Saving.

Happy Earth Day!

My "one word" for the year is *Save.* And I love doing my part to save the planet.

I thought I'd share my favorite earth-saving products and ideas today. :)

1. My first one (and very favorite) is reusable water bottles. I really wish more people would carry them. I cringe when I see 12 and 24 packs of plastic water bottles in the grocery stores. Most of those don't get recycled in the end.

And even if you recycle, you're still saving the earth (and your money) if you buy reusable/non-disposable water bottles. :)

It's... what... like $10 or so for a 24 pack of water bottles these days?! So why not just spend that money on WaterWeek water bottles?

You get five in one pack for $19.99. They even have children sized ones (10 oz.). They're dishwasher safe, and they come in some great colors! (The are actually a MUCH lighter color in real life than the website shows. The photo I have here [also from their website] is more true to color.)

We JUST got these water bottles in at The Container Store the other day (they're not sold at their website as of now), and though I haven't purchased them yet, I will be doing so this week. :) I already have several water bottles in my house, but these WaterWeek ones are 16 oz... perfect to fit in my purse!

I also love Nalgene 32 oz. water bottles. You fill them up twice, and you have your water for the day. There's a water bottle out there for everybody! You should have at least two per person in your household, so you can have an extra while one is washing. :)

2. Re-usable bags. If you don't own at least one of these, you're out of the loop. Seriously. :) I own like... 10-15 of them now. LOL. I love the ones that fold up really small. The 24/7 Reusable Bag is my favorite. The pouch is *attached* to the bag, and it takes like 5 seconds to fold into itself. I carry this one in my purse... always. :)

3. Say "No bag please!" If you're buying only two or three things, and you don't have a reusable bag, just carry the things out to your car. If they're small, you can fit them in your purse (you know... *after* you've paid for them). Most stores ask these days, but some forget. I never ask for bags anymore. I know I have tons in my car if I forgot to bring one into the store. LOL.

4. Turn off the lights in a room when you leave. Even if you're just going to the next room, turn off the light. Doing this a little every day will save lots of energy. :) Also, if it's light outside, you can always open the blinds and curtains, so you can have lights out during the day. :)

5. Turn off your computer monitor when you get up to: go to the bathroom, get a drink of water, get some food, take the dog out to go potty, etc. :) Not only is this good for the environment, but it'll save you money... we've had the SAME LCD computer monitor for five years! The life on them is only supposed to be 2-3 years.

6. Recycle. This is a long-time favorite, and I'm sure most people are sick of hearing about it. LOL. But it really is important to recycle papers, plastics, cans, etc. "If we each do a little... we can do a lot!" ;)

7. Limit your use of sandwich bags. You can try these on Etsy. SO cute! Or just type in "sandwich bag" on Etsy to find lots more from other sellers. :) I have specific plastic containers I use for my hubby's lunches. One size fits TWO sandwiches... perfectly! Try reusable plastic containers for fruit, veggies, nuts, chips, etc. Anything you can put in a Ziploc bag, you can probably put into a reusable container. :)

8. Buy a lunch bag instead of using brown bags. The Gourmet Getaway Tote is a favorite of mine (three new colors JUST came out, and those should be online soon). For something a bit smaller, I LOVE the Cool Keeper from Vera Bradley. :) And they JUST came out with new colors. How cute is that Bali Blue?!


9. Instead of buying something new, try to use something you have on hand... or alter it to change the appearance. I make my own mini-books using 12x12 raw chipboard sheets and a book ring (okay, I showed this yesterday too, but it's still worth mentioning... LOL):

And I really wanted a cute little clay pot in my studio, but I just had this ugly beige one. So... I got out my acrylic paints, and I painted it a nice robin's egg blue! I love it. :) Now, it makes me smile every time I see it.

You can paint just about anything. My sister actually taught me this. I would have never thought to paint a planter's pot! LOL. But she'll paint ANYTHING a new color before buying something new. She even painted the pedestal of their dining room table to give it an updated look! LOL.

I hope some of these ideas were helpful! What are *you* doing to save the planet?!