I thought I’d give an update on the changes I’m making to live a greener life:

• This past week I’ve managed to greatly reduce the amount of paper towels I use both at work and at home. The towels I’ve brought to work have been great, and I’ve been using them for both hand-washing and dish-drying. Even when I’ve forgotten to bring the towel into the washroom, I’ve ran back to my desk to dry my hands. At home, the flour sack towels remain one of my best friends in the kitchen. While most (if not all) are NOT made from organic cotton, using them has definitely cut down the use of paper towels.
• We no longer stock any toilet paper made from non-recycled materials! We still have a couple of rolls of Bounty paper towels, but since it’s now taking us longer to go through a roll, I haven’t had the need to replenish our supply.
• Unfortunately, we still have a ton of commercial household cleaning products. Once those are depleted, I’m either only buying non-toxic types, or even going with homemade concoctions (baking soda, vinegar, tea tree oil, etc). I found some recipes here and here.
• Laundry is now only being run with cold water and non-toxic detergent to save energy. We’re still quite dependent on the dryer though. Good thing I HATE doing laundry, as this ensures I’m only doing full loads and not wasting water.
• I’ve saved several bottles and other recyclable food containers from ending up in our regular trash. Sure it takes a few extra moments to rinse those empty bottles of pasta sauce and salad dressing, but at least now they’re ending up in the recycling bin. Now I have to figure out what to do with the the half-and-half cartons, as I believe they are NOT recyclable. Maybe we should switch to a brand that sells them in recyclable plastic or bottle? The only kinds I’ve seen are fat-free types, which I’m not particularly fond of. (Yes, we use regular half-and-half. It’s not the most healthy option, but it’s one of the allowed luxuries in my household.)

Filed by Maria in updates