Mike and I went shopping at the local Organic Food Depot in Virginia Beach to begin "greening" our kitchen. We bought beans and grains in bulk(less packaging waste and lower prices of course), some local produce(less shipping=less CO2 emissions), and bought two of their supplied cloth shopping bags(less worrying about whether we should waste Paper or Plastic). Cooking at home will also save us from a bit of yucky unnatural additives and GMO foods. I grabbed a bag of Yerba Maté tea before we left, it's my new favorite. It's a wonderful substitute for coffee, without the negative side effects. Lastly we snagged some natural floor cleaner to make sure we don't poison Mr. Pekkles(our adopted cat) with bleach.
Our third endeavor was logically to use these new items to cook healthier and occasionally even full organic or vegetarian, limiting meat to three times a week. It is a well researched fact that Americans consume much more meat that is naturally beneficial. My plan is to keep trying new, tasty and nutritious meals and I will be noting them with some comments on their success.
So far the idea is to have a few tallies at the closing of each blog post to track my ecological footprint. Here goes the first attempt:
- RECYCLED - 1 small cardboard box, 7 glass bottles
- REDUCED - 1 plastic bag
- REUSED -
- GO GREEN - turned off lights/computers; 1 cloth bag grocery trip
- COOKED - D=Red Cooked Tofu with Chinese Mushrooms
