Plastics and a Challenge for You

Ever wonder how much plastic is produced, used, and discarded without much of a thought as to its effect on our environment? Well, here's your chance! How many bottles of water do you drink in a day...how many cartons of milk do you go thru in a week...how is your bread packaged?

Plastic is a part of our everyday lives in ways that most of us don't bother to think about. While it can be recycled, avoiding it as much as possible is best, but in today's world, is that feasible? It may be difficult, but anything is possible! A little will power and a dash of compassion can go a long way to help improve our environment now and for future generations.

Check out the Enviroblog entry about the movie Addicted to Plastics and see if you can come up with at least one way in which to curb your plastic use. Even the smallest change can have a positive impact.

Instead of buying milk in plastic or unrecyclable wax lined cartons, buy organic milk in reusable glass bottles from a local farm that has grass fed cows. Not only will you be decreasing your carbon footprint, but you'll also get a fresher, more nutritious form of milk that came from a cow in the last week rather than over a month ago.

Educate, challenge, change...you can make a difference!

Happy Earth Day!

If you are interested making a change in your usual routine to help improve the environment, but don't know where to begin, here are a few fairly simple ways to start the process:

* Recycle everything and anything your local city, town, county allows. If there are limitations, look into local drop sites that take items your local service may not pick up curbside.

* Switch to baking soda and vinegar for most cleaning jobs. Baking soda is a fantastic whitener instead of bleach or oxy brand additives and can easily clean a soap scummy bathroom. Vinegar is a great fabric softener and odor eliminator.

* Instead of chlorine bleached diapers that contain Dioxin, Tributyl-tin (TBT), and sodium polyacrylate, switch to 7th Generation or G-Diapers or, better yet, cloth diapers. The Natural Baby Co has a fantastic line if Dream-eze organic all in one diapers. (I have no financial stake in the company, I just love their diapers and have tried my fair share)

* Use reusable bags when shopping...bonus...some stores offer a refund of 3 - 10 cents when you use your own bag(s)

* When buying fresh fruits and vegetables, forgo the bag

* Buy products with minimal packaging...if you can't avoid this, recycle as much of the packaging as possible or come up with alternate uses like using bread bags to pick up pet droppings, contain a dirty diaper, or for the contents of the tupperware container hidden in the back of the fridge

* Ditch paper napkins and towels and opt for washable versions. You can even go to your local craft store and pick out fabric to make your own.