One Month Update

I thought I should use some time to reflect on the progress I've made in the last month. I took the eco-foot print quiz again twenty minutes ago. Instead of reducing, I've gone up slightly, from 3.85 earths to 3.99 earths. I'm not ultra worried about it; it's only a minor set back.

Why don't we have a little refresher on my goals:

1. Become a more conscious consumer
2. Recycle all paper
3. Cut water usage
4. Cut electricity usage
5. Adopt a 100 mile diet
6. Cut gas usage
7. Grow 20% of what we eat
8. Change dad's paper towel/ battery use habits
9. CFL's
10. Cut trash volume in half

Goals 1,2,3,9 and 10 are very close to being achieved. There are still some hiccups every once and a while, but we are getting close. Goals 4,5,6,7 and 8 will require more work, but hey, it's progress.

So far, I've recycled 17.8 lbs of paper, a little more than 1/10 of a tree.

My goal is to fully achieve 3 of the goals from my first list by the end of the year and cut our earth usage to below 3.5 by the end of the year. Sound too ambitious?

The Giving Season Doesn't Have to be the Garbage Season

Happy Thanksgiving to all my adoring fans (where ever you are). I've been up since 4:50 a.m. this morning helping my mom with all of the preparations. My dad and I have only made one trip to the store this morning, and we bought mostly organic stuff.

Did you know that over the course of November and December, the average american produces up to 4 extra lbs of garbage a week?

Also, imagine the extra CO2 from driving around.

It wasn't as cold today. At 5:30 a.m it was 32 degrees.

So, remember to compost your Thanksgiving produce leftovers and scraps, recycle your cans and bottles and put all of your black friday ads in the recycle bin.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving all!

Answer to the Toothbrush Recycling Question!

Yeah! I found a place that recycles old toothbrushes. It's called Toothbrush Express.

It has been raining epically for four days now. The snow level was supposed to drop to 1500 ft, but I didn't get snow at my house. Tomorrow, its supposed to be 26 degrees when I get up.

I'm telling you about the weather because in A.P Environmental Science, we are learning about how global warming affects weather patterns. This weather is a little unusual for this time of year where I live.

We are having an organic food party in A.P today. Yeah!

Eco Consumerism and Toothbrush Problem

I worked on my goal of being a environmentally conscious consumer today. First of all, I did some X-mas shopping for my little cousins. I got one of them a bamboo whistle and the other a set of natural pigment paints.

I also bought myself a Preserve 5 toothbrush. I've been frustrated lately that there is no way to recycle toothbrushes. So, I bought myself one that could be recycled. I think I'm going to use Preserve 5s from now on and keep the ones I get from the dentist for when I go to college or something.


Does anyone know of a place that will recycle toothbrushes that aren't Preserve 5s?

An Organic Thanksgiving

We've been doing some Thanksgiving shopping. This year, all of the food except the pumpkin pie will be organic. Still working on the paper clean up. I think I'm making a trip the to paper recycling bin on Monday. What goal should I tackle next?

Success and Batteries

The yardsale was a huge success! Now, stuff has found a good home besides the garbage. I bought some recharable batteries today to give to my dad for X-mas.

The paper bin in my room is starting to get full. I might empty it sooner than I thought.

I bought organic apples today. My mom bought 100% recycled aluminum turkey pans too. So thats what happens to old aluminum cans.

We've totally stopped using paper bags from the store now. Yeah, less garbage!

I've got a long way to go, but days like this make me think that there is hope in me becoming 100% sustainable.

Ughhh....

Wasn't able to do day without a car today because we had too many errands to run. Darn!!!!

Garage sale closer and Conservation Days

Still collecting stuff for the garage sale. I hope its going to be big.

Working on my list. I noticed that about 90% of the food I put in the cart when my dad goes shopping is organic. The 100 mile diet thing might take a while.

Paper recycling has been going well. My third trip to the paper bin will happen before Thanksgiving.

I've been looking a eco-friendly clothing. I'll wait until after X-mas to update my wardrobe.

I'm also thinking about walking home from school more often. Right now, my mom won't let me because she says my backpack is too heavy.

Tomorrow is going to be my day without a car ( except for dance, 15 miles away). That means I will walk everywhere I want to go, except for dance. It's the best way to reduce our gas consumption.

Just a note

Who ever the person or people who have been viewing my blog are, thank you some much. Comments and suggestions would be much appreciated. THANKS!!!!!

Energy Use and Reusing Stuff

It's my dad's birthday on Sunday. For a gift, I got him some CFL lightbulbs. They will save him $38 each ; there are five of them. Also, we've been cleaning out our old children's books. I took some of them to my local used book store. Now, they can be reused.

 We are going to have a garage sale soon. We've been putting this off for months and I thought we wouldn't be able to do it at all. It will be a good way to help the environment and make some cash.

I'm starting to compost more cardboard now. I haven't noticed a change in the amount of trash yet.

I'm chipping away at each of my ten goals. I don't know which one I will tackle next.

Is it worse than I thought?

I've been thinking alot about how environmentally friendly I think I am. I'm not really when you think about it. I ate some left over Halloween candy today ( lots of little, plastic wrappers) and I went out to lunch, which meant 1 styrofoam takeout box and another styrofoam cup.

So, I'm going to stop carrying cash in my wallet, because that will prevent me from going out.

The only ecofriendly thing I did today was I recycled 8.2 lbs of paper. That brings my total paper recyclage to 14 lbs.

Am I really making progress here?