Earth Friendly

It seems that yesterday(or should I say early this am) I got on a roll leaving a comment on Permission to Mother's blog! Humm.. need I say that I should probably reserve my typing diarrhea to times when I haven't been at the drive in till 1am! That's another story. Earth however, is another story and one that I could probably go on about indefinitely. Mostly my opinion however, it's my blog right? The place where I can go on about my thoughts to just about anyone that is willing to listen. Thinking out loud perhaps? Some days it seems hard to use the term 'Eco-friendly' seems it is the 'new black', the PC thing to do. Well, I have also been taking steps to do the right thing for many years. Before it was the right thing to do, and although the t-shirt's and PJ's are just so adorable, I don't do it because I want your approval, recognition, or any other people pleasing thing. I do it because Earth(the only one we got) is where I live, home to me and billions of other creatures and if we don't take care of it, it wont be here for generations to come. The problem with most things is that we humans are too smart for our own good. We are creating some great technology. We have made so many things so easy for ourselves that we are poisoning ourselves and running ourselves ragged trying to fix it. Can you imagine walking down to the nearest river with your potato sack of dirty clothes and your soap root, scrubbing them out then walking home to hang them on the line? Then going out to pull weeds, hand turn the dirt, plant the seeds, nurture them and appreciate your food on the table(that you slaved all spring and summer to prepare because the grocery store isn't a mile away. Hey if we did these things, guess what? We wouldn't have to spend extra money on a gym membership, to ask how in the world to get our bodies into shape. This could be a another post or two or one hundred. Stay tuned. I love fitness. Where am I going with this. Well back to Earth. We live here, every thing I do effects others in some way. If I smile and wave at my neighbor it may help them get through a rough day. They may smile at the next person. On the opposite note. What we do has a tumbling effect on how the day progress' sort of like the old wella commercial 'and they told two friends, and so on'. I remember the first time that I went to the grocery store with my canvas bags, I got a less than 'happy' reception from the cashier! How frustrating was that? A few more times, I still did it. Determined that I was going to rid of the mounds of plastic that was filling under my sink, at such a rapid rate that I could barely tell that I had plumbing down there. Today there is barely a plastic bag in my house. What else, my kids have reusable lunch boxes, no plastic bags, no little containers of juice, pudding, little bags of colored fish and garbage galore. You can check out my favorite lunch boxes here http://www.laptoplunches.com/. (no affiliation just a very happy customer) We have been using them for two years so no need to replace them either. I buy whatever I can in recycled, and recyclable containers, if at all. The best bet is to stay completely away from processed foods(I assure you their will be much more about that to come). Store your foods at home in reusable containers and leave the plastic bags at the grocery store, one time use bags, and foods may make it easier at the moment, however, in the long run the environmental effects are lasting. Have you ever actually gone to a landfill and looked what's there? Last August we moved here, from WA. What a difference in NY, the garbage collectors will take anything. The neighbors across the street were moving, and instead of donating stuff they didn't want or use, they just put it on the curb. How sad is that. They did this for about 4 weeks before it ended. Then when the snow finally melted away, I went out for my morning class at the gym(yup top of the line washing machine here) and the sides of the road looked like a neighborhood yard sale. I counted 8 couches, yup 8. I thought about calling the news, but figured that if there wasn't a none breathing body on one, they probably wouldn't care. So I mourned in my own little way thinking about how many families would have been able to sit on a couch instead of the floor. Today that stuff is probably still in a landfill and when my grandchildren are getting married and having children those couches(and my plastic bags of years ago) will still be in the landfill. YIKES! So think about what you can do? Can you use rechargeable batteries? Canvas bags at the stores(I use them everywhere, not just the grocery store). Can you push a reel mower instead of a gas one. What can we donate, or re purpose instead of just toss out. You would be amazed what people would want. A few years ago, I had two enormous bean bag chairs they were tearing beyond repair, I put a note on my local freecycle and low and behold some anxious sewer was happy to pick them up immediately! She made teddy bears! Great! I have to live to respect and love the world around me, I do what I can to help keep the earth, so please don't criticize me for what I don't do. Appreciate what I do, and what you do. I think about what and how I am doing things. Each day I learn more and more about life and living each day to it's fullest. Now I have some plants to water, and my baby basil is asking for a new and roomier home! Ask yourself today, what can I do to make today better and the future brighter?