Earth Day...

I missed posting this on Earth Day by about 15 minutes. I am not what I would call a fanatic about eco-friendly things. I am not into all things organic and healthy. I am learning, but I am not really there. I have respect for those who learn and know and do more about this... I am just not completely to that point. I try to do the simple things that most of us know about. I usually turn off the water when I brush my teeth. I try not to use a bazillion paper towels. I turn off lights when they are not being used. Those are pretty small things. A few girl scout meetings back, Savannah's leader was reading to us about plastic water bottles. She made this one comment that just was like one of those "wow" moments for me. She stated that EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF PLASTIC THAT HAS EVER BEEN MADE IS STILL ON THIS PLANET!!! Did you read that? EVERY SINGLE PIECE! Here is the thing... my mom has joked with my kids that she is "older than plastic" meaning she was born before plastic was mainstream. It can take 100 years to break down a piece of plastic. Plastic hasn't been around for 100 years, so all that plastic is still out there. To back up, even before Savannah's scout meeting, I had been thinking about buying reusable water bottles. My reason for this was that we moved to SC and had a filtered water dispenser in our refrigerator. The water tastes great. Nothing like anything you would get from filtered water in Florida. Florida water is icky. When I went to her girl scout meeting, it just motivated me more. Add to that, Savannah needed to commit to a task that help our environment. I looked a few options online. Sigg Bottles were one option, but pricey to get 5 of them. One day I was in Target and found Eddie Bauer bottles over by the camping gear. They were about $6.99 each. They came in an assortment of colors and sizes. I got Tim II the huge one because he fills it for his shift at work. I got Tim, me and Savannah the 22 oz ones. I didn't get Sebastian one because I really wanted to test them out first. Actually, he uses Tim's during the week when we run errands because Tim doesn't take his to work. It has been about a month or so of using them. They are not made of plastic. They don't have the funny taste bottles can get. Best of all they are dishwasher safe. I am absolutely amazed at how well my family adapted to using refillable water bottles. I thought they would still want the convenience of grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge. They all just took to placing their water bottle on the counter by the fridge and filling it as they need it. Even Tim! If he is out working on the garden on the weekend, he fills his bottle! Complete success! I am going to get Sebastian his own too. This is my tip for helping the environment and also saving a little money on bottled water. Next up for me I think will be using my own reusable bags at the grocery store. I already own about 5 totes. There really isn't a good reason that I don't take those with me to the store. I read today that it can take 1000 years for the plastic grocery bags to break down. Paper isn't better because of the amount of trees it cuts down. I think a small step forward is something. I am not ready to compost just yet. (Even though Tim would love it for his garden!)