I would like to live "greener" and be more wise with our spending this year. I think the main reason I've been thinking about this and not actually doing anything about it is because I enjoy the convenience of many things and I like to spend $$$!!! lol! Some of the things we've came up with might sound ridiculous, but I think they will help us spend more wisely and be more earth friendly ;) Here are a few ways we are going to live greener, combined with some personal resolutions for 2011:
1) We will not purchase any greeting cards this year. I or the kids might make a card or use cards I already have made, or just give a gift tag! What do you do with all the cards you receive?? We keep the very special cards (Baby shower, 1st birthday, 1st holidays, etc) but typically recycle the rest!! I personally LOVE giving and receiving cards. I'm not always good with words, but I often find the perfect verse or greeting that expresses my feelings. So it may be a little work coming up with the perfect wording, but I'm sure I can do it ;)
2) We will not eat out as much. We've been doing a lot better with this one, but still need to work on it! This is slightly embarrassing, but currently our goal is to reduce our eating out to 1/week. Cal has been trying to live by this for a very long time, but I admit I've been destroying his resolve :S Between lunches and suppers in 2010 we ate out on average 3 times/week. It's just so convenient to pick up something on the way home from Preschool, vs. getting home and preparing lunch.
3) We are not buying shredded cheese! Now, you're probably thinking, "What? Why?!" If you do a cost comparison of a bag of shredded cheddar vs. a block of cheddar cheese you will see ... And shredding cheese certainly is not difficult or time consuming! Plus the waste of packaging on a bag of shredded cheese vs. a block of cheese. Less waste!
4) We are going to try ordering our meat from an organic/free range farm. My sister has ordered from one and I've heard of a few others around the city. We'll try it and see how cost efficient it is vs. buying our meat from the local grocer. I really don't want to think about it too much, but have you seen THAT Oprah episode?! The one that goes "behind the scenes" on chicken farms ...
5) I will use cloth diapers with Reese 90% of the time! I do appreciate the conveniencee of a disposable at certain times!! She was too small at first, but what we have are now fitting. I used them with Emerson too, but not near as much as I used them with Blake - just lazy (seriously!). I love using them though and so will put worth a better effort ;)
6) Salad - we will eat a salad with our supper at least 3 times a week. Blake and Emerson actually love salads, so what a shame that we don't have them more often!!
7) We will not buy any gift wrap or gift bags. We have so much of both in our basement and I want to use them first!! So don't be surprised if you receive your birthday gift wrapped in Christmas paper ... LOL!!
8) I would love to cut out paper towel from our home. I've thought about this for a long time, but haven't taken the giant leap!! I will however, resolve to use less paper towel!
So there's a start to our list! I haven't came up with any personal resolutions yet and I'm not sure if I will. Although one thing I was thinking of, was waking up and deciding to make the day great. I've been trying that lately and it really works. First thing in the morning when I go into Blake and Emerson's room, while we're getting changed, etc. I talk to them about what we're doing that day and ask them to try and have a great day. I ask them to play together nicely and if there is something bothering them to tell Mom and not start yelling and crying, etc, etc! Surprisingly they've caught on, it's really worked! Hopefully I can continue to do that vs. waking up and wishing I could stay in bed! No point in that, as I know 99% of the time it ain't gonna happen!!! Cal has resolved to run in a 1/2 marathon in May and try his hardest to train for and run in a full marathon this fall. I can't quite bring myself to resolve to run in a race this year, although I would love to.
Do you make New Year's resolutions??
Tracy
