reduce, reuse, recycle, and restore

• using my water bottles. I’m remembering right now to put some clean, empty glass jars with lids into the car, so when I do forget, I can fill the jar up with ice water from a convenience store for free.

• turning the water off when I brush my teeth

• remembering my cloth bags when shopping. I’m at about 80% on this one, and once in a while I’ve bought a reusable bag at the store if I’ve forgotten my own. One of my bags came with a cool little sticker to put on my car window and my front door. It says ‘bring your bags with you when you shop’.

• recycling

I have been making baby steps, and am becoming more conscious, but my goodness do I have a lot of crap.

In the last year, have switched from purchasing bottled water, to using a BPA-free re-usable water bottle and filtered tap water, to a metal Klean Kanteen re-usable water bottle. I won the water bottle and a set of bamboo flatware wrapped in a cloth napkin in a giveaway online, and I keep them in my backpack to use instead of disposables. Remembering to use them is a little more challenging.

I’ve just printed out my community’s recycling chart so I can remember what is and is not picked up at the curb.