my own way to save the earth

This morning I slept in a bit late while Matt was busy trying to get to work earlier for a conference call. As such, we missed our opportunity to go on a morning run together--a nice little activity that died down with the onslaught of snow, but which has recently picked up with the warmer weather.

My solution was to run to the grocery store this morning to get a couple of groceries for dinner tonight. It was great! I passed all the kid-o's going to the closely located elementary and junior high schools while enjoying the fresh morning air. I showed up at Ream's (our favorite local grocery store!) a bit out of breath, but happily beaming from the brisk run.

A few minutes later I left with chocolate chips (for the mole tonight), oranges, and yogurt. I did NOT run back with my bag, but while I was walking home I thought of lots of different ways I could be a more conscious citizen of planet earth. Here are just a few of the ideas that came to mind:

• Buy a re-usable tote bag for grocery shopping so I don't use and create waste with the plastic bags groceries are normally bagged in.
• Start doing around-town errands on my bike. (It turns out my around-town errands are pretty much nil, besides grocery shopping, but in case I need to hop down to the post office...I've got it planned.)
• Try to re-use cottage cheese and sour cream containers. I'm finding that saved items very often come in handy at various moments.
• Buy more fresh food items. Simply cut down on canned items--they aren't as healthy and they create more non-biodegradable waste.
• Start using the herbs in our herb garden! (My next post will be about the herb garden.)
• Related to the previous point, make good use of the little garden space we have and the cherry tree and grape vines in our yard so we have our own food supply this year.

I may not be saving the world in one shot, but I am trying to do my own little part in leaning toward a solution--instead of toward the problem.