5 Easy Things You Can Do Today

This year has been CRAZY! We all know. We have all felt the twinge (and in many cases excruciating pain) of 2020. Like an election year, a pandemic, crashing economies and job loss, police brutality, protests and riots, droughts & wildfires, hurricanes & floods, the stress of online school and/or in-person school, and the death of RBG weren’t enough, we now have basically 7 years to get our crap together or our planet is irrevocably damaged forever.

I don’t know how you’re feeling, but to me this is all too much. The very last thing I have the mental capacity for is how to radically change my life to live clean and green while sticking to my extremely tight budget.

BUT I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING.

This is the only planet we’ve got. I have children growing up to inherit this Earth and I want to pass blessings, not curses, on to them. So here are some very small, easy changes we can make that will add up and make a difference for both our Third Rock and our pocketbook!

We’ve been hearing this one for years, but it still remains one of the easiest ways to save thousands of plastic bottles from filling our landfills and oceans.

I bet you can find a perfectly practical bottle for $5 or less. You will recoup your investment in the amount of time it would normally take you to drink a case or two of water, and your bottle will keep going and going. It’s such a wise choice!

Another one we all know. The hardest part of this one is actually having your reusable bags with you when you need them! We unload our groceries and the bags get smooshed into the corner of the pantry.

Here’s a tip - get in the habit of placing your bags next to or on the knob of the front door (or garage door - whichever one you usually leave by) after unloading them. You can grab them on the way out the next time you leave the house and you’ll always have them in your car.

But how does this save money? So many places are charging for plastic or paper bags now, that it just makes sense to switch. Why keep paying ten cents per bag over and over - literally nickel-and-diming yourself - when you can buy a few reusable bags and never pay again?

Now I’m not saying to run out and buy up 40 new light bulbs and replace every one in your home today, BUT when you do need to replace a bulb opt for a compact fluorescent! They not only last much longer than traditional bulbs so you won’t have to replace them as often, but they also use way less electricity to power, which saves you some change on the electric bill. And less electrical power usage makes Mother Earth very happy!

Are there still people that leave the faucet on while brushing!?! I don’t know, but I’m saying it just in case - TURN OFF THE FAUCET!

We can go one step further and turn it off while scrubbing food off a plate, or soaping our hands. If I’ve gone too far, just stick to turning it off while you brush. Obviously, your water bill will run a little lower.

Why, I bet you have a cabinet full of perfectly good reusable plates anyway! As a reformed paper plate user myself, I say this with the deepest compassion for your situation -

STOP IT!

Just stop. This has to be the most convenient way to throw money out the window. The average family of four has an automatic dishwasher, so what are you even trying to save yourself from here? You have the real dishes. You have the dishwasher. What more do you need?

The only viable excuse for opposing this one is that you have small children in the house that break everything (Been there. I know they do.) or are a caretaker for someone physically or mentally challenged where glass or ceramic is not a wise choice. Okay. I give you that. BUT you could invest in some sturdy reusable plastic tableware that will get the job done, save your money, and keep tons of trash from ever making it to the dump. Your call. Seems like an easy choice to me.

So, there you have it. Of course there are so many other things we could and should do - recycle, set bills to paperless, have meatless Mondays, carpool. Hopefully these small steps will help motivate you to do more, but if not, at least you’ve done something!