During a meeting at work, we started talking about New Year's resolutions.  One of my co-workers said that instead of making resolutions he picks a theme for the year.  This year his theme was acceptance.  I think this is such a good idea.  Resolutions put such pressure on you and instead of a positive effect, when we can't keep our usually unrealistic resolutions, we end up feeling like failures.  A theme seems so much more positive.  For 2008, I'm picking the theme of reduce and reuse.  I already do some things to help reduce the amount of waste I contribute to the planet such as using cloth napkins instead of paper towels and reusing plastic baggies.  I can do better and that's my mission for the coming year.  I'm also going to encourage family, friends, and you to reduce and reuse.  One of my pet peeves is bottled water.  In Michigan, bottled water doesn't have a 10 cents deposit, unlike pop cans/bottles, so they and those from other states, simply get thrown into the landfills by the gazillions (ok, it's actually 38 billion!).  I admit that I have bought bottled water on occassion but, after finding out that several of the waters are filtered tap water, no more.  I have a Nalgene bottle at work and I'm going to make sure I always carry one with me.  I already filter my own water with a Brita pitcher so I was happy to see that Brita and Nalgene have teamed up to Filter For Good.  A project that aims to get people to make the committment "to reduce your personal waste by giving up bottled water, even if it's just a few days each week."   If you need a bottle check out the Filter For Good website - for every $10 bottle bought by the end of the year, they'll give $4 to the Blue Planet Run Foundation, which helps provide safe drinking water to those who are without it (that's 1 in 5 people).  Even if you don't need a bottle go to the site and take the pledge to reduce your bottled water usage.   38 billion bottles a year!  Let's reduce that number!

Comments

[Melanie]

Hi Ann, you should read this article about plastics--it is about the toxicity of some plastics (including those often used for reusable water bottles). http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2007/09/practical-values.html
Another reason not to buy bottled water...or many other things in plastic containers.

[Ann]

Yikes!I thought I was doing good buying the small plastic containers to carry food in but now I think i'll switch to glass.