Green Updates

NO MORE PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS! This one has been fun.  We made a family date of going out and finding our bags.  Involving the kids made them more committed and it was a cheap date.  Now we shop in style when we remember them.  We keep them in the car and many times they get left in there.  I have been just reloading the cart the way it was throughout the store and bagging at the car when that happens.  I will say we do attract quite a bit of attention at the store with our bags and that’s really cool.
“Natural” Cleaning Products I’ve done a lot of reading on this one.  It seems that vinegar is a great cleaner but I just don’t like the idea of that smell residing through my house after I clean.  I know, I know…the clean “smell” has been programmed into me by the evil cleaning product manufacturers but I like it.  Clorox has come out with a line of “green” cleaning products that are all-natural ingredients, not animal-tested, no artificial colors, etc.  I’m really enjoying them.  I never actually realized how awful I felt after cleaning until I didn’t.  Cleaning the bathroom didn’t give me a headache for the first time ever.  These products are comparably priced to other, toxic cleaners and I highly recommend them.
Recycle, recycle, recycle! I’ve found sources for recycling all paper that enters this house.  We recycle all soda and beer bottles/cans (no we don’t drink BEER out of cans!), 1 and 2 plastics, glass and now all of our previously used plastic shopping bags will be recycled through our Kroger.  It’s frustrating how much still goes into the garbage.  I would really like to find a source for recycling cardboard.  There is so much of it in our packaging and I HATE throwing it away.
Local Eggs I have worked with a nurse for years who sells eggs from her own chickens.  Finally she is my new egg supplier!  I got a dozen from her the other day at 7:30 pm that were HATCHED at 5 pm.  They traveled in her car with her to work, so were brought to me with no extra consumption of anything.  Organic, local, FABULOUS!!!