Small Green Update

So in talking more about the previous post, I do realize a few things that I do.

- I do recycle. My family separates out all of the plastic and glass stuff and sticks it in a big trash bag. When I go up to Matt's house, I bring it with me. They recycle, and actually have a recycling center in town where you can drop things off. So I just pretend that I live in his town and bring things to his house! And I've decided to take it a step further, by adding another big bag of paper and cardboard to my car so we can separate that as well - there is always so much paper in the trash!

- I reuse things. Recently I have been collecting small plastic containers, like yogurt cups and the like, for work. I use them for when I have the students color... instead of having 20-something students fight to get crayons out of a big bucket, they get a cup full of crayons to share with a partner. :) I also use shoeboxes and the like for storage, both at work and at home. They are a good size for desk supplies and small instruments. My dad likes this kind of alternitive storage, although he tends to take it to extremes! He keeps things like bolts, screws and nails in my old baby food jars, and hordes coffee cans. Maybe he is planning to build a new car out of the metal?? ;) We also reuse things like mailing envelopes, bubble wrap, packing peanuts, and cardboard boxes in terms of mailing, and gift bags as well. I have even been known to recycle wrapping paper... and some of you wouldn't know unless I told you I'd done it to you!

- We do recycle plastic bags. The supermarket has a bin for them, and we collect any that we get during the week and put them in when we're at the supermarket again, if they are not being reused by us, that is. And small ziploc-type bags get recycled at home - if they have had something dry in them (like cookies), they can be rinsed out and reused. The ones with raw chicken in them, however, get rinsed and sent with the plastic to the grocery recycling, though.

So I do some small things. But small is better than nothing. And being more conscious will bring me to a better place as the options become available.