Happy Earth Day!

I brought home the recycling from school today. I figured in honor of our rented Earth I would take the three boxes of recycling I have collected home for my curbside recycling. There is NO recycling at my university, no blue, green, or gray buckets and our shredded paper is put into plastic bags! What is that about? No good Austinite...oh yeah, this is San Antonio. The city wherein I ordered my city recycling receptacle, put it out the first week, and my neighbor said to me, "You know, they have trashcans that are bigger than that, even at the Dollar Store. You should get one. You're never going to have enough room for the trash!" I don't have much trash. It is picked up 2X a week and I have, on average, one white recyclable bag a week. The recycle is always full.

I started taking no plastic bags while shopping (it is funny to see me walking out of Macy's with the clothing draped across my arm. I recycle all items numbered 1-7, any bags or wrap that is plastic, all aluminum or metal, glass etc and take a bag of clothes to Goodwill every couple months. I use only LED bulbs an the outlets in my house allow you to disconnect power when the item is not in use, so they are always off when not in use. My water heater is set to 100 degrees and is insulated with a blanket. I only wash laundry in cold and I line dry most items. I water only once every other week at 3am. I keep my house at 80 in the summer and 64 in the winter. I use biodegradable doggie bags and use foil when at restaurants.

My vow for Earth Day 2009:
1. I now know how to recycle Sonic cups so my Diet Vanilla Coke habit I have developed is okay as of today. Before looking it up, I threw them away and limited myself to one a week. Hold on DVCA (Diet Vanilla Coke Anonymous), I am now going to be needing your services!

2. I will plant a plant (roses perhaps?) this weekend and add mulch to my current plants to help with watering.


4. I will buy an ecological lawnmower. Did you all know that 30 minutes of running a regular lawnmower is the equivalent of driving 110 miles! Plus, (Loretta)I have a $40 off coupon for one!

5. I will use ONLY biodegradable bags in the major trash too, and will bag the lawn with only brown bags.

6. If I go into work on Friday, I will take the bus, walk, catch a ride, or bike. Boy, that is going to be hard!

If you out there in cyber world can think of other doable ways to help me go green, let me know!