Happy Earth Day!

This Earth Day has been the most significant one to me yet, I think because I am living in Colorado. There are all sorts of promotions and sales in celebration of this day. My daughter and I visited our favorite independent book store that distributed free canvas bags to each customer with the purchase of a book. There is a huge push to do away with the plastic bags the grocery and big box stores use to sack your groceries and other purchases. Now, anytime we go to the store, we refuse a bag for our purchases unless absolutely necessary. As of today, we have enough canvas bags to begin carrying them to the grocery stores. And, being in walking distance of Safeway and Whole Foods, we try to only walk, not drive, to the stores. My daughter has become even "greener" since moving here --- because of her, I no longer buy plastic water bottles --- we refill our non-BPA Camelback bottles. I recycle, both at home and the office, and we're in the process of buying bikes so we can rely even less on the car. My new city is very bike-friendly, lots of lanes and trails for cyclists and walkers. We're both trying very hard to "reduce our carbon footprint". My downfall of the day was purchasing Thai take-out for dinner on the way home from the bookstore. If we had just eaten in the restaurant, we would have avoided those take-out containers. Darn it --- oh well, the fact that I'm even having the regret means I'm being more conscientious --- so I'll give myself a break. :):)