This Lenten season our family is focusing on ways to cut back our wasteful habits that have a negative impact on ourselves, neighbors and the environment. This week I am very excited about a couple things that are related to this goal.
Free Ozark Native Tree & Shrub Program
The Beaver Watershed Alliance provided our community a variety of trees to plant in our yards to reforest. My husband spent an afternoon planting a dozen or so trees (because he is awesome) and I’m crossing my fingers some of them grow. I’m also thankful for the local volunteers who planted trees along the river. It’s inspiring to see people working together to keep our lakes, rivers and streams healthy.
Beautiful Lives Thrift Boutique in Fayetteville, Arkansas
There are just so many reasons why I loved shopping with my sister this weekend. One of the highlights was discovering the Beautiful Lives Thrift Boutique that sells upscale used clothing at an affordable price and donates profits to charities. My sister bought me a green Express shirt for $5 that I’m looking forward to wearing on St. Patrick’s Day. I enjoy consignment shopping because I can get new items in my closet without contributing to some of the social and environmental negatives that come out of ‘fast fashion’.
Ways We Are Reducing Waste at Home
I mentioned our goals last week (here), but I thought I would share a few updates:
- Less Glass – We are limiting alcohol consumption to weeknights only, so instead of having a glass of wine and watching an episode of Mad Men we are sipping decaf tea. We thought about stocking up on sparkling water, but decided the extra cans would be counter productive.
- No Drive Thru Foods or To-go Drinks –We’ve been doing a good job at mostly eating at home, but my daughter requested Chick-fil-A this afternoon and I obliged. I don’t think we cut out much waste by going inside which was a bummer, but I cut back where I could by not taking a plastic straw or the awesome disposable place mats that they offer for kiddos.
- No Shopping Bags – This goal was the one that I got the most feedback on. I’ve heard several people are giving up plastic bags for lent and I’m excited we are doing it together!
- Avoid Single Serving Packaging – This goal has been harder – my kids basically ate a big bag of goldfish in a day. Also, I’ve been struggling to maintain portion control on things like almonds. We will figure this out, but I think it’s our biggest struggle so far.
#lesswastelent
Finally, I said I would share updates on instagram (#lesswastelent) and I’ve been failing at this mission because reducing waste is hard to get a pretty picture of. I tried to pose our 2-year-old with an umbrella by one of our new little trees, but it was raining and the umbrella blew away and she fell down and got muddy. It was a complete picture taking fail. So, if you want to share any ideas or pictures with me, I would love to see them!
rocky mountain tot 