You might think this was breakfast this morning, but no, in fact, breakfast was a slice of cheese eaten on the run...this is my lunch which I am just getting around to now, and I didn't have an appropriate photo for the blog today, so I figured I would just feature one of the items mentioned...refillable glass milk bottles.
Okay, apologies first. A full dozen of us agreed to post (yesterday) on Blog Action Day. Eleven of you did so. So, today I received 11 disgruntled emails regarding my lack of post yesterday. Honestly, I thought about it and I tried to write it, but then as I was writing it, knowing that you all know me full well and how compulsive I am about things like not using a towel more than once before laundering it, etc., I figured you would all just figure I was doing so little that it would not hold a vapid little sputtering flame to all of your efforts. Mea culpa for chickening out. Wow...I have to say that you are all doing so many things, and that in Iowa this seems to be a very big deal...way to go Iowa!
Okay, a little bitty contribution next, assuming you accepted my first bit...the apology. I can, more easily, sit here and think of all my sins (probably that great Catholic guilt complex thing going on that I am so very good at), so it is difficult to come up with anything that doesn't sound trite next to my "sins." My little bitty list:
1. We recycle (I know, I know...everyone does this).
2. We use a lot of vinegar, water, baking soda type cleaners (again, everyone does this, I know.)
3. I "dry on the sly" outdoors (our neighborhood policy is one of NO clotheslines, etc., but I have a deck that is very private, surrounded on three sides by trees, and when I know the fourth side neighbors are off at work, I drape things around on a rack on the deck and dry the towels by hanging them over the deck railing or across the chairs, etc....don't tell anyone as I am getting by with it so far...oh, how I long for a clothesline like I grew up with in Iowa...hanging out the clothes, smelling them as I take them down, and watching them blow in the breeze as they dry!).
4. Using the crockpot saves a whole lot of electricity and money...roasted chicken and pot roasts are great in a crockpot and I think the comparison for a roast is like the difference between 23 cents and $2.17...so that helps if you can figure out how to cook in the crockpot like an oven.
5. We reuse the paper sacks from the market. I have a few LL BEAN totes as well that we have used for years and years.
6. We grow some of our own vegetables, flowers, and herbs.
7. We have milk and dairy delivered...milk is in refillable glass bottles that we return each week, all the other packaging gets recycled, and much is made of recycled materials.
8. We hand down clothing. We give all our old towels and sheets to our vet who uses them for the animals at the clinic.
9. Our pool uses a solar chlorinator so that we do not have to use chemicals except over the winter. (But, who am I kidding...having a pool in the first place doesn't count, I am certain.)
10. We contribute to causes supporting ecology, etc.
Okay, my list is really puny compared to all of yours. I could barely come up with the ten items we agreed upon (and I know...some of those are a stretch)...maybe I will do better this coming year just so that I can post more items next year. In the meantime, thanks for keeping me accountable...left to my own devices, I am way too irresponsible. Oh, and we carpool when we can...does that count as you all know how much I am out there driving to and fro to things...I didn't list it as I think it probably won't count...staying home more might count, but I'm not holding my breath on that one. So, am I forgiven for not posting yesterday with the rest of you? Thanks, Sue for getting us going on this...I really am sorry I am late with it...I will try to do better next time...what's our next assignment?
You might think this was breakfast this morning, but no, in fact, breakfast was a slice of cheese eaten on the run...this is my lunch which I am just getting around to now, and I didn't have an appropriate photo for the blog today, so I figured I would just feature one of the items mentioned...refillable glass milk bottles.