Completed 2009 EnviroGoals- Part 1

So I've added a list of 2009 EnviroGoals- Most of the "In Progress" or "To Do" ones will be feeding the Footprint Fridays series. But I do want to go over what I have been able to do thus far in 2009 already.

Ban Paper Towels- When I think about how many paper towels I've gone through in my lifetime it makes me cringe... I cannot even begin to guesstimate how many paper towels I have put into landfills. But ironically enough, I just never thought about NOT using paper towels. It never dawned on me until I stumbled across an old Apartment Therapy topic "A Paper Towel-less Life." To be honest, this article is what turned on the light bulb for me about starting to work towards living more simply. So, we have one roll of old paper towels left that we're just keeping in the house for emergency purposes (Lola accidents and such) and then they'll be gone... FOREVER!

This was actually a more simple endeavor than I though. I mean, our parents and grandparents didn't have paper towels when they were growing up- it would have been thought wasteful. I just went to Target and bought a pack of dishtowels. I always seemed to accumulate a pile of hand towels and kitchen towels over the year that I had pretty much just used for decoration- so now we're actually using those for their purpose

Carpool to Derby- April and I try to carpool to derby whenever possible. We always had. More of a fiscal move than anything else.

Eliminate Meat- I've been a vegetarian for 10 years or so. The next goal is veganism. It's something I did for about 2 years at one time and slipped out of it a few years ago.

Enviro-Friendly Cleaning Products Only- When we moved to our new loft, I would not allow any unsafe chemicals to travel with us- We left several bottles behind. I know leaving them behind and "wasting" them probably killed April, but I wanted to start fresh with safe products only. We use Seventh Generation - Dishwashing powder, Laundry Detergent, Tile and Tub Cleaner, and Toilet Cleaner. I love ALL of their stuff and not only does it make everything so fresh and clean, clean, but it also makes me feel like I'm doing a little bit of my part. We do have one bottle of bad chemicals that I forgot to mention- it's a glass top stove cleaner. If anyone knows of something greener that can get that clean, PLEASE let me know.

Vermicompost- I will be talking about this later. Stay tuned!

Wash clothes in cold water- The only thing I wash with hot water are our roller derby pads and gear... because they really do need them. Otherwise, we're washing things in tap cold water in our more energy efficient washer. Next I need to look into line drying... hmmm... Adding that to my goals.

Most of these are just small things, but they make an impact...