Its All About Habits

I had to work tonight, and enjoyed my night. We were very very busy, but I like it busy because the night goes so much faster, and I feel like I've accomplished a lot. Don't get me wrong, some nights I don't even want to BE there, but I figure everyone feels that way sometimes.

After work I made my first trip to the recycle bins on the food service dock. The recycling dumpsters were fairly easy to find. And I could just about drive my car right up to them, pop the trunk, and just unload. The cardboard bin was up some steps, but no big deal.

It felt SO GOOD to know that now I can actually recycle almost EVERYTHING. I smiled the whole way home thinking about how none of this lifestyle is really that hard. Its all about changing a few habits, and rearranging our lifestyle just a little bit.
And it really is just a little bit. Or maybe its more a string of lots of "little bits".

For example, by recycling almost everything, we can now get a good idea of where we have to improve yet. Whatever is left in the trash can that can't be recycled is where we need to improve. Plastic wrap, the occasional paper towel (my husband is the one guilty of that one!!), wet food cardboards (like ice cream containers or pizza delivery boxes...they are cardboard, but nobody wants them because they had messy food in them). It shouldn't take too much more tweaking to rid ourselves of whatever is left.

And since we are eliminating the packaging coming *into* our house, it motivates me to use those cloth grocery bags. So, now I put them in the trunk of the car, or maybe I'll put them in the backseat until I get in the habit of actually taking them WITH me into the store!!

Another easy habit to change is water use. Where before I washed my face and brushed my teeth over the bathroom sink, now I put a 5gal bucket in the tub. I shave my legs in it (and warm my feet in the winter), wash my face over it, brush my teeth over it, etc. Not only does this help me *see* how much water I'm actually using, I can use the same water at least TWICE by taking the bucket out and watering plants with it, or washing the car with it.

Except for washing my hair and a 2 minute shower (not every day), I only use about 5gal or less per WEEK. Thats a huge cut in water use. And to use it all twice makes the water much more useful. And of course, I'm salivating waiting for that Wonder Clean washer to get here!! To think of the amount of water THAT will save, and I'll even be able to dip rainwater and use that in the Wonder Clean, cutting our town water use even more.

And of course, using cloth toilet paper makes it possible to delay flusing the toilet because toilet paper isn't building up in the bowl....another huge water savings.

Knowing that I need to pay attention to the ripening times of locally grown/sold produce makes it necessary to plan my days around harvesting and preserving food.

Not using a clothes dryer means I have to plan laundry around sunny days.

All of these are just little things, and they really aren't that hard. They are actually very simple, and anyone can do them. And just think of how MUCH we can conserve by doing just a few of these things.

Too often we as individuals can be overwhelmed with wondering what our piddly attempts can possibly accomplsih in the grand scheme of things. But if *everyone* just changed a few of their habits, imagine what could be accomplished on a national scale!

Just change one thing at a time. Pick one thing, and do it for a month. Then add another thing. It takes a month to change a habit. And if you do it slowly and deliberately, it will be easy. And it will get you excited about all the possibilities! And your excitement will be contageous and you will inspire others!

Think of all the ripples in the pond from just one tiny stone. You can be that tiny stone. Just DO IT!!