Living Green // Around My House

Awhile back I shared a post about things I do to be more environmentally friendly in my daily life. I thought I would share some photos of things around my house that are part of my "green" lifestyle. I love sharing my ideas and hearing new ones from you as well. I am always looking for new ways to go green.

ENERGY SAVING LIGHT BULBS
This is a pretty common one, I know. I remember when the CFL bulbs first came out and how expensive they were. No one wanted to buy them due to the cost. Our last house had so much lighting in it, that when we got our first utility bill we about had a heart attack. That is when we realized that we better consider the energy saving bulbs. It made a huge difference in our electrical bill cost. Also, I still have light bulbs that I used in the house back from 2007. The cost of the bulbs is totally worth it in the end. They aren't a just a gimmick.

REUSABLE SHOPPING BAGS
I've talked about this a few times on my blog. Reusable bags have come a long way. There are so many out there now and they come in a million different sizes to fit any shopping need. Plastic takes over 100 years to biodegrade in a landfill. Plastic bags are polluting our planet big time and wasting our non-renewal resources. All for a silly bag that is used for a short period of time. I love my reusable grocery bags. They are strong and durable. We also reuse the plastic produce bags week after week.
REUSABLE COFFEE MUGS
Think about how many people you see daily holding a Starbucks paper cup? Even my tiny town has four Starbucks in it. I use this coffee mug when I go to work everyday and also when I treat myself to a cup of coffee while out running around. Starbucks will give you a discount on your drink if you bring your own cup. They also give you a free cup of coffee if you return a empty Starbucks coffee bag. They take them back so that they can recycle them.

VINTAGE PYREX AND GLASSWARE
The bowl I use for my pets water bowl.
Buy secondhand and vintage items to use in your home. Even if they are being used as decoration. You are keeping things from ending up in landfills and new things from being mass produced. I love owning vintage items because to me they are a part of history. Sounds a bit cheesy I guess, but I tend to love things from the mid-century modern period. Also it's very rewarding to donate things that you don't currently use to your local thrift stores.

REUSE GLASS JARS
We have instant "canisters" for our spices by saving all our peanut butter jars. It's nice because they are all uniform looking as if we store bought them. Someday I hope to get some nice labels for them. For now I just write what the spice is on top of the lid. Why go out and buy a bunch of jars when you already paid for them when you purchased a food product?

REUSABLE WATER BOTTLE
This is another product that has come a long way. You can get many different types and sizes of bottles. They also have them with built in filters to give you that bottled water taste. I love my Camelbak bottle because I can easily carry it around just using only one finger.
RECYCLING TRASH CAN
Since almost everything we use is recyclable we now use our old trash can just for recycling. Once it is full we dump it in our large recycling trash can outside. It's so nice not to be throwing out a full trash bag of garbage daily. We now have a tiny trash can for the trash that we can't recycle.
PLASTIC BAGS

What do you do with all the plastic films and bags that products are sold in? In our kitchen we have a cabinet where we store all of this. Once we get a lot of it we take it to a recycling area. Our city doesn't pick up bags with the other recycling. This plastic is things like plastic that is as packaging around products, bread bags, bags that grapes come in, things that just can't be avoided when purchasing things at the store. The main large bag holding all the bags is a bag that was used to cover a pillow I purchased. It's hard to avoid getting all this plastic in our homes. It's used for everything.

DECORATING IDEAS

I framed some old maps that were in my cars glove box. They also have special meaning to me because I picked them up during a cross country road trip. They are of Phoenix Arizona and L.A. California. It's nice to be creative using things you already own instead of going out and buying new stuff.

SECONDHAND FURNITURE
I've gotten really good about buying vintage furniture verses new stuff. Honestly as much as I move around, I need the old sturdy furniture. That's what I love about mid-century modern things. Its durable and lasts forever.

BIODEGRADE TRASH BAGS

Since we recycle most of our trash we can get away with using smaller garbage bags now. These bags are actually less then $2.00 and we only use one a week. It works out really well for us and I'm keeping a lot of plastic trash bags out of the landfill. It feels good to make a difference. :)

BUY A DRY ERASE BOARD

We used to use paper every week to write out our grocery lists and meal plans. We bought a dry erase board for our fridge to eliminate that. I now type out my list on my cell phone. I find that I don't forget things at the store anymore since doing this. Once the list is completely cleared off on the phone I know I got everything. It's helped me out a lot. I always would forget something when I used my handwritten lists.

MAKE YOUR OWN HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS

We all know that websites like Pinterest are flooded with ideas for making your own household products. I do make my own cleaner that I use mainly in my kitchen. It's pretty much half vinegar and half water with some scented oil added. I also make my own laundry detergent. Which seems to last forever and has worked out really well for us. I sure don't miss buying it! :)

This is just some of the things that I do in my daily life that I feel are making a difference.
I would love to hear some of your ideas as well. I've also just learned to not buy things that I don't need.
Here are some links to other posts I have done related to this topic:

Ways I have Gone Green
Bag It in a Reusable Bag Please!
Be Green at Starbucks
Netflix Must See: BAG IT
Why I Recycle & Hope You Will 2

Ways I have GONE GREEN

I wanted to do a post that included all the things I have changed in my life to better the environment. I thought it would be a good way to give others ideas and hopefully you can leave me some MORE ideas in your comments below. I know there is room for improvement in my life. Let's see my list...


We would like to use less plastic packing, everything seems to come in plastic. Rice bags, bread bags, pizza crust, etc.. Why do I HATE plastic so much you may ask??? Because I find it so very wasteful. It's made from crude oil and takes over 100 years to biodegrade. So much plastic ends up blowing around in our trees, gets in our rivers and lakes and ends up in the ocean. This is one of those "REDUCE" things. When recycling isn't good enough in my opinion.

We finally found organic pasta that comes in a cardboard box! I won't buy strawberries that come in the little plastic container anymore. We buy our mushrooms out of the bins at the grocery store. I also buy celery now that doesn't come in a plastic bag. If there is a "better" package option, I buy it. We will probably start going to Whole Foods to buy more things in bulk and make our own bread more often to help cut down on plastic.

This is one of those super easy things that we can all do. It makes me sad when I see people at the grocery store getting 10 plastic bags and thinking to myself, "Those are probably going to go straight into the trash can." We have three really nice grocery bags that seem to always be enough for us every trip to the store. I have the foldable one I use and keep in my purse for all our other shopping.

We still get looked at like we are crazy sometimes. Lots of cashiers are caught off guard when you pull out your own bag. I even do it for tiny items because I want everyone around me to see me with my bag. People NEED to see them and get used to the idea. We also are currently reusing our plastic produce bags week after week. I plan to buy the cloth bags eventually, but the plastic ones are working out fine. It's the same thing as getting a new one every time. They do just as good as a job the second time around. Less plastic, less waste, less need to recycle them and less wasted crude oil. YAY!

This one is more Cody then me. He only uses bar soap now. No more bodywash. I however tried the bar soap thing and hated it. I missed all my suds from my bodywash. I currently have been using the same huge gigantic bottle of bodywash for months. When it is close to running out I plan to start making my own bodywash from bar soap and reusing my big plastic bottle. What to do about all those plastic shampoo bottles though? I've seen shampoo that is actually a bar of soap but haven't tried it yet. My hair is bleached so I need stuff for damaged hair. Any suggestions?

Cody got a straight razor for Christmas. He hasn't actually started using it yet because it has to be sharpened. It's so funny when will tell people about it because they seemed scared for Cody. Like he is going to cut his throat open. This decision was all his. No more plastic razors!!!

We are now using our own homemade laundry detergent. We have been using it for almost 2 months now. Everything seems clean to me. :) It doesn't have a strong scent to it but I suppose we could add more scented oil. We also switched to biodegradable dryer sheets. You can view my blog post about us making our laundry detergent HERE.

Instead of recycling all our glass jars, we reuse them to store our rice, peanuts, spices and other food in. It's way cheaper then going out and buying a bunch of glass jars or canisters. We already paid for them so why not use them?

I am a firm believer that buying bottled water is a joke and a waste of money. We used to do it though. Week after week. We liked that "filtered" water taste just like everyone else. We purchased a PUR water filter for $25 and hooked it up to our faucet. Now we have filtered water when ever we want it and use reusable plastic bottles. Paying for water is silly and wasteful. There are countries that don't even have clean drinking water! :(

We used to go to Starbucks a lot, so it made sense to me to just buy a glass reusable mug from them. I use it everyday when I go to work also. They give you a discount on your coffee if you bring your own mug. All the plastic cups that us coffee addicts drinkers waste everyday is mind boggling! When all we have to do it take our own! You can read my blog post about the coffee mugs HERE.

We recycle tons. Almost everything we use is recyclable. We use so many less trash bags. One bag a week and it's never stuffed full. It's mostly all food waste so in the spring we plan to start composting what we can. We are also switching to biodegradable bags. We don't mind spending more on them because we don't even use that many anyways. :)


One of my things on my 32 Things Before 32 List was to recycle, reuse and reduce MORE.
In a perfect world I would bike everywhere everyday. That may be in my future eventually.
Also buy a Prius. My dream car, complete with bike rack...


Okay, now give me some more ideas please...
This post is part of my MAKE A DIFFERENCE series. View more posts like this one HERE. All the images are mine taken using Instagram.

BAG IT IN A REUSABLE BAG PLEASE

I have become obsessed with plastic bags. I want them to GO AWAY! Ever since I watched the film BAG IT on Netflix, I realized how much our lives are filled with plastic. Wasteful plastic!! I stopped using plastic bags immediately after watching the film. I was already using reusable shopping bags at the grocery store, but not for all my other shopping. It's such a simple thing that we can all do to make a huge difference. Almost every store seems to have reusable shopping bags for sale now. Most of the time they are right in front of you at the cash lanes. The other day when I was at Target I found this bag over near the stationary area...


What makes this bag better? It folds and could easily be placed in a coat pocket or purse. It's also way cuter then the generic red ones that Target sells at the registers. I am always amazed at how many people carry one item out of a store in a huge bag. Heck, you can just use your cart and place your items gently in your car. That's what I do when I go to IKEA and other stores that have no bags. We are all programmed to get a bag. It's normal right? You just don't think about it.


So what is taking us all so long to realize that we don't need these evil little plastic things? I personally believe it's education and knowledge. Plastics are made from crude oil and when you start to realize HOW much of ALL our daily items come in some type of plastic bag, plastic packaging or it is plastic itself,....that's A LOT of resources we are using up. Wasteful. It takes one plastic bag over 100 years to biodegrade in a landfill. 100 years! We use it for 15 minutes to get our treasures from the thrift store home, one top you purchased at Target or you get about 20 of them for your groceries every week! Think about how many other people are doing the same thing?!? It's a bit scary when you think about it? We all have to spread the word and tell people that this is a serious problem.


Our wildlife and planet is paying the biggest price. Cody and I live in one of the windiest cities in the United States. I hate to say this so bluntly, but people are lazy and there is trash blowing all over the place. When you live here, common sense tells you that leaving a half empty trash can outdoors or all your kids plastic toy balls is probably not a good idea. Yet I am always looking out my window at trash, toys and plastic in my backyard. We get wind gusts up to 60 m.p.h. here. You shouldn't even have outdoor furniture. No one cares. Some days I finally get mad enough that I go outside and just start picking it up myself. The more ironic part to me is that it's ALL RECYCLABLE, so it goes into my recycling bins. :) I learned from the movie BAG IT, that all our loose trash ends up in all our water ways. Which in the end goes to the ocean....


LINKS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

There are many cities that are BANNING PLASTIC BAGS. Another great thing about the BAG IT film is that their website gives you tools on how you can start your own BAG IT campaign in your own town or city. I am REALLY considering doing this in my city. I think I have the drive and the passion to do it. As you can see from this post alone, I feel very strongly about it. I love the saying, "It takes more effort to care about something, then to not care at all." That is so me. I have become a more "angrier" person because my views have changed so much. I guess it's not just angry, I am just passionate about making the world a better place. I have such a strong drive and desire to make a difference. Now I want to share with you the reusable bags that I use on a daily basis. I picked this Chico Bag up for $4 at Natural Grocers....


I love it because it can hook on to your purse or even a belt loop on your jeans. It folds inside of itself. It's a lot more convenient then the bigger tote bags that all the retailers sell. I actually made a quick video of myself opening it and closing it that you can watch below...


We shop at Target a lot. Every time I go this bag goes with me. When I go through the checkout I try to quickly and politely say, "No bag please." The reacts I get are almost priceless.
"Really?"
"Are you sure?"
"Okay?" (with a rude undertone)

You have to inform your cashier very quickly that you don't want a bag because they are always ready to just start stuffing. Most stores have the bags ready and open! Target is one of these places. They do give a 5 cent off discount for every reusable bag you use at Target. The signs are very tiny though and I wish they would promote this on their doors when you first come in the store. Plastic bags can not be cheap for all these stores to provide their customers. I cringe thinking about all the holiday shopping that's getting ready to kick off and all the shoppers proudly carrying around their plastic shopping bags.

My bags I use every week for grocery shopping. We also reuse the plastic produce bags weekly.

Yes some of us recycle our bags, so what's the big deal right? Well, recycling is not enough when it comes to the amount of crude oil that is being used to make our plastic world. I urge you to watch the BAG IT film. It's a humorous documentary that keeps things "light", but still is VERY educational and leaves you with the tools you need to make a difference in our every day lives. Leaving us all with a more hopefully future and cleaner planet. YAY! :) Another great thing about using a reusable bag is you are making a statement. When people watch you leaving a store with a reusable bag, they see it. It's instantly making people think about it. It's like a walking billboard in a way.

In collusion, if you actually read all that,...I am giving away the reusable bag that I purchased at Target.

The giveaway is hosted over on Emily's blog Tea Tree. When she approached me about being included in her "Giving Thanks" group giveaway on her blog I was super excited. Emily is also passionate about using reusable bags and it's a great way to give thanks to our planet. Head over to Emily's blog to see all the great prizes in her Giving Thanks Giveaway! The giveaway ends November 21st! Good Luck!
I hope I have left you inspired. :)

This post is part of my MAKE A DIFFERENCE series. View more posts like this one HERE.

Be GREEN at STARBUCKS

I have become more increasing frustrated with the fact that restaurants and stores do not provide recycling bins. I really started to think about how I wanted to make a difference in my local community. We actually stopped going to Starbucks for a few weeks, because I didn't want to have to be given a "to go" cup and not be able to recycle it there after drinking it 10 minutes later. Didn't make much sense to me. This was also influenced by the film BAG IT that I blogged about a few weeks ago. You will probably get sick of hearing about the movie BAG IT, or you'll think that it must be awesome because I talk about it so much. ;)

Our solution was to go buy glass tumblers that we can take with us every time we go out to Starbucks....


We chose these glass tumblers (12oz for Tall coffees) instead of plastic. We are also not using plastic as much either. Again, thanks BAG IT! :)

Cody got on their website before we went to Starbucks and it had all this great information about their recycling and reducing waste procedures in there coffee shops. It cheered me up. I didn't feel as frustrated. It even says that their shops should have bins for recycling, so I probably just didn't see them!


Call me crazy to worry about coffee cups! LOL I think it's awesome that Starbucks let's you do this. BUT, why didn't I know sooner? There should be signs in their shops promoting this. I guess I need to look harder and ask more questions! I encourage you to do the same. The tumblers are really cute anyways....



It's just another simple thing that anyone can do that all adds up to make a huge difference!
Recycling and doing simple little things like buying a travel mug to reuse at Starbucks is so rewarding for me.
It's very similar to the feeling I would get when I adopted out a homeless animal at the animal shelter.
I don't care what anyone says, one person can make a difference!

Text and Information below is taken from the Starbucks website:

How You Can Help?
Use a tumbler

Use a Tumbler at Starbucks
You save 10¢ and a paper cup every time.

Use the Right Can Every Time
The waste receptacles in our stores are all marked with detailed lists of the materials they’re intended for, like paper cups, plastic lids, food waste and more. Scan the tops of the cans before you toss to make sure your putting rubbish in the right place.

Improve Recycling in Your City
Could your city do a better job at recycling? Write to your mayor and ask for more action on this important issue.

Please visit Starbucks Recycling & Reducing Waste page for lots of great information HERE.
This post is part of my MAKE A DIFFERENCE series. View more posts like this one HERE.

Netflix Must See: BAG IT

Taking a break from Fashion Friday! Today I wanted to talk about something important to me.

I watch so many great films on Netflix. I always joke that Netflix has changed my life! I can laugh about it, but it's so true. It allows me to watch things that I would have never had the chance to without it. There are so many things I want to share with you. The first one being a documentary about plastic bags and plastic in general.

Did you know that plastic is made from crude oil? I didn't. Not to mention all kinds of chemicals that if you knew what they were, you would probably never even touch plastic again. I learned so much from watching the film BAG IT.


It was eye opening for me. I realized that recycling isn't enough for me and that I need to also cut down the amount of plastic I buy. I urge you to watch this film. If you don't have Netflix I am sure you can find great clips of the film online. The guy in the movie is really funny also!

Here is a great preview video of the movie!

Bag It Intro from Suzan Beraza on Vimeo.

Have you heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? I hadn't! I love the ocean and all the creatures in it, so this was heartbreaking news for me. It's a place in the ocean where all the trash ends up that doesn't make it to the landfills, litter etc.. Of course it's killing our marine life. They eat it or get straggled by it.

Image by Flickr User: Steveorama
“In the United States alone, an estimated 12 million barrels of oil is used annually to make the plastic bags that Americans consume. The United States International Trade Commission reported that 102 billion plastic bags were used in the U.S. in 2009. These bags often wind up in waterways or on the landscape, becoming eyesores and degrading water and soil as they break down into toxic bits. Their manufacture, transportation and disposal use large quantities of non-renewable resources and release equally large amounts of global-warming gases. Ecologically, hundreds of thousands of marine animals die every year when they eat plastic bags mistaken for food.” – Bag It website

Time to say NO to useless bags and buy some reusable ones!!!!
I already use reusable grocery bags, but not for other shopping.
That changes TODAY!
I don't need a bag for one tiny little item, my hands work fine. Thanks.
The other thing I loved about this film is it's all such common sense stuff. Like, why does Starbucks and other places give me "to go" cups that I use for about 10 minutes, but takes 100 years to bio-degrade??? Does that make any sense? Also, none of these places have recycling bins! I am going to see if I can buy a "Starbucks" travel mug for them to put my coffee in from now on. I am over it.

When I met Peter Hammarstedt last month, he said that everyone can make a difference. You just have to use whatever your "talent is" or whatever you are good at. I have this blog. I have a voice and I want it to be heard. :)

Have a GREAT weekend!
This post is part of my MAKE A DIFFERENCE series. View more posts like this one HERE.

Why I Recycle & Hope You Will 2

Alright, I am going to do this post the best I can without sounding like I am on a soapbox! Recycling is something that I am very passionate about, just like saving whales and conserving wildlife. It really all goes hand in hand! If you love the ocean, nature, animals, going to parks, the beach or any outdoor activities, then recycling may be something that you do already or maybe you should consider doing. By recycling it creates less waste and we can keep the planet cleaner and enjoy all those things I listed above, for years to come! The main reason I am have decided to share this post with you is because I only started recycling last summer. I never cared about recycling or the planet. It wasn't something I ever even thought about. My mindset was like most peoples, "Trash goes in the trash can. Done." We all know that certain regions in our country are what I would call "more green" then others. It's not necessarily anyone's fault. Most people just don't THINK about it or may not have a recycling pick up service provided for them.

I grew up in Ohio. Being green or recycling is just not something that was very popular in the area where I was raised. It's sad really. If I would of know years ago how easy it is to recycle and the benefits, I would of started awhile back! The photo below is the Rumpke landfill located near the area of Ohio that I grew up. I drove by this thing my entire life. I chose this picture because it was literally taken on highway 27. This is the view that I saw when I would go to work or shopping daily... Image Source: Ohio Citizen The sight of this large mound of trash wouldn't even effect me. It was just something I had grew up around. Seeing it now breaks my heart. It's actually called "Mt. Rumpke" by the locals. It's pretty much a landmark, as if it's a real mountain. Kinda gross when you think about, and it defiantly has a unique stench. When I was in high school one of my close friends joined the Air Force. Toward the end of his four year enlistment he ended up living in the state of Utah. He would come home to visit me in Ohio and I would beg him to move back. His reply always was, "There are no mountains here." I had not seen mountains or experienced the beautiful scenery the west has to offer, so I didn't really get it. I would joke and say, "Well Ohio has Mt. Rumpke!"

Last year when I moved to California things changed. The beauty of the change that happened to me, is that NO ONE changed me or forced me to change. It was all me and on my own. Things influenced me or I'd like to say "opened my eyes" to things I had never thought of before. First of all just driving across the country and seeing mountains and beautiful scenery opened my eyes. I felt so connected to mother nature and just saw what natural beauty our planet really has to offer us. It really made me want to do my part to help keep it that way!

My roommate that I rented a room from in California recycled. She had probably 6 different small trash cans lined up in her garage where you could place glass, plastic, newspaper, etc. into! It was easy. It would take months for it to really get full enough to have to empty. In the city of Lompoc, CA there is a small recycling center where everyone would drive their recycling to. You did get paid for your recycling also. Since I was only there for a few months I don't know all the details of how the recycling works. I do know she took it all once and it was enough money for her to purchase tons of food. She used the money to purchase steaks and have a cookout for her friends. I guess if getting paid for your recycling helps motivate you, go for it! Whatever works. :) She did it though because she wanted to. The money was just a perk. Here are my main reasons for recycling...


1. I LOVE how good it makes me feel // Really it does. It sounds cheesy I know! I feel so happy when I put something in my recycling bin at home or drop recycling off!

2. It's good for our planet & future generations // If you have young family members, children, grand kids, etc... You should consider it for them. All of us have some outside activity that we enjoy. Like I said earlier it all goes hand in hand. Let's keep it clean for us and them to enjoy. :)

3. I want there to be a clean planet for my kids // The thought of my kids not being able to go see the Rocky Mountains or Yellowstone National Park breaks my heart. We all have to learn to take better care of our planet. I want my kids to be raised loving outdoor activities. Know what real mountains are like, not "Mt. Rumpke".

4. It's easy // It is. It took us months to fill up just one small tote of glass jars! If you get yourself some cheap plastic totes, bins or trash cans and get organized you would be amazed at how easy it is.

5. We only have 1 bag of trash a week // This amazes me. This just proves to myself that just about everything that you view as regular trash can be recycled. Before we recycled and we lived at our old apartment, I think we took a bag of trash out daily! Trash bags are expensive also, so it's saving us money!

We are lucky to have a large trash can provided for us for our recycling. They take plastics 1 - 2, cardboard (which is what most food boxes are made of!), junk mail, paper, tin and aluminum. There are many recyclables though that our trash pickup will not take: Glass, plastics 3 - 7 and plastic bags. Now that I pay attention to the amount of bags that stores give you, I use my own shopping bags when I grocery shop. What a great thing it is to not have to bring all those plastic grocery bags home!

Being on our plant based diet we buy tons of produce. Which means lots of the clear produce bags. They are all recyclable so I make sure that I recycle them. We probably use 40 - 50 bags grocery shopping a month. That's just one person. Imagine how many we are all using together? So, it's a huge help to the planet to recycle them verses just throwing them in the regular trash can. Last weekend we drove all of our recycling that could not be recycled in the state of Wyoming down to Ft. Collins, Colorado....
Don't I look happy? I was. I was super excited to be able to leave all my plastic bags at the recycling center!
Cody says I am a nerd! Whatever, maybe I am. I don't care what people think.
I know what I am doing is a very good thing. :)

That huge Disney bag held so many bags. It took months to accumulate all those bags:
Produce, shopping bags, food packaging, baggies and anything that was plastic of any sort went in there!
The recycling area in Ft. Collins was very easy to find. It's basically just a big parking lot with huge dumpsters that are labeled to let you know what can and can not go in them. They make it very simple to just drive up and throw your stuff in. Cody threw our small tote worth of glass in there while I took his picture. LOL

It was a good day! Now our garage is empty and I am starting my recycling over.
I hope to come up with a cute decorative way to organize my recycling, I just haven't thought of anything yet.
IKEA has great recycling bins, so I might just buy some of those next time we go. One thing that I have noticed lately is that when we eat at Subway their wrapping that goes around the sandwich, bags, drink cups and napkins are all recyclable. The packing even says "please recycle" on it. Yet there is no where in the restaurant to do that. I find that a bit ironic and upsetting. That's a lot of stuff that could be recycled everyday all over the country. It's so simple to just put a recycling trash can out. IKEA is great about having marked trash cans for regular trash and a recycling trash can side by side. During my last trip to the Denver IKEA, someone had thrown away their PLASTIC (cleary recyclable) cup in the regular trash can verses moving their arm over a 1/2 inch to the recycling / plastic can! It made me so angry and sad at the same time.

I recently read the quote, "Be the change that you wish to see in the world."

It touched my heart more then any quote ever has in my entire life.
That is me and where I am in my everyday life!
That is also why I decided to post this and share my feelings with you.
I'll leave it at that.....
Love,
Jessie