Reusable totes are awesome. When you don’t suck, and actually bring them.
The second Monday of the month sometimes (when I pull my head out of my ass) means I’ll post a piece about the things that John and I do to help lift a little burden off of Mother Earth’s shoulders. It’s this thing I started doing after I was completely disgusted on a walk almost 2 years ago (wow, it’s been that long?). I was appalled at how much trash people just throw on the ground, basically.
Back then, I realized I was pretty disgusted with a lot of things I was (or wasn’t) doing, too. No, not the Asian Porn fetish or even the Kitten Juggling. That stuff is fun! I’m talking about the stuff that’s not so good for the environment (like the Aqua Net huffing problem I had).
So we started changing little things in our life for the better, to help the earth, its inhabitants, and ourselves. And I started a project – PSBN – and began posting about those things here, to share with and inspire you. (So consider yourself shared with. And inspired.) It was a whole Happy Happy Love Love Green Living Be Awesome To The Earth I Believe That Children Are The Future Teach Them Well And Let Them Lead The Way kind of thing.
Did you see what I did there? Ahhh, yeah. You liked it, didn’t you?
Anyway.
I’ve gotten really lazy about putting up these posts. I have to be honest with you – I know that some of you have been supportive about them and enjoyed them, but they generally don’t seem to draw must interest and like anyone, that kind of makes it harder for me to work up the energy to make an effort and put them together. That assholishness apathy on my part as well as being lazy as hell just not creating as much time for posts anymore overall means I’ve skipped several of these “second Mondays” without publishing anything for PSBN.
I know. I’m a shitbrain.
This, by the way, happens to be something I abhor about myself – I get really into something, but then I get lazy and I don’t maintain my momentum. I forget, or I find other things to amuse me, and I lag off. (Hahaha, you thought I was going to say jack off. Yes you did. Liar. Ok, I thought I was going to say it.)
This *might* be why Dana called me a lazy douche last year, and why I’ve run with that whole “I’m a Lazy Douche!” gag for this whole time. Because it’s really the truth! (I still haven’t answered all those questions, Dana. You were so right! Isn’t that awesome?)
LAZY DOUCHE, FTW.
And that really actually segues well into today’s PSBN topic, which is Reusable Totes for shopping.
I loved the shit out of the idea of reusable totes. In fact, I took that idea and I bought it a nice steak dinner. I bought it many, many glasses of fine wine. I told it how sexy hot it was and then? I took it home with me, full of unclean intentions. I rubbed that freaking reusable totes idea up against my trembling body until… uh. Um. *clears throat* I think I’m getting carried away. What were we talking about again?
Oh. Yeah. I was in love with the idea of using some bags over and over again.
Don’t Waste – Reuse, beeshes.
So. I totally freaking bought them and started using them every time I got groceries.
And IT.WAS.AWESOME.
I was totally single-handedly saving the world.
SUPER HEROIN IN THE HOUSE, BEESHES.
Wait. Wait. That makes it sound like I was shooting some kind of incredibly refined drugs into my veins in my domicile. And while that might be true, it wasn’t what I was trying to say.
But basically,
I AM AWESOME. You can say thank you any time. (For saving Earth, and all. You’re welcome.)
So yeah to recap: I was using the bags and it was awesome (like shooting up drugs).
But then I would forget them at home.
And (like shooting drugs) it started happening more and more. (It’s either premature aging, excessive alcohol consumption, or all those times I’ve slammed my head into the wall.)
(On purpose.)
So yeah. I would forget them constantly… and I would berate myself.
Me in the parking lot of the grocery store:
“You stupid, stupid bitch! You forgot the fucking bags AGAIN!”
“Well you could just drive home and get them before you shop.”
(Yes, I talk back to myself. DON’T ACT LIKE YOU DON’T. Also, if you don’t… just, you know, pretend like you do and lets move on so I can protect the fragile shell of my imagined sanity.)
“DRIVE HOME AND GET THEM? ARE YOU A MORON?”
“Uh. Uh. No?”
“Well, see… CLEARLY YOU ARE. If we drive home and get them we’ll be POLLUTING MORE and, also? WASTING GAS. Do you even have two brain cells left to rub up against one other? I swear I hate that I’m you.” *spits in own face*
(That is a talent of amazing proportions. I can sense your jealousy.)
“But, but…” *sobbing*
“You make me SICK. Pathetic. Why don’t you just grab a broom handle and stick it up Mother Earth’s ass and call it a day, okay?”
*continued sobbing*
“I am going to strangle you with the plastic grocery bags when we get home.”
It’s really embarrassing, by the way, to have this kind of argument with yourself in a public place. I mean, usually this kind of thing happens only at home…
“You stupid whore, did you forget to take meat out to thaw for dinner AGAIN!??? Come here so I can SLAP YOU WITH THE HAND OF RIGHTEOUS FURY.”
…and at least there’s no one to gasp or scurry away blatantly. And no parents telling their kids, “Honey, don’t look, just keep walking. Hurry. She might hurt us.”
I guess what I’m saying is that employing the use of those Reusable Grocery Totes is REALLY REALLY AWESOME and can help us SAVE OUR PLANET if we actually remember to bring them with us to the store.
And what I’m asking, no, *begging* you to tell me is, What the hell do you awesome people who use them every time do to REMEMBER TO ACTUALLY BRING THOSE SHITS WITH YOU?
Please help me. Please.
Omg, I was going to end the post there, but then I just totally had an idea for making them into underwear so you’d always have one with you. No, wait. That would be gross, wouldn’t it?
Darn.
Oh, and while you’re sitting there trying to figure out exactly how to make me start taking meds, please link up any posts you’ve written recently that discuss “green” topics. Thanks!
Help me, Rhonda. (and the rest of you, too, please)
Not that long ago, I told you all that I just didn’t have the mojo to write anymore.
And that was true. In fact, for some time now, I haven’t had the mojo to do a lot of things that I used to do. The only thing I’ve really had mojo for is sleeping.
I could sleep for lifetimes.
And while I was half asleep mentally and emotionally, I asked some fabulous bloggers to step up and provide wonderful content for you – and, oh my, they did! I am humbled and amazed at the response I got from those I asked. In fact, there are still guest posts waiting to be published here. I can’t say thank you enough to these wonderful people.
I made a page containing list of past and future guest posters, if you’d like to look them over.
The thing is, lately, I can feel Ms. Mojo poking back around her old stomping grounds. And as I’m waking up slowly from this coma, I’m feeling like things are just not as they should be around here.
I’ve missed PSBN for months. That makes me sad, and I hate it. My blogging schedule has been here, there, and everywhere.
It’s time for me to exert control over mah blawg again. I want to get things back in order so that you don’t come over here feeling like you were heading to a bake sale but ended up in an S&M Bar.
(But don’t think I didn’t see you grinning at the black leather-clad lady holding the whip. Mm-hm. I saw ya. But I won’t tell. Maybe.)
So, I have a handful of plans to get my groove back and have some fun with you guys again. I’d love to get your feedback.
I do this blogging thing for me, but I do it for you, too. If I didn’t, this would all be in a journal in my nightstand. So let me know what you think. 
Please vote on the polls that go along with these questions, and I’d love to have any suggestions/elaborations you’d like to give me in the comments on this post!
PSBN starts back up this coming Monday. Will you post along with me?
The “I Wonder” Series has been dead – should I start it up again?
The BEWB Vote was fun – should we do it again?
Would anyone be intersted in a Bi-Annual Photo Contest with prizes?
I still have guest posts to share with you. But to offer some consistency, I’m thinking of starting a weekly Guest Post Day on Tuesdays called, “Lazy Douche Enablers”
*note: this poll allows you to choose more than one answer. you can also choose “other” and write a comment, but keep it to a few words, or it will get cut off and I won’t be able to see it all
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PS: Thank you so very much to all of you who voted on my question about whether I should try to sell my handmade paper. The response really overwhelmed me – 95% of you chose one of the options that directs me to sell the paper. So many awesome comments and suggestions, too. Thanks so much, guys! I will let you all know when the Etsy Shop is up and running with product. 
ALL-ONE-OR-NONE!!! Just use the soap. Don’t drink the Koolaid.
I do a little thing around here where I post about ways that John and I try to become more environmentally friendly (and I invite people to link in with any of their recent “green posts”). I call it Project Support Beauty in Nature (PSBN) and I kind of declared that I would do that every month, on the second Monday of the month.
But I didn’t take into account the fact that:
a) At some point, the second Monday of the month would be when The Blood Curtain Dropped,
b) That when The Blood Curtain Drops, I can’t think of anything but yelling at my Uterus, angrily,
and
c) I’m a lazy douche, so obviously, at some point, I won’t remember to post the PSBN piece on the right day.
All this is to say that yesterday I was supposed to publish a PSBN post, but instead, I got all wrapped up in my menstruational emotions and berated my uterus for all to see, instead.
Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to save the earth. But sticking a funnel up there next month, instead of a tampon, just might. So I’m going to order a Diva Cup this month, and next month, when I’m feeling pretty angry at my girly parts again, I’ll test-drive it and let you all know how things went.
For now, I’ll mention that we’ve started using a different shower soap around here that’s “earth kind.” It’s called Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap/18-in-1 Hemp Pure-Castille Liquid Soap.
From the website:
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You can see the different fragrances here.
We’ve used 2 scents. The Lavender… um, it smells… interesting. But not in a bad way. It’s just that, well, it doesn’t particularly smell like lavender to me. ???
The peppermint one will kind of make your believe you’re a candy-cane. Compared to how I smell between my monthly showers, that’s not at all unpleasant, though.
You can use this stuff not only for body cleaning but also as shampoo – it’s an amazing all-in-one. If you have long hair, you’ll want to buy their conditioning product, b/c the soap will leave your hair a bit tangly. Other than that, it’s amazing. Cleans well, and leaves you feeling really fresh.
But I can’t talk about this stuff without mentioning the INSANE LABELS on the bottles.
Talk about some nutball-type mind control propaganda. Whew! They sure as hell want to make sure that when you buy their product you also buy into their entire philosophy on… well… everything batshit crazy under the sun, man.
(They probably have Internet Spies and will now send operatives to kill me, making the whole thing look like an accident. I am telling you all now, if I am found with a bottle of Pure Castille Soap crammed up my butt, it was NOT an accident, I did NOT fall on it! Lies! Lies!)
But on the serious, reading the labels of these soaps started making me feel that at any moment, I could be insanely driven to join a cult living in some remote place, perhaps the jungles of South America?
Random sampling of weirdness from the bottle:
“7th – Each swallow works hard to be perfect pilot – provider – builder – trainer – teacher – lover – mate, no half-true hate! So, each day like a bird, perfect thyself first! Have courage and smile my friend. Think and act 10 years ahead! And the man without fault? He’s dead! Do one thing at a time, work hard! Get done! Then teach friends & enemy the Moral ABC that unites all mankind free! Uniting One! All-One! Face the world with a smile, life is always worthwhile! To the fearless are given crowns, keep out the past, disappointments won’t last! Help unite mankind, or we’re wandering clowns! Diligent preparation, precede… spectacular restoration! So, help teach the whole human race, the Moral ABC’s All-One-God-Faith, lightning-like, for we’re All-One or None! All-One!!”
Uhhhhh, okay?
The whole bottle is covered with stuff like that, top to bottom, in tiny print.
Whenever I look at it for too long, I start wanting grape koolaid, for some reason.
Gotta go wash my hair and body with Pure Castille Soap now. If I start referring to my home as “The Compound” sometime soon, send help, okay?
PSBN Update
When I started this whole PSBN thing, I was really revved up about making changes in my family’s lifestyle that would result in a better outcome for the earth we live on. We made the decision to “Go Green(er)” in small steps, consistently, over time.
Some changes require no more than a re-ordering of the way you do things and a little conscious effort.
Other changes require a bit of financial investment.
We’ve done some of each of those kinds of things. I have, in fact, planned quite a lot of changes for us over the months to come. The only reason why we have to spread them out instead of doing them all at once is the cost factor of many of them.
I thought I’d give a running list of some of the changes we’ve made so far.
So far we:
- Went on a Trash Cleanup Walk in our old neighborhood. I plan on doing this again in our new neighborhood. Probably in the Fall, when we won’t die of a heatstroke.
- Started recycling our garbage at the curb again. (This was easy for us. Just one call and a Recycle Dumpster was delivered to us free of charge. Check with your local trash association to see what you can do. It never hurts to look into it!)
- Separate out all glass, since they won’t accept it at the curb, and save it to take to the Recycling Center ourselves. We’ll be making our first trip with a glass load this week.
- Switched from disposable to cloth diapers. Our only regret has been that we didn’t do cloth from the very beginning. (We’ve also started hanging these out to dry in the back yard instead of using the machine to dry them. Woot!)
- Conserve previously wasted shower water (cold water at the start goes in a bucket).
- Have gotten back to using more eco-friendly cleaners in our home.
- Started using rechargeable batteries. (haven’t posted about it yet, stayed tuned for future posts!)
- Bring reusable bags with us to the grocery store. (haven’t posted about it yet, stayed tuned for future posts!)
- Have become Energy Misers. Thermostat, lights, appliance, plugs, you name it!
- Switched over almost 100% of our incandescents for CFLs. Ongoing project since before PSBN, actually.
- Eat organic when we can… cost influences this greatly. We mind the list of things that are most important to buy organic. (haven’t posted about it yet, stayed tuned for future posts!)
- Plan all our errands in groups whenever we can, since we have to drive and burn fuel. With the price of gas lately, this is a huge money saver now, as well. I have always really wanted to get a bike with a kiddo seat, but it is really not safe to ride that way around here.
Future endeavors:
- Install a clothesline and procure a clothes wringer.
- Purchase and install rain collection barrells. (I want this so badly RIGHT NOW, it makes me twitch, but they’re expensive.)
- Finally purchase one-string produce bags (see where I mentioned them here) to take along with the reusable grocery bags.
- Start composting
There’s always more, of course, but those are the big ones I have in mind. John and I have agreed, it’s like a game now, almost. It’s fun to think up what we can do next and then meet the challenge.
Currently, we’re working on reducing the amount of toilet paper we use. We’re in Phase Two of the TP Challenge. By next month’s PSBN Scheduled Posting on August 11th, I’ll have some results for you and let you know how the whole thing went around here. I hope some of you are still taking this challenge with us! It really is a challenge. Who knew how mindless TP Grabbing on the crapper was?
As always, please link to your green articles here today. (Click through to see Mr. Linky.) And remember, there’s always more you can do, and it’s always worth it.
Could ya think of me when you wee?
When was the last time you really looked at what was in your hand when you’re sitting on the toilet?
If it’s anything but toilet paper, I don’t want to hear about it.
But how MUCH toilet paper are you using? John and I have agreed that over time, it’s easy to form a bad habit of grabbing way more than you need. And we’re pretty sure we could stand to use less.
For 4 weeks, we’re going to see how much TP we use. Then, for the next 4 weeks, we’re going to pay attention to what we “grab out of habit” and reduce it a little each time.
And I’m challenging you ALL to do this with us. You can think of me every time you sit on the crapper. What could be more fun?
It’ll be easy: just count up all the TP rolls in the house when you start, and keep track of anything that comes in during that time (TP purchases). When the first 4 weeks are up, take stock. The difference is how many rolls you used during the four weeks.
For the second half of the challenge, just make a conscious effort to use a little less than what you would normally “grab out of habit” when you’re using the toilet. At the end of four weeks, determine the difference between what you had to start with and what you’re left with, again.
With this TP CHallenge we’ll see what just a little change can do to save resources.
Start date for the First Four Weeks is Wednesday, June 11, 2008. End date is July 8, 2008.
Start date for the Second Four Weeks is July 9, 2008. End date is August 6, 2008.
The PSBN post for August is scheduled for August 11, 2008. I would love for you all to take this challenge and then post about it on August 11. Link in to my post that day and let’s share our results. It’s really a very easy step to take. It costs you absolutely no money, and barely any effort.
Are you with me? Let’s see what a small change in habit can save us.
Money on toilet paper, for sure. And you know what else?
I really like these thingies:
And maybe we can save some of them, if we change our habits indefinitely. Whatcha think?
Leave me a comment telling me you’re in.
(Mr. Linky is here so you can add links to any PSBN or any type of “Green” posts you’ve done. Thanks!)
…and then I whined some more. Yay!
- At May 16, 2008
- By Lotus, aka Sarcastic Mom
- In Haiku, Miscarriage
44
Today, Braden is
Nineteen Months Old. This past month
has been quite crazy.
I am ashamed, but
Gastroenteritis kept
me from last update.
Then the joyous news
of a pregnancy and I
was so excited!
Not long after, there
was heartbreak and agony.
Update? No heart left.
And now I really
must write two. They will be up
Within this next week.
Last night I wanted
to break things into many
pieces, but instead
We ordered pizza.
And yes, being a fat pig
made me feel better.
The P-S-B-N
post will go up tomorrow.
Link in or I’ll cry!
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