Sustaining the Earth

Most links in this post go to items I'm hoping to purchase. I promise I'm not trying to sell anything to you or beg for you to buy anything - I just wanted you to see what I'm looking in to.

The last few days I've been on a bit of a "green" kick. Part of it is from being utterly annoyed at the plastic and paper bags floating around the apartment (I can only use so many as garbage bags ... ) and part of it is from just not wanting to live such a wasteful life. As a result I've started looking in to some sustainable resources to try to help Save The Earth.

I already use reusable water bottles more often than not - I own six or seven waterbottles made from either plastic, aluminium, or stainless steel (I'm working on replacing them all with either BPA-free plastic or stainless steel, since aluminium has been linked - rather weakly - to Alzheimer's, and BPA has been linked - also rather weakly - to cancer, and I'd rather be safe than sorry), and the only time I use non-reusable water bottles anymore is when I'm out shopping, don't have a water bottle with me (which is sadly quite frequent - my bag doesn't have a water bottle holder, so taking a water bottle is often inconvenient), really need water, and won't be heading home soon. This happens ... once every few months? And soon I hope to make myself a different bag, or a smaller water bottle, so I'll be able to more easily carry water with me.

I have a single reusable shopping bag. I got it from our medical insurance company for becoming a member (how nice of them!). This bag is another part of why I've been thinking of making such changes. I'm hoping to buy some more bags from reusablebags.com (or reuseit.com - they both go to the same website) so that I don't have to bring home more plastic and paper bags from shopping.

Another thing we already do deals with lunch - I frequently try to make Tene's lunch so that he doesn't have to spend money on it, and I send it with him in a bento box. We now have three between us - mine is smaller and has a bunch of Totoros on it (it's adorable, and I love it) - and I hope to eventually get some more.  I'm hoping to eventually do furoshiki wrapping of the bentos, and to get some To-Go-Wear utensils to send with the lunch.

The adorable fuzzy thing sitting on the tree branch over there is Totoro. Or a Totoro. He's the biggest in the movie, but they come in a few different sizes.

Speaking of wrapping - another place that I'm hoping to save a bit of the earth will come when Christmas gets closer (or birthdays, possibly). Instead of wrapping gifts in wrapping paper, I'm going to wrap them in fabric. Which saves trees (and looks elegant, in my honest opinion)!

Finally - I've been thinking about buying a bike to run errands. Right now I get around town by driving, but it feels kinda wasteful - the temperature is nice, and it's not like everything is So Far Away that it would be impossible to do. Plus it would be good exercise. As long as I didn't need to get something like ice cream or milk, I think I would be fine - especially if I had some sort of case or basket on the back of the bike (which are pretty inexpensive themselves). And - if I had a case - I could easily put an ice pack in it to keep milk or ice cream chilled enough to get it home.

Anyway, that's what has been going through my head lately - I'm suddenly turning into an Eco-conscious type of gal. It must be the San Francisco atmosphere!