happy earth day! over the years, b and i have become more aware of how my actions impact our environment. my parents have always good about recycling and using what we have (that was mainly because we were thrifty!) they are also big on growing their own food. my parent's backyard is like a jungle...fruits galore! my mommy also compost, she also does it b/c it is good for her garden. in our daily lives we know there are many more things i can do, but here's a couple things we try to do consistently.

• even when buying coffee, i bring my own travel mug. it decreases trash and keeps my coffee hot longer (my favorite is the contigo autoseal mug...coffee stays hot for 6+ hours!).
• polycarbonate/aluminum water bottles...especially at work since they only provide Styrofoam cups.
• packing lunch in reusable containers and using non-disposable utensils.
• reusable shopping bags when going to the grocery store.
• instead of buying trash bags, we use the supply of plastic bags we get when shopping at target. they are just big enough for our under sink trash can
• we shop in bulk
• this one belongs to b...he installed an reverse osmosis water filtration system so we could stop using our Britta filters.
• reuse file folders at work
• trade supplies in the company
• recycle junk mail, envelopes, magazines and packaging.
• b rides the bus to work - i'd love to but public transportation in austin is not so great.
• shop local. i like visiting the farmer's market when i can

so what do you do to help keep our earth green? are you taking part in any earth day activities?

chocolate and zucchini's blog is doing something awesome (and really easy) with flip & tumble for Ripple Africa. here's the deal: for every person who leaves a comment* at the bottom of today's post on the c&z blog, flip & tumble will fund the planting of a tree in one of the community nurseries that Ripple Africa is working to build, and c&z will match that donation! So just go to the comment box, type "Plant trees for me!" (and whatever you want to add) and two trees will be planted. there's also a give-a-way on that post so go check it out and help plant trees in africa!