In the past couple weeks I have been thinking of being more environmentally friendly and trying to think of small ways I can make an impact, because I think that even the small stuff adds up and can make a big difference.
I've always thought of myself as compassionate and I always think of cutting down on the waste that is created in our home. I mean, I have my Starbucks travel mugs, I have reusable shopping bags, I try to recycle and compost as much as possible, I switch off the car when I'm at a stand still instead of letting it run idol (Like, at the car wash... not in traffic) and I try to wear a sweater instead of turning up the heat. There are a lot of other things that I let slide because I don't think of it or I'm being lazy.
Recently, I've been reading this blog http://www.trashisfortossers.com/ and it has REALLY opened my eyes to the amount of waste we create in our home. A little rundown... Lauren lives in New York and took Environmental Studies in college. She wanted to live her values and with a couple of actual life events that made her think and an "Aha! Moment" she set out to live a zero waste lifestyle. In her journey THIS is the garbage that she has produced! All contained in a mason jar! I think that is ASTONISHING!
Anyhoo, one of the ways I'm trying to be more friendly to our planet is to use less water. I'm a mom of a toddler, so you know that my showers are already short... but some other ways I'm trying to cut down my water use is by turning off the water while I get my hands all sudsy, then turn it back on when I'm ready to rinse (I'm already good at leaving it off while I'm brushing) and turning it off when I'm measuring water an for cooking and my 3 cup measure is already dirty and needs to be washed, so I'm forced to use my one cup measure.
BUT! The BIGGEST change for me is - plugging the sink while I'm washing dishes. Yup. I'm totally that person who wastes TONS of water doing dishes. I've never plugged the sink. In fact, my foods class teacher and I had it out because according to her, by just leaving the water running, I was "Doing the dishes wrong". Not that I agree with her now that I plug the sink, I don't think there is a wrong way to clean your dishes, but there is a less wasteful way, for sure.
So, here's my system:
First, I fill up a small plastic tub, which is only to be used for rinsing, with super hot water. Then, I fill the sink up halfway with hot soapy water and the cleaner dishes that need to be washed and that will be easier to clean, rinsing them in my plastic tub and setting aside to dry on my drying mats to the right side of the sink. (Utensils, drinking glasses, dishes without oil or greasy food leftovers etc).
Second, once the first, "cleaner" batch of dishes are done, if the cleaning water is still relatively clean, I'll wash the dirtier, greasier, more nasty dishes in the same water. If the water is starting to get gross, I'll empty the sink and then pour my rinsing water from my plastic tub into my sink and replace the water for rinsing. Wash, rinse, repeat. (Yes, pun intended.)
So yeah, it's a big change for me to go from washing in running water to washing in a full sink, but I feel good that I'm using less water, which results in a lower water bill AND helps the environment AND it's more quiet time for me - washing dishes used to be SO LOUD with the running water. Plus, this way, so far for some reason, I'm doing my dishes every night, which means they are getting put away each night, which means I wake up to clean counters. At least, the ones from morning-dinner are getting done. If there are any "after dinner" or snack dishes after we eat, they wait until the next day
Yup, I think this is going to be something I keep up with :)
