The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. Genesis 2:15
This semester I am taking an Environmental Science course, which has everything to do with observing the environmental problems plaguing our planet and helping to create solutions for those problems. One of the reasons Kevin and I decided to take a year to stop buying new stuff is a little bit of an environmental science project. As consumers, we are conditioned to buy more and more stuff, simply throwing away what we're tired of so that we can buy new stuff. We give little regard to what happens to all the plastic, chemical laden "garbage" we send to the landfills or to all the resources that get used just to keep up with our demand for more stuff. In a nutshell, this is what is causing climate change and melting the polar ice caps. So, aside from just wanting to save household expenses, Kevin and I have made a choice this year to stop buying things we don't need because it's too expensive for our planet. Someone has to start somewhere, and we hope others will follow suit.
In addition to not bringing new stuff into the house, I've been trying to think of all the ways we're keeping stuff out of the landfill or saving non-renewable resources, too. Some of these I've mentioned before in other blog posts, but here are a few:
Kevin and I continue to look for other ways we can keep a little more cash in our wallets and reduce, reuse, and recycle. Ask yourself some questions as a consumer...Is it truly important for me to have this? Is there an alternative that is reusable? What happens to this when I throw it away? If we all start asking questions like this one and making small changes in our habits and lifestyles, we all just might make a big dent in the gigantic problem of climate change and make the world a more beautiful home for those who will come after us.
This semester I am taking an Environmental Science course, which has everything to do with observing the environmental problems plaguing our planet and helping to create solutions for those problems. One of the reasons Kevin and I decided to take a year to stop buying new stuff is a little bit of an environmental science project. As consumers, we are conditioned to buy more and more stuff, simply throwing away what we're tired of so that we can buy new stuff. We give little regard to what happens to all the plastic, chemical laden "garbage" we send to the landfills or to all the resources that get used just to keep up with our demand for more stuff. In a nutshell, this is what is causing climate change and melting the polar ice caps. So, aside from just wanting to save household expenses, Kevin and I have made a choice this year to stop buying things we don't need because it's too expensive for our planet. Someone has to start somewhere, and we hope others will follow suit.
In addition to not bringing new stuff into the house, I've been trying to think of all the ways we're keeping stuff out of the landfill or saving non-renewable resources, too. Some of these I've mentioned before in other blog posts, but here are a few:
- We use cloth napkins. No need to keep buying paper ones that just get thrown away. Although, paper is a renewable resource and it can be composted.
- We make our own laundry detergent. No more plastic detergent bottles. And, no more detergent with petroleum as an ingredient. We also dry our clothes outside when the weather permits. This saves the energy needed to run the dryer and dryer sheets.
- We compost. We just started composting back in the fall. All of our fruit/vegetable peelings, egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags, and more get sent to the back yard pile to make new dirt that we'll be able to use in our garden.
- I reuse good fabric from old clothes. I take my old clothes and refashion them into new ones. I also used this fabric for the cloth napkins we use. I also used scrap fabric in the cushions I made my nephews for Christmas.
- I use cloth bags when shopping. We have a half dozen or so cloth bags I take with me when I do the grocery shopping. They are large and sturdy, so one of these can replace as many as three or four of those flimsy plastic bags. Also, when I buy just one or two things, I skip the bag altogether. Kevin shops at our local IGA grocery store, and they use paper bags, which we save and reuse, as well.
- We don't buy bottled water. I take reusable mugs to work for water and hot tea, and Kevin has his own reusable cups he uses around the house.
- We use natural kitty litter. We buy either wheat or cedar based litter instead of the heavy clay litters, which can be full of chemicals.
- I stopped buying shredded cheese. Yes, no more shredded cheese for us. I buy blocks of cheese, which is cheaper, but it also has less packaging. Each one of those bags of shredded cheese is at least twice the size of the wrapper on a block of cheese, not to mention the little zipper to re-close it. Do you think about the packaging on the products you buy? For some things, there is no choice, but so many products are over-packaged or produce more waste than their worth. If something is packaged for convenience, then it's likely a big waste of resources and your money.
- We buy the bulk of our groceries once a month. This saves us a lot of gas from having to run back and forth to the store every couple of days to get food for supper or pick up something we forgot. I make a detailed schedule of our dinner menu for the month, then go buy everything on one day.
- I pack my lunch. Packing my own lunch not only saves us money, it keeps a lot of Styrofoam out of the landfill. Most places we get take out box the food in those handy Styrofoam boxes that just don't go away. Ever.
- We recycle. Okay, this one may be too obvious, but if you're not in the habit of recycling, start now. It is so ridiculously easy to throw cans or plastic bottles into a recycling bin. There is no reason why everyone shouldn't recycle.
Kevin and I continue to look for other ways we can keep a little more cash in our wallets and reduce, reuse, and recycle. Ask yourself some questions as a consumer...Is it truly important for me to have this? Is there an alternative that is reusable? What happens to this when I throw it away? If we all start asking questions like this one and making small changes in our habits and lifestyles, we all just might make a big dent in the gigantic problem of climate change and make the world a more beautiful home for those who will come after us.