Let's face it. Trying to live green is challenging. There are so many things we can change to live a more sustainable life. It is very overwhelming at times. I have decided to just take things step by step. Last week, we decided to ditch our paper copy of the newspaper and opt for the digital copy instead. It has taken a long time for us to be able to make this step. We enjoy reading a paper copy of the newspaper. But, it has been one of the things that takes up the most space in our recycling containers. This one thing has cut our recycling in half. Instead of focusing on recycling, I am trying to focus on refusing so there will be less to recycle. There are pros and cons. It ends up being about half as much money for the online newspaper as the paper copy. We don't have the extra clutter in our home from the paper as well. It is nice to be able to see the comics more clearly since they are larger on the computer screen. My husband can also access the newspaper whenever he wants. If he is eating lunch at work and wants to take 5 minutes to read through the headlines, he can do that. I feel good knowing that I am saving at least a few trees. Changing to the online copy has been easier than we thought, and we really like it.
For this week, I am focusing on bringing my own water bottle if we go out to eat and not getting any straws or paper cups. My husband enjoys going out for hot chocolate a couple of times of week. I would see the cups in the garbage in the past, and wanted to figure out if there was a better way to do this without generating garbage. I called the local place in town, and asked them if we can use reusable cups. They said they had them in their store and we could purchase them. When we went to look at the reusable cups, the employee said that we could also use our own cups. So, we didn't need to purchase anything and we are eliminating the trash as well. One other perk, you get 10% off if you use your own container. It is hard to remember to bring your own water bottle, when it isn't a habit. Imagine how much less waste there would be if we were to stop getting paper cups when eating out.
The two things we have done so far has saved us money. I am sure it isn't always that way, but it is nice to spend less while you are trying to be more conscience of your environmental impact.
