Reusable shopping bags!

After doing some grocery store shopping, I realized that more and more grocery stores are passing out reusable shopping bags. (Image from Keetsa website)

This post relates to one of my previous posts on the three R’s: Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle.

So what’s benefit of using reusable grocery bags? Well according to this article called “Why use reusable grocery bags” it says:

•Reusable bags save trees
•Reusable bags save water
•Reusable bags save gas and oil
•Reusable bags help air pollution
•Reusable bags help our oceans
•Reusable bags help our sea creatures
•Reusable bags save 700+ bags over the span of their lifetime!
•Reusable bags help our families!

Now I bet some of you are wondering why I should switch from using plastic grocery bags? Well the article called “Why use reusable grocery bags” answers that question as follows:

•A Plastic bag takes 450 years to biodegrade. Imagine 10 billion of them!

•The production of Paper bags causes 70% more pollution than Plastic.

•When Plastic “photo degrades” it ends up in our oceans and like plankton, which is then consumed by fish. Fish eat it, and it winds up on your dinner table. YUCK!!!

•The recipe for making paper bags starts with 1 part pulp, 400 parts WATER. What a waste of water!

•The recycling of plastic emits heavy metals into the air causing extreme air pollution

•An average person will use over 350 bags in a single year!

•In New York City, one less grocery bag per person would reduce waste by five million pounds and save $250,000 in disposal costs!

•In 1999 more than 14 million trees were cut down to produce 10 billion paper bags that were used by Americans that year!

I just got my first reusable wine bag this weekend from Kroger, a grocery store in Blacksburg, VA. It was free with any purchase of wine. So be on the look out for great deals and help save the planet; we only have one.

Green Gardening

I like to think that everyone can have a green thumb; although some people are more into “Thinking Green” than others. (Image from Vegetable Garden 81 website)

Anyways with spring coming right around the corner, it’s time to start planting. If you plant and grow your own fruit and vegetables, you can save a lot of money and feel good knowing you planted the seeds that grew into a beautiful plant which you can eat!

So here are some easier tips for growing your own from Vegetable Gardening Basic article:

1. Plan where to put your garden

A spot near the house in full sunlight is normally the most convenient spot, however, drainage, soil quality, and shade from buildings or trees may mean the garden must be located in an area farther from the house.

2. Prepare the soil

Fertile, well drained soil is necessary for a successful garden. The exact type of soil is not as important as that it be well drained, well supplied with organic matter, reasonably free of stones, and moisture retentive.

3. Planting Vegetables

Using a garden layout map (which you created in the planning stages) plant stakes to mark out where different rows will be planted. Build trellises or tall stakes for climbing plants such as peas and beans. Create mounds to put in the vining plants such as cucumbers, pumpkins and melons. Don't forget to establish your pathways early so that you won't be walking across planted areas.

4. Sowing your seed

Stretch a string between the two stakes you set to mark the row or use a straight piece of lumber as a guide to open a 'V' shaped furrow with the corner of your hoe. Set the depth to the recommended requirements on the seed packet. Tear the corner of the seed package off and use your finger to tap the package lightly as you move down the row, carefully distributing the seeds evenly. Larger type seeds may be placed individually in the row. You will want to plant extra seeds in each row to allow for failed germination and for thinning.

5. Watch them grow and don’t forget to water your plants

Drop the Bag!

Once I get back from any store whether it’s Target or Food Lion, I always keep the plastic bags that the items come in. Just the other day I was thinking of different uses for these plastic bags to help save some money.(Image from Re-nest website)

Here are some ideas for using those plastic bags:
1. Put in small trash cans
2. Clean up poop, when you’re walking your dog
3. Wrap up paint brush
4. Make a rain hat
5. Kitchen clean up when you’re cleaning or cutting fruits and vegetables
6. Hold a wet umbrella
7. Shoe protector
8. Book cover protector
9. Packing material in lieu of buying white foam peanuts
10. Use like a rubber glove when you don't have rubber gloves handy

These are just few ideas for using plastic bags around the house. If you want some more ideas, please check out the article link above for 61 uses of plastic Walmart bags. So keep and reuse those plastic bags, they might come in hand.

Free Attractions in MD

With the weather getting nicer, more and more people are venturing outside to take it all in. As student, I would love to visit more museums or different attractions in MD, especially if they were free or discounted student prices.(Image from Hampton Inn)

Well search no more; I found a website called Free Attractions. When you navigate to the site you, click on your state and it brings up a chart with names of the attractions, city and state.

Here are some of the local attractions I found on the web site in MD:
1. Patterson Park, Baltimore
2. Basillca of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Baltimore
3. Holocaust Memorial, Baltimore
4. National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Frederick

Click on the link above for more ideas. Take in little of Maryland when you can.

It’s so nice outside!

It’s time to break out of your small dorm room or apartment and enjoy the beautiful outside weather. I know what you’re thinking; it’s the end of the semester and I am almost broke, so what can I do? (Image from Waterloo Village)

Here are some free ideas for having fun outside:
1. Take walk or run, whatever you are feeling up too
2. Take our lunch or dinner and eat it outside
3. Take pictures
4. Fly a kite, if you have one
5. Lay outside in the sun and work on your tan
6. Get some friends together and play a outdoor game, like volleyball, basketball or softball

These are just few ideas to take advantage of the beautiful weather and get outside.

Energy Star saving!

Last week my lamp burned out. I was so sad because it was very dark inside my bedroom and I couldn’t see anything. Luckily, my roommate Ashley came to my rescue with this crazy looking light bulb. The light bulb was in a curly shape that I have heard about but didn’t think anything of it.(Image from Green Purchasing at Duke website)

After replacing the light bulb, I become curious about how much money you can save by switching to these energy star light bubs. I found the energy star website and found out that you can “save about $30 over its lifetime and pay for itself in about 6 months”. “It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb.”

I continued reading and came across decorative lights strings made by energy star. My dad loves Christmas time and our house is cover in Christmas lights, which makes our electric bill higher. So I did some research for my dad. I found out that consumers use 75% less energy by using LCD lights. I also found out that they “can last up to 10 times longer; they are cool to the touch, and come with three year warranty”.

So next time you change a light bulb to energy star light bulb just remember you’re saving $ 30 dollars over lifetime.

3 R's

We all know the 3 new R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
(Image from Jackson County Website)

Over the years, landfills have accumulated billions tons of trash, but with recycling we can save space and cut down the cost. We should recycle in order to save money, use less energy, and use less of the Earths resources. Recycling also decreases airborne pollution releases from landfills into the air.

Now I bet your wondering how this relates to shopping thrifty. Well, with the 3 new R’s you can save money and cut costs. When you recycle a plastic water bottle or metal soda can and place it inside the recycle bin, it will be reused instead of going to landfill. The term reuse means exactly what it says. You can take an old water bottle refill it and re-use it again and again. In another example, you could take a used jelly jar, clean it out and use it for drinking glass or flower vase. The best advice I can give you to start with is not to over buy and only purchase what you need. Say you buy a bag of apples for a household of two people. Do you think all those apples with get eaten before they go bad? Why risk it; only buy what you need.

So keep these 3 new R’s in the back of your mind the next time you go shopping.