Lately, we’ve been noticing how little garbage we have around our house. So much so, that I only have to take my big brown trash bin down to the curb every three weeks (still too much IMHO). I used to fill it up to the top every week, but now it takes 3 weeks! For [...]

Plastic bags consumed this year: RbBagCounter.Add(); This morning I blew off sniping photos of poor trash management in favor of playing with my two boys – easy decision. So instead of posting a photo, I thought I’d post this numerical reminder of how blind we are to our consumption. Over 500 billion plastic bags are [...]

One of the first really green things we did was to reduce our dependence on non-essential paper waste. This included paper towels, cups, plates, toilet paper, tissue, and napkins. Paper accounts for the largest amount of solid waste in landfills, and we wanted to reduce that. So, Jen picked up 16 cloth napkins and put [...]

Yes! I finally got to see The Little Green Bag Project in action. The Whole Foods in Mount Pleasant was swarming with Saturday traffic, and Jennifer and Mike were handing out bags to anyone willing to use them. As the bags went out, and the donations rolled in, it became clear that this project is [...]

My boys have learned the days of the week early in life, because of Thursdays. “Yes sweeties,” I explain, “On Thursdays the trucks drive down our street.” It’s quite the spectacle. We don’t listen to music during breakfast. We dare not miss the first hiss of their brakes. We run out the front door. First, [...]

It’s been 2.5 months now since I pledged to have a bottled water-free summer, and I have to tell you it’s been pretty easy so far. If I travel with my canteen-style water bottle, I never have a need to buy one. I just fill it up at a sink or drinking fountain, and I’m [...]

We’re trying to come up with a comprehensive list of disposable items that are designed to be used only once. Often these items can be reused, but most often they go straight to the landfill after their brief blossom of convenience. Around our house, we’ve really been trying to fine tune our greenness and reduce [...]

When I posted my list of of local nurseries that accept used pots for recycling, my fellow contributer Justin asked me if I had called any of the big box stores like Wal-mart, K-mart, or Lowe’s. I told him I hadn’t because plants are never potted there – they arrive on trucks. So while they [...]

I have to admit, I’ve been reading about freecycling for years, but never really got involved. I avoid the landfill by using garage sales, Goodwill, and the ad boards at work, but I suppose that’s not much of a “cycle” if I only give stuff away… I need to try to get some stuff too. [...]