Green for the Green, No. 2

I found this site - Catalog Choice. It allows you to opt out of receiving magazines. The service is free and the best part is that you can opt back in on the magazines at any time. You pick which magazines you want and which ones you don't want so you don't have to give them all up! But it is one less thing to recycle! And for me, I feel the need to look through them before I toss them regardless if I need anything in the mag or not.

Update on the bio bags. Go here for a refresher or info on ordering. The trash bags work pretty well though you can't over stuff them like I have done trash bags in the past. And they don't take a lot of weight. Getting rid of the heavy and numerous catalogs should help with the weight though. I still put a lot of things in the bags that probably don't break down - like cans from the cat food but we are working on that one.

Green for the Green, No. 1

I have tried about 5 times to post on this here blog my New Year's Resolutions. It just hasn't seemed to materialize into anything interesting to read. It has read more like a 3rd grader's forced assignment. So - I have decided to just write about the things I want to do as they come up in my life.



One of those things I worry about and have worried about for a while is the earth being taken over by landfills. I am not sure why I stress about this so much and truth be told - I have worried about this for YEARS - long before the mainstream green movement about us. Perhaps in some part Mt. Trashmore has contributed to my knowledge of how much trash we produce. Mt. Trashmore is in my home town of Virginia Beach, VA. We went there a lot when I was a kid. I remember it as one of the really cool things I did with my step siblings on our own and that I was included in participating in (I will probably now find out they were PAID to include me in gas money or something!). I am the youngest of the 5 of us - so being included in anything was awesome. I was probably a bratty 12 or 13 years old and the oldest one in high school or college - so you can see how uncool I was. Much like ATL's screen on the green - during the summer there were movies at night on the mountain. I remember watching Don Knott's Mr. Limpet on the mountain. Good times.



Back to trash. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am trying to go greener. So I would like to try to introduce 12 new green things into my every day life over the course of the year. For those of you sharp in the mathematics - that is only one new thing every month. Certainly doable! I will share with you and hopefully you guys will have something to share back.



My first green thing of the new year is to try these biodegradable trash bags made by Bio Bags. I ordered the pet poop bags, the kitchen bags and the compost kitchen bags from Drugstore.com. They suggest using the compost bags to keep your produce fresher in the refrigerator and then reuse with kitchen debris and compost. I have a composter that I have not been very good about using properly. Will work on that this year too - whoops I just slipped in another resolution without trying!



I will keep you posted on how I like the bags and my return to composting.

Green

I recently took a class for my Eco Broker designation. It was a 3 day class and we learned about green products in the housing arena and the impact it has on people when buying a home. The class has really inspired me to learn more to help my clients as well as to learn more about action I can take in my own life and house.

I am making a concerted effort to change my energy usage and product buying habits to lower my bills and save our resources. I would love to hear what other people are doing on this front too - so let me hear from you.