Ok, so, since the beginning of 2008, the husband and I have been trying to think of ways for us to reduce our impact on the planet... our carbon footprint, if you will.
First, we stopped using the plastic bags they give you at the grocery store... instead, we now use cute canvas bags - some of which I made, some of which we already had due to my need to purchase cute bags...
Second, I made us both lunch sacks to use instead of those pesky plastic bags...
Third, this one's kinda recent, but we've been unplugging all un-used appliances and lights around the house. It's pretty darn amazing how many things you leave plugged in and barely ever use... it's also not that big of a deal to plug the coffee maker in and then unplug when finished with it... same for the toaster oven... I haven't received this months utility bill yet, but I'm hoping to see a difference.
So, what else? What about all those paper towels we use... there has to be a way to not use so many... what if we had cloth napkins to use instead of paper towels... do I have scrap fabric just laying around taking up space that I could use for such a purpose...
Hmmm... I bet I could make some cute napkins that we could use for dinner every night... thus saving us many paper towels a week...
Well, what do you know? That sure was easy... and it used up some old fabric that I wasn't planning on using for other projects! We used our first set last night with some super messy BBQ pork sammies... worked like charms!
Oh, one more tip I learned from American Home Shield this morning... did you know that electricity and water cost less in the evenings? I didn't... they suggest that you do your laundry at night, might save a few pennies...
Well Karen, your comment sparked a great conversation at my house last night... you're right... what do you use to clean up pet messes... or just for general cleaning? You could still use cloth - towels, fabric scraps, etc., but I certainly wouldn't want to touch my face with those, even after they've been through the wash...
Posted by: Noelle | June 19, 2008 at 01:56 PM
I want to try to do away with paper towels, but I don't know what people use to clean up pet messes with then, especially for hairballs, etc. I know you have a lot of cats- do you have any ideas?
Posted by: karen | June 18, 2008 at 04:00 PM