Comments on: The Bare Minimum

By: amisha

amisha — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:44:56 +0000

i love using my cloth grocery bags! each time i see how many bags i am saving i feel like this small step is so important. i noticed that in europe they don’t bag your groceries at all… everyone has their own! if you need a bag you have to pay a bit extra. wish this practice would catch on here…

By: carrster

carrster — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 20:37:51 +0000

We compost all of our food waste which means our garbage can is nearly empty (and it’s the small kind) for our weekly pick up (usually 1 bag of garbage + kitty litter). We have our entertainment system on a power strip and shut it down when not in use (latley all the time), same with the computer gear. I reuse plastic grocery bags for everything from mailing packages to kitty duty to picking up garbage while hiking or just on our street. I make my own greeting cards and we donate everything we don’t want/need…we use SIGG bottles or Nalgenes for our water…but there’s more we could/should be doing!

By: michelle fiori

michelle fiori — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 22:34:31 +0000

Love the canvas bags. I love using reusable bags at the grocery store. I bought a few from Trader Joe’s, but I use them in every store I walk into. They sit in the front seat of the van until they are needed. I get the craziest looks from the cashiers at Fry’s and Bashas, but lets see when I start to care.

By: Miss Dot

Miss Dot — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:03:38 +0000

I shower with a bucket at my feet and use it on the garden. I use cloth bags for supermarket shopping but am trying to come up with a “seethru” bag to use when buying small items like beans etc, maybe old nylon curtains? any ideas anyone? they can’t be heavy as you are then paying for that weight at the checkout… hmmm. Thanks for the reminder, I am pretty good on most stuff except the lenght of my showers and hours and hours spent on the computer, but at least I turn off the lights

By: breanna

breanna — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:41:21 +0000

I’m with Wendy, I think it’s important to make being environmentally responsible look fun, stylish and easy. I have been using cloth bags, just bought my first Preserve toothbrush (made from recycled plastics),and am perfecting my cloth pantyliner design.

By: Raesha

Raesha — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 02:13:01 +0000

These are all wonderful ideas!! I turn the water off when I brush my teeth, and a staunch believer in if it’s yellow let it mellow….:):), I try to use cloth bags whenever possible, I recycle just about everything that is recyclable (I don’t think I spelled that right). One thing I’ve started doing is rinsing and reusing my ziploc baggies. I can’t get either hubby or Miss S to use plastic containers in their lunch bags, but I have found a little bit of success in having them bring home their ziploc baggies.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:36:24 +0000

Thanks for a great post. I’m currently remodeling my kitchen and am selling things to friends, on craig’s list and giving away on freecycle to keep the construction debris to go the landfill down to a minimum. Other things that I won’t need for the new kitchen are going to the church rummage sale and I’m stalling all energy efficient lighting.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:54:22 +0000

Its funny I was thinking about your question this am while I got ready for work, drove to work, and settled in with my am break and fast. Our lives are wrapped around using so much energy that sometime I don’t think what I’m doing,for instance. This is the total energy producing items I used just this am. 3 plastic bags for lunch, drive an hour to work by myself, 1 banana, 1 carton of milk, 1 straw, 1 cup with water and lid, small carton of yogurt. Whew! You really have to be conscious at all times what you are doing, the easy route of using time saving devices really add up. I think I also left the TV on in my office.

By: Zarah

Zarah — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:16:28 +0000

Thanks for the reminder. I think even the most sewing-phobic can sew a square onto a canvas bag!

By: Julia

Julia — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:14:54 +0000

That is such a great grocery bag! The tree fabric is neat. We’re pretty good about recycling grocery bags. We’re not so good at bringing our own cups to get coffees and ice teas. it’s not really done in this town and I always think people will raise their eye at me. Or, if you order a certain size drink, they won’t know how much to give you. I want to try to bring my cup more often though, and I’ll just figure out the fluid oz size of the cup so the vendor doesn’t worry.