When I started this I thought it was going to be harder but it ended up being pretty easy!

Still going strong today! This has been an excellent change for my family and myself.

It is hard to work on my challenges every day, I forget about them. This weeks I couldn't go to the farmer's market in Moscow

Did you know you can check out energy meters from the Lewiston City Library?  You plug it into the wall then plug in something like a cell phone charger or a lamp and it will tell you how much energy is being used when plugged in!

I traveled to the East Coast for my 20th reunion last weekend and packed a whole day of food with me for my trip.   I didn't buy anything on that travel day.  It was wonderful saving the extra money and not creating more waste on the travel day.  When drinks are served on the plane I often ask for the whole can of sparkling water and skip the plastic cup and ice.  I know some airlines recycle the cups now but there are SO many plastic cups being used once and throw away every day on plane rides- is this really necessary?!

So far, this has been great for my family. It is an opportunity to talk with my kids about the environment and what we can do to help it stay healthy. They see me doing things and they do them too. My kids have started bringing home stuff from school to recycle and they pay more attention to what is happening outside, for example they noticed that the birds were bathing in dirty street water and they built a birdbath for our yard. We are all more in tune to the world around us and we have benefitted in ways I didn't expect. 

I bought a water filter and have been using that instead of plastic bottled water. It tastes the same, if not better, and my water bottle holds more water so I don't have to refill as often.

I have been using reusable bags when I go to the store. This has been beneficial to our budget as well as the environment. It keeps me from buying too much at once. I only get what we need since I have limited space in the bags. It's been a bonus because we have less food waste and less trash too!

I have bought a few travel mugs and I started using these regularly. I didn't realize how many coffee shops are perfectly fine with filling your own mug instead of using a paper one from their shop. All you have to do is ask.

My family has been separating plastics, cardboard and organics from the trash. The organics have gone into a composting can while the plastic and cardboard have their own individual containers. Some plastics, such as bottles, we use to make rope. It's surprisingly strong.