OUT WITH THE OLD (EXCEPT WHEN IT WORKS)!

Eco-Lifestyle Adjustments That I Made In 2008:

• I set up 4 permanent receptacles in my garage to collect the following recyclables: plastic containers/shrink wrap, glass bottles, aluminum/cans/tin foil, newspaper/junk mail/magazines and managed to fill them up steadily and effortlessly.

• Any and all conceivable scraps of paper or packaging, including all grocery receipts, expired coupons (YES!!), cereal/frozen food packaging, greeting cards that were somewhat forgettable, the cardboard backing on most products, etc. were recycled. It may seem like overkill, but these items are basic reusable resources. It’s a relief to know that through such a small conservation effort, they aren’t contributing to a burgeoning landfill somewhere in the city.

• I exercised my green thumb for the first time ever in a somewhat successful totally organic container garden “experiment” on my deck. Although an ongoing drought and the excessive heat in my region compromised the productivity of my veggies (not to mention my general gardening ignorance), the fruits of my labor were still delicious, albeit a little “wonky-looking”. I saved $$ mucho dinero $$ dodging chemical-residue-laden grocery store produce, to boot!

• Though I’ve never been a huge meat-eater, the rocky economy and higher incidence of food-born-illness prompted me to give mainstream-processed-flesh the boot. There is no question that natural meats are rather cost-prohibitive (at least in MY world), so I purchased them with extremely limited frequency and stretched them with lots of beans, grains, and veggies.

• The reusable aluminum water bottle became my best friend (with none of the pesky PVC side-effects). Oddly enough, it seems to automatically keep H2O at the perfect, slightly chilled drinkable temperature, too.

• I stayed out of stores as much as humanly possible and found that it was rather easy to NOT WANT STUFF…as long as shiny new things weren’t blatantly plunked down within my field of vision. When I got a hankering for something spiffy and different, I spent entirely too much time trolling DIY websites and got in touch with my inner crafty-goddess, repurposing items around my house with equal parts impressive and “awww, that’s just sad” results.

• Somewhere along the line, it all clicked in my head. Living in a manner that is resourceful, respectful, and practical is good for way more than just the Earth – it makes sense, period. Our grandparents and their great-grandparents had it right all along...