A Time For Everything

I've been trying to be as "green" as possible for a while now. A couple of years ago, I switched to taking totes and such to the grocery store and trying to use the plastic store bags as little as possible. I'll use one if my package of meat is a little too messy, but otherwise nope. I even bought washable mesh bags for produce, which I rarely use.

These days, I am also on the hunt for food packaging--aside from the usual water bottles, aluminum cans, and paper--that is recyclable. Certain types have to be dropped at the store rather than put in your recycle bin, but those containers are usually at the front of the store. Things I've found to be recyclable: plastic bags containing bread, plastic wrapper around bottled water cases, and now toothpaste tubes! Recycle-ability may vary by brand, but look for the symbol on the packaging.

I think I mentioned in a Miscellaneous Monday post a few weeks ago that only about 10% of items that can be recycled actually are being recycled. That's a shame. There are even some states that don't have a recycling policy at all. Indiana, I believe.

There are at least two states (OR and CO in 02/23) that charge you for those plastic grocery bags, making it even more expensive to go shopping; behooving you to keep a stash of totes in your car.

My failed experiment, however, is in regards to paper. I tried to reduce my need for a physical list on my desk. About a month ago, maybe a bit longer ago, I created an electronic list. All I had to do was open it on my (computer) desktop each day and go...

But it's just not the same. It's nice to have a sheet there to jot down a random number or quick note rather than dig through the documents open on the computer--if that to-do-list doc is even opened. Unfortunately, a few things have slipped through the cracks.

So last Wednesday I dug out a stack of six to seven sheets of notebook paper and happily jotted down those things needing my attention. With the notes right there on my desk, staring at me each day, things will get done faster, I bet. That messy jumble of notes will encourage me to get that stuff accomplished sooner rather than later so that a) I can cross it off the list and b) it won't have travel to the fresh sheet of paper when I have to move/update the list.

How about you? Do you  recycle?

Have a great week!