Goin green

In light of THIS wonderful news: Zero-Packaging Grocery Store (which, if you want my opinion on that, feel free to look me up on facebook and I'll share it.  The link is on the right) I've thought it appropriate to share my own methods of reducing waste. I'll be posting them here, on facebook, and on twitter.  They will also all be contained on a page (the link will be at the top soon).

This is going to be an ongoing thing.  As I pull together a few ideas, I'll share them.  I also encourage everyone to share there ideas with me.  Just comment anywhere, or send me a message on facebook or twitter and I'll share it with the world.

I'll start with a few duhs:

Re-Usable bags:

   You know what I'm talking about.  Every large store sells them now!  They're made out of all sorts of material.  Some are even insulated and all of them are reusable.  In fact, a lot of stores now offer you a discount for using a reusable bag.  Some of them even make neat shoulder bags.  When I got a free Music = Life tote as a promotion from hot topic, I carried my laptop and book around in it for a good few months before I moved on to my next bag (I'm a purse/bag-aholic)
   Most re-usable bags cost a mere 99¢ and can be bought anywhere.  If you're having a hard time finding one, just check Wal-Mart.  They have them hanging up everywhere. Or you can make one.  Honestly, I have a real bad sense of guilt, so I buy a few bags for each store I shop at- just so I'm not taking a Wal-Mart bag into Price Chopper.
   Tip for the bags:  If you're like me, you will likely forget your re-usable bags at home, or you will be out impulse shopping and not have a bag.  So, my suggestion is to just keep one or two bags in your car.  I don't know your car, so I can't tell you where to put them, but most cars have a spot on the back of the passenger seat that they can slide easily into.  Or, just drop em in your trunk.  A lot of places now have bags that fold up real small and snap closed so they're stored very easily.

Make your own Snack Cups:

   This is an idea that I am proud of my family for adopting.  It all started when my son decided he wanted me to make lunches for him at school instead of having to eat the free lunches.  Turns out he simply wasn't eating at school.  A group of his friends had taken up eating just a cup of yogurt for lunch and that was it.  No wonder he was so hungry when he came home.  Anyway, all he would ask for is a dry turkey and cheese sandwich.  Well, that wasn't sitting well with me.  He needed more than just that.
   So, I wandered down an aisle I rarely tred and looked at the prices for snack cups.  I wanted to get some fruit in him, but as I stared at the packages of syrup marinated oranges, I wanted to scream.  You get so little for so much!  Not to mention they're terribly unhealthy (and if you look for 'healthier' ones, the price simply goes up even higher).

   We quickly retreated from that aisle and instead walked straight for the re-usable containers.  Here, I found, for almost the same price as a package for snack sized pudding packages, a set of Gladware re-usable, air-tight containers the same size and shape as the fruit cups.  Problem solved.  Our next destination was the produce aisle where Caleb picked out what fruits and veggies he wanted in his snack cups.  We also grabbed a box of Jell-O and I made snack cups out of that as well  (and saved a good bit of money while I was at it.)

That's it for now.  There's more, but like I've said in previous posts, this time of year, I have little time for leisure.  I'm back up to 40hrs a week and have a house that's almost impossible to keep clean.  So you'll be seeing more, just in bits here and bits there.  Thanks and blessed be :)