Happy Earth Day

It's Earth Day and I am working from home . . . my small contribution to saving the air quality. JP and I have long been making eco-friendly choices going back to the days when we lived in Colorado and had to keep our recyclables separated and then drive them ourselves to the recycling center. It kills us now to see people here in our neighborhood who do NOT recycle . . . there is a huge blue container in the alley RIGHT behind your house AND you don't have to separate anything out.

There was also the time we went on a camping trip and carted all our plastic water containers back to Phoenix because we could not find a recycling center in Colorado that accepted plastic. Actually we do this every year now when we go to Colorado but everyone has consciously brought and used less plastic when we are there to limit what has to be driven home.

Our house is equipped with only CFL bulbs and we have fabulous windows that have done a tremendous job of decreasing our electricity needs. This past fall we had more than the required amount of insulation blown into our attic. We try to limit our water usage, we are growing some of our own food, and we compost everything we can.

The point is we choose to do what we can and I encourage you to do your part. I grew up in a world where A/C was part of life and lights were left on all the time. Now I cringe if I see a light on in a room where no one is using it. The simple things will add up!

My latest push is to buy items with little packaging and/ or the packaging has to be recyclable. This has meant a change in shampoo as the John Frieda products I was using did not come in a recyclable bottle. We are also moving from body wash back to bar soap because it is a consumable item. Give this some thought the next time you are in the store. And while you are at it think about the little plastic bags you use for produce . . . they really are not necessary. I laugh when I see someone with a conveyor belt full of plastic produce bags and then they are put in the reusable canvas bags. Trying . . . but not quite getting it.

I will now get down from my soap box . . . and of course re-use it for something!

Happy Earth Day!