Sunday, April 15, 2018

How I Help

Our lovely planet seems in constant dire straits and the news has me feeling that we are all doomed. There's an attitude of "why bother" and "what's the point" out there, but I for one, try to rise above and do my part. Even if no good comes of it, I personally feel better that I'm trying to make a difference. My biggest, biggest waste is water. I take long hot baths every day and I'm not yet ready to switch to anything else. So I do more in other areas of my life to make up for this imperfection. That's all any of us can do - our best.

Ever since my eighth grade teacher, Mrs. Toy, got us kids into recycling I've continued those good habits that she instilled in us and put it to use every day. I can be kind of pushy and preachy about it (just ask Mum) but I'm gonna try to stop that. I'll just do my part and let others do their own thing. Having said that, since this is my blog, I'm gonna lay out what I do to help the environment and share some info with anyone that cares to read on.

The things that I do to help the globe and all of it's inhabitants are as follows:
- I'm a Vegan → check out this brief lil' article on how choosing this lifestyle benefits the planet.
- I drive a small car - Roark!
- I work from home, therefore cutting down on petrol use.
- One day I plan on having my very own Tiny House, complete with solar panels, fruit trees, and a lovely little garden. (oh and of course a pond for the ducks)
- I use the following:
• Stainless steel straws (or bamboo)
• Reusable containers (I like U-Konserve the bestest and I will carry these with me when I dine-out, because it saves from using those plastic take-away containers.)
• Cloth tote bags (31 has some sturdy totes, but I tend to buy a bag from every supermarket I use which includes: Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe's, Tesco, Delhaize, and Wegman's.)
• Mesh produce bags (Thrive Market turned me on to ChicoBag's rePetes and I really like that they fit into a little bag of their own that I can put in the boot with my cloth grocery bags.)
• Stainless steel cup (for coffee or whatever when I'm on the go - I like Greens Steel Beast)
• Cloth napkins (I tend to buy the funky and clearance-priced ones from pier 1.)
• Bring my own silverware (Fishs Eddy has fab singles you can buy to make your own mis-matched set) or Ikea plastic ware (it should be noted that I even bring these when going to Lena's Water Ice because these tough and reusable babies make each spoonful nearly orgasmic - the design is smooth as opposed to the course lines that run on the underside of most disposable plastic spoons.)
• Kleen Kanteen water bottles
• Water filter in lieu of disposable bottles (Brita is my fave - also, I like their water bottles for when I travel and need filtered water on the go.)
• Fluorescent light bulbs that can be recycled at Lowe's (and rechargeable batteries, too! Apparently from phones, drills, and computers.)

In my constant quest to reduce my wastefulness I Googled "used pen recycling" to see if there was something I could do aside from adding them to my rubbish bin and then to the landfill. I came upon a few sites but saw GreenPhilly and booyah! I discovered that The Pen Guy is an artist that takes used pens and incorporates them into his art. I'm gonna be sending a lil' pen care package very soon to:

The Pen Guy
P.O.Box 994
Forestville, CA 95436

Also, if you would like more tips on recycling odds and ends, MOM's Organic Market recycles so much and has quickly become one of my favourite places for some Naked Lunch and healthy grub. Visit their page on recycling and see all the stuff they help to recycle and details about the processes. I mainly drop off plastic bags, chip bags and the like, used-up Brita water filters, old beat-up shoes, batteries, and "candy bar" wrappers (mine are usually those Fig Bars wrappers, though). They compost as well, so I'll be setting aside juice pulp that I can't use, as well as the guts of my bell peppers and apple cores in a bag in my freezer then dropping it off at MOM's, rather than toss it in the garbage. (Although I wonder if my food garbage mixed in with my regular trash helps to break down things...)

Lastly, for now anyways, I want to mention Earth911. It's a fantastic site that tells you where to take certain items (nail polish!! I had no idea I could recycle my old bottles!) in your neighbourhood for recycling.

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