~Lois Louise

Last week I tracked my green/non-green habits for a day as a baseline. And I added this experience to my journal. I’ve continued to be conscious of my habits.

Yesterday, I made a plan to live as GREEN as I possibly could for a day. I found I was thinking all the time.  Every single time I turned around, decided to do this or that, etc., I was making another  green choice.  Here are three things that, by thinking them through, I was able to control my non-green actions and turn them into positives.

1. After reading the Sunday paper and clipping out ads, I made a plan to do my last minute Christmas shopping.  Usually, I just drift through the shopping day (or spread shopping out through the week) and ate here and there as I got hungry or just wanted a treat. This time I planned!  I packed some healthy snacks and a (refillable) water bottle so I’d avoid the wrappers, fast foods and treats, wasted gas, etc. I planned a route for my shopping that probably reduced travel by several miles. I also decided one of the sales wasn’t good enough to warrant driving across town for the items listed. I bought some kitchen and bathroom towels in Christmas colors for wrap on my last stop and headed home. I had a fabulous day that found me at home wrapping the gifts about two hours earlier than normal for such a shopping trip. I also avoided the heavy traffic of rush hour. A great day!

2. Often, when I shop ‘til I almost drop, I love to come home and fill up the tub so I can relax and wash the day away.  Well, I determined a better way would be to take a few minutes on the (non-electric) recumbent bike and get a shower.  The shorter, less stressful day of shopping provided time for exercise and a freshening up for the evening.  I saved gallons of hot water, and I felt great when the day was over.

3. Wrapping packages was simple this year…I used all of last year’s material (purchased before I even thought about being greener), and then I got out the towels to finish up wrapping the rest of the gifts.  I rummaged around in the garage and found some wide white twine that I remember from having moved in to the house about 7 years ago.  It was time to use it up as “ribbon”. I cut up old Christmas cards for some of the cutest Christmas tags you’ve seen, and each was unique.  By 5:30 p.m., my day was complete, and I was ready to have a relaxing evening reading the articles I’ve saved, welcoming a friend for a cup of tea, and watching Animal Planet with my puppy.

This was a great day. I found myself taking time to think before I acted, and this impacted lots of areas of my life—I exercised, saved time for other things, ate healthy, and enjoyed  my Greenest Day!