Friday, October 24, 2008

eco friday



Yes I am a tree hugger. Sometimes it drives my husband nuts, but for the most part he just rolls his eyes and lets me do whatever I want!

I do not like plastic bags because once they reach our landfills they never break down. When the plastic bags make it to the ocean sea animals try to eat them and then they die. Plastic bags are made from OIL!

I do take my own shopping bags with me when I go to the store. I think it is the right thing to do. I hate it when people say things like, you are only one person. Yes I am only one person, but if all of us ones banned together then we can make a huge difference.

In Ireland you can not get plastic bags anymore. There are some cities here in California that don't allow plastic either. I even know of one store that is starting to charge for the plastic bags.

I have decided to start eco Friday. Every Friday I will post one simple way to save the planet. I am sure that I will loose some readers, but oh well.

This week I challenge everyone to cut down on the amount of plastic bags that they use. Here are some simple ways.

1. reuse the plastic bags that you do have. Just take them to the store and ask the person bagging you stuff to reuse the bags you already have.

2. Buy just one eco friendly bag and keep it in your car at all times. Then you will always have a bag.

3. Get creative. You do not have to buy an eco friendly bag, you can reuse any bag. For small items I have reused old purses.

4. Skip the bag. If you are only buying a few small items them just stick them down in your purse.

5. If your plastic bags are ripped then make sure that you take them back to the store and recycle them.

6. When I make sandwiches for Rusty's lunch I reuse the bread bag's. There is no real need to buy a zip lock bag that is just going to throw away.


I challenge everyone to try just one of these idea's for a week. There will more cash in your pocket and less waste in our landfills. If you have another way to reuse these plastic bags please leave me a comment and please let me know how you did!

5 comments:

betty said...

I like your idea of Eco Friday! I will try to convert from plastic bags at the store to cloth bags (see my previous comment)

have a great weekend!

betty

Sage Ravenwood said...

Love the concept of Eco Friday. I already left a great tip in the last post...(Hugs)Indigo

Melissa said...

good idea

Heather said...

I have picked out a bag... and I promise to use it on my next grocery run.

I have some ecological and economical things that I do too... I have a flush policy here... "if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, send it down". That saves water... I only wash in cold water... I reuse towels at least twice between washes and try to wear clothes two or three times between washes (not underwear, but outer wear really doesn't get dirty). We only run the dishwasher when it's completely full.

(these are all things Mr. Darby wouldn't let me do and I feel so happy doing this now! My goal is to keep our water usage at the minimum billed amount every month.)

I like the idea of reusing bread bags... I'm totally going to do that. We already reuse milk jugs to make tea. Whenever we order pizza we use the pizza carton as a plate instead of using paper plates or dirtying a plate that has to be washed. Same with any takeout, really, we make a plate out of the wrapping.

You've inspired me! Stay on your biodegradable non-toxic soap box!
*hugs*
heather

Traci said...

I'm working on it! Keep bugging me! I'll start remembering!

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lake elsinore, ca
I am a stay at home mom. I am also married to a veteran and he is the love of my life. I keep it real here and I hold nothing back. My life is a roller coaster ride, so strap on your seatbelt.... here we go!