A conscious decision

They say some changes are for the best. And I think that’s what I’m aiming for these days.

I’ve never been a very environmentally conscious person, but now that Tim and I are living together, I’ve made some considerations on how we should live. Start and make them habits now, right? Not all of these are environment related, but they are all things that are going to help us in the long run (or at least I hope).


Recycling
We recycle! I seriously would have recycled more if I could put time and effort into it. When you live alone in a small apartment and you rarely drink soda, there’s just not much to recycle… So I never did.

But when we got our house, Kannapolis announced they were going to start collecting recycled items. We immediately set up two trashcans in our house – one for regular trash and one for recycled items. I was so glad we established this early on. Now I’m in the habit of throwing everything in I possibly can into our recycled items trashcan, including used plastic wrap, wet and used paper towels and of course, the staples like water bottles, take out containers and cans.

A Naturally Fertilized Garden
I’ve truly become my mom. She seriously throws everything that may be biodegradable in her garden. I’ve become the same way! Last week, I mowed the lawn because the boy is temporarily out of service (due to his surgery). I took fresh grass clippings and spread them into my garden. I also had massive bouquets of flowers from my sister’s wedding at my house. I threw those flowers into my garden when they started to die as well.

We’ll see in time if this helps and actually helps to fertilize the soil. But this is a lot less expensive than buying new soil for my container garden.

Reusable Grocery Bags
My friend Liz introduced me to re-usable grocery bags. I was always skeptical of them because well, I didn’t see the point. But I was fortunate that she gave one away last Christmas at a gift exchange. I didn’t use the bag for the longest time – and when I did start using it, I couldn’t stop.

First, I had WAY too many plastic bags. I’m one of those people who NEVER throw them away. I always thought I’d use them for trashcans and well, I guess don’t have that much trash in my bath or bedroom – ever. When the boy and I moved in together, I felt like I was also moving a million little plastic bags with me. That’s when I started trying out the reusable bags. I found some smaller bags on sale at Old Navy (of all places) that I gave as birthday gifts, and then I kept some for myself. They’re so cute and small – I can roll them into a small bundle, pop them in my purse and I’m ready to go.

I used them in the grocery store and started using all of the plastic bags we had for Sebastian’s waste. Just this week, we officially finished using ALL of my old plastic bags and I use four reusable bags when I shop. I might start using plastic bags again this week, just so we don’t have to buy waste bags for the dog, but so far, so good. The reusable bags are awesome!