new water bottle!

so, i'm trying to cut down on purchasing stuff...but i am pretty psyched about my new bottle!

it's a stainless steel bottle, and i opted for the stainless steel top (plastic loop on the outside). after reading about how drinking from plastic may not be that safe, i was excited to find this option. i researched on line, and didn't find any retailers that sold this model in the area (or east of the mississippi, for that matter), so I did bite the bullet and order it through the mail. here are some of the perks:

• high-quality food grade 304 L.N. stainless steel
• durable, lightweight, reusable and 100% recyclable
• non-leaching & toxin-free
• no inner lining, clean tasting
• wide mouth fits ice cubes
• dishwasher friendly
• holds 27 fluid ounces (800 ml)

so soon, robbie and i will be drinking from non-leaching stainless steel. hopefully the only water bottle we'll need to own!

just talk about it

i got my hair done yesterday (at aveda, btw--a very green company!) and the brilliantly talented Caitie, who does my hair, told me that after my appointment last month (where i shared about some of my green efforts), she has stopped using paper napkins at home and bought cloth shopping bags for her car.

wow! it really is easy to make a difference. exciting to think about the impact we can all have together...

no fax cover sheets

at first, i thought "wow, i'll look less professional..."

but then i thought about all the trees i might save, and i'm committed. no more fax cover sheets!

i may save a ream of paper a year this way.

green email signature

i noticed a nice green blurb on the bottom of an email i received, and asked if i could copy it onto my own email. he said he was happy for me to do that...it says:

"please consider the environment before printing this email"

and it has a cute picture of a tree that i haven't figured out how to down load yet.

i have already had two people ask permission to add this to their email signature! so people have noticed. hopefully together we can make people think twice before automatically printing email.

ah, another tree saved this year!

know where your towel is

as a compulsive hand-washer (and since it is cold and flu season), i noticed today that i'm using a lot of paper towels at work. so i thought, well, maybe i ought to carry my own hand towel to work...and then i laughed.

i think i'll do that, and i'll be thinking about hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy the whole time. while i'm saving trees.

good times, good times.

i just cut my work in half!

so, i'm always thinking about shopping carts. i always think "gee, if everyone would just take their cart back to the corral or the store, then life would be so much better. fewer accidents/dents in cars, and the people we pay to do it for us could do something else...maybe the price of groceries would even be affected!" i'm such a dreamer.

but then it occurred to me yesterday, as I wheeled my cart back to the store, along with an errant cart that was parked nearby, that i only have to convince HALF the people to take back their cart, along with an extra--and it would still all get done!

ha! now i only need to convince 50% of the population to join me--not all. now that is do-able.

another item for my to do list: napkins

my next plan: sew enough fabric napkins so i can make it between laundry loads. no more paper napkins! yea!

i think this might be another gift idea, too, if i can find some cool fabrics: sets of reusable cloth napkins. nice.