My about me page which is currently blank because I need to write a new one used to end with something like, ‘and recycling gives me a rush’. And I’m happy to report that it still does. It isn’t something I tend to write about often, but since participating in Earth Hour last year Adam and I have stepped up our commitment to the earth even more, the experience and being part of something as huge as Earth Hour in only its second year, at the time, made me joy teary. We will be participating in Earth Hour again this year but I’ll elaborate more on that later, as in another post.
There is always more we can do there is still always something that I stand frowning at because it is not a particularly earth friendly way to do something or it isn’t an earth friendly product but I will have just finished doing any number of earth friendly things before hand. Perfect example, I got rid of our Swiffer Sweeper broom a couple months ago now and went back to the regular broom but I have yet to run out of Swiffer Dusters so while I’m back to taking that whole two minutes longer to sweep the floor I am still using a ridiculously stupid product sold to me because it promises to save me time and get into hard to reach places and it does but it isn’t washable or reusable. Once they are gone it’ll be back to dusting without the fancy wand. I have this funny feeling I’ll live.
I guess it goes without saying that we’ve also gone back to our old mop and bucket as well.
The biggest and hardest change that we have implemented has been the removal of at least 90% of the plastic bags that used to come into the apartment. This has taken dedication and work but we have both remained committed.
Late last summer we needed a new garbage can for our kitchen and we bought one with a removable liner and on a whim both decided to keep it plastic bag free. I’m not sure if either of us thought we’d last long. The first time I took it down to the dumpster I struggled to hold the lid open and dump it and of course got garbage on myself and screeched like a baby but because Adam could see me putting in the effort and because he knows I have a gag reflex that is so weak I often find it extremely embarrassing under various circumstances he normally takes it down. After it is emptied it has to be washed and disinfected before it can be used again. This is an area we are about to change as well once this batch of cleaner is out yet again bulk, we are moving on to natural ones but it still has to be good because I have major germ issues so please tell me WHAT should I use? What is good? We use Natures Miracle for everything Gus. After the kitchen was such a success the plastic bags were removed from the other two garbage cans in the apartment the one in the bathroom and the one in the living room, we just have to be a little bit careful with what ends up in the living room as it is a wicker one.
Some of our more basic green ways include:
- No saran wrap or lunch baggies
- No Kleenex, Adam uses hankies (I’ve spoiled myself with a box of soothing ones at present because I have a seriously bad cold and the skin was starting to come off my nose)
- Adam has a reusable lunch bag and all reusable containers including a thermos for coffee and a separate one for soup
- Our coffee filter has been re-usable for well over two years now
- No more air freshener sprays
- I don’t colour my hair
- I have The Diva Cup (I am finishing up with my BULK O.B. bullets then I will review it)
- If we forget the reusable bags we carry it home
- We only use rechargeable batteries
- We do not have a car by choice
- Adam is huge into thrift store shopping
- Powerful Natural laundry detergent
We keep things unplugged as much as possible although I think we’d both like to do better in that area. I know I have made improvements with not leaving the TV on in the back ground when I am at the computer, the computer acts as our stereo as well but I used to be really bad about not having the music player on so the TV would be blaring away while technically I was in cyber space.
