Environment Crusader

I don't want to come across as bragging or anything, but last night I got a night out! Woohoo! Went to a movie with a couple of my girlfriends. We saw The Blind Side. It was terrific. I would highly recommend it.

I read Ali Edwards blog, and she linked to this particular email, that is all about creating a paperless kitchen in your home. Of course I'm very intrigued by it. I agree with it. And for the most part, I try as hard as I can to do my part. Having said that, creating a paperless kitchen is ONLY as good as the people you live with... [And I live with Barry] Enough said. It took me nearly 4 years to get him on-side with my quest to recycle. I hired a company for curbside pick up of our recycling, when we moved to our house. I was tickled to find out exactly HOW MANY THINGS could be recycled (including hard and soft plastics) I wanted them to come to me, because I KNEW I wouldn't got to them. I sorted, and bagged and did my part, and Bar, well he put stuff in the garbage... I often ranted and raved about 'how I'm trying to make a better place for our kids'. And still, he threw stuff in the trash. One day he suddenly started adding things into the recycling box, rather than the trash. I'm not trying to convince you that I've got him converted, because the other day, I noticed yogurt containers in the garbage, after he'd fed the kids lunch. So we are by NO MEANS there. But he's at least recognized, that stuff can indeed be recycled. The thing that I was so shocked about, when we began recycling, is HOW MUCH STUFF I recycle every week. How many things are NOT going to the landfill. Our garbage output reduced drastically. We only put out one bag a week, which I'm quite proud of. Especially if you take a drive through out neighborhood on garbage day. I have NO idea what people are throwing away, but it's shocking how many bags some houses put out.

Now, to get back to my point about a paperless kitchen. I don't know if I could EVER get Bar on side with NOT using paper towels. In fact, I wonder if maybe he has stock in a paper towel company and hasn't told me about. I have never seen a guy use as many paper towels as he can go through. We're talking juice spills on the floor (which c'mon, I have 2 kids, it happens on a weekly/daily basis) he jumps up, and grabs the PT, and off come 15 towels linked together, as he begins to mop of the floor. After that goes into the garbage, he pulls off another 15 PT, just to ensure the job is done. Maybe he wets a few PT to go over the area (juice is extremely sticky you know) Then maybe a few more PT to dry the area... We can put a serious dent in a roll of PT, from just one spill.

So, my seemingly impossible task is going to be to create a paperless kitchen, and get Bar very much on board... Wish me luck.