one small change

A little more than a month ago I posted about participating in the project One Small Change. The hope was that for each month leading up to Earth Day we would choose one small change to make, post about it, and then, the following month, reflect on how that change went and what the next change will be.

Our change for January was to reduce our use of disposable style plastic bags. I had hoped to make some reusable bags which totally didn’t happen, due to a babe who was sick for most of the month of January, but all is not lost.

While I didn’t have new reusable bags to use, I did find myself a lot more conscious of the consumption this month and a lot more diligent about choosing alternative storage containers (reusable ones) and also reusing different bags that we inevitably acquired through our daily life.

For example, this month we started ordering produce from a company that sends fresh, organic produce (local when possible) to your door. As part of the delivery process there are a lot of bags. Two large sacks that the fruits and vegetables come in and smaller sacks to hold various items. Rather than disposing of the sacks, I have reused them. All of them.

The larger sacks have become trash bags. The smaller ones have been used to store vegetables and fruits. I have been rinsing and reusing them from week to week to store other produce and such as well.

While I would still like to get around to making some reusable bags since they are oh-so-cute and practical, I am still happy with the mindfulness that I gained throughout the month and that we did make a reduction, albeit a small one, in our use of disposable products (we didn’t buy any new ones!).

With the month of January now over, and February already underway (really, it’s already the 3rd?!), it is time to pick a new change for a new month. This month I would like to start recycling (or reusing) as much of the paper that comes into our home as possible. Chicago is notorious for having less-than-desirable recycling practices, so I would like to try to seek out alternative places and ways to recycle the paper that we do want to discard or seek ways to reuse it in projects around our home. I’m really looking forward to this challenge and I will update you next month with how it went.

A while back, I believe it was through Shivaya Naturals, I heard about a new challenge going on for this new year. It’s called One Small Change. The basic premise of the project is that each month, between now and Earth Day, participants choose one small change they’d like to make in order to be more green.

This is actually a difficult one for me. I already feel that we do so many things. Looking through the list of ideas on the site made that even more obvious.

Recycle (do it), use cloth napkins (yup), try cloth diapering (already there), replace your bulbs with LED or CFL bulbs (one to go), turn off your lights (pretty good about this), use natural cleaning products or make your own (done and done), drive your car less (don’t on a vehicle), buy a hybrid, turn your thermostat down (don’t control our heat), use the sun to warm your home through passive solar heat, bring your own bags to the store (usually, although we frequently reuse the paper sacks for things like wrapping), install a low flow shower head, stop buying bottled water (never started), unplug it (could be better), bring more plants into your home (current count – 0), always print double sided (hubby brings home scrap from work), when getting rid of things consider freecycle, craigslist or ebay (do not throw out as someone else is surely able to get some use out of it), support local farms and try to eat local (meat csa members, eagerly anticipating spring csa season), purchase wind power if it is available in your area, purchase products made with natural materials and that can be reused, purchase recycled paper products, use rags instead of paper towels to clean up messes (got that), use reusable lunch sacks, buy organic (already do), landscape responsibly by reducing the use of water needed (landscaping, what landscaping), donate time and/or money to green efforts, elimate the use of toilet paper by using family cloths (hmmmm….), don’t flush every time (already do, or is it don’t), put a brick or something heavy it he back of your toilet so it uses less water when flushed (our toilet has no tank).

As you can see from my annotations, there are already so many things we do. So many efforts we make to reduce our footprint on this precious earth of ours. So many ways that we go above and beyond, not even because we necessarily think about it, but because it is the way we are.

That being said, there is more to do. There is more that can be done. There is more that will be done.

For starters, this year I would like to reduce the number of disposable plastic ziploc-style bags that we use, and pitch, around here. During the month of January I would like to make a few reusable, washable, bags to use for lunches and snacks (maybe like this or this). Additionally, I would like to make a bigger effort to wash (hate doing this) the plastic bags that we do use.

It is a small change, but that’s the point isn’t it? I’ll let you know how it goes.

born.in.japan

Making a life that's more with less.

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February Change