Walking the Recycling

August 26th, 2008

My boys love to go for walks. If I even say the word “go” Dylan will run and grab his shoes and stand by the front door. Yesterday I thought it would be fun to walk to the Post Office, and drop off our recycling along the way. Just a few blocks away we found a place where you can drop off aluminum cans to benefit a local charity.

I loaded up the stroller with two bags of aluminum, and we started on our walk. We walked to the drop off, and the nicest lady hollered to us “Thank you for recycling with us”, Thade felt proud that he was doing something nice for the environment. We made our way to the Post Office, and we spotted a few more cans on the trip. I picked them up, and we would make one more stop to recycle them on the way home.

When we went back Terry (recycling lady) was outside so we introduced ourselves, and Thade handed her the found cans. He was proud of the extra cans that he found on the walk. I hope that this will become a weekly tradition for us, it is a great walk for Thade, and a great way to help the Planet (just a bit) too.

My Pet Toad

August 16th, 2008

I have a new pet… Never before have I been so excited to have a toad in the garden, but he is too cute, and he is doing a great job too. This morning I was watering the plants, and my little toad hopped right along with me. Maybe I should give him a name… Anyway since he has made a home in the garden the melons are growing like crazy and I counted at least 4 zucchinis and 3 cucumbers. I hope the veggies will be ready to be picked next week.

11 For July

August 3rd, 2008

As you might have read, I’m trying green my driving routine by not driving (or riding) in a car at least one day a week. Last month I decided that I would put a gold star on the calendar for every day that I didn’t drive. On the first day of August I totaled the stars, and I had 11 for the month of July! I was really shocked that for 1/3 of the month, I didn’t drive.

Strangely, I didn’t miss driving that much. I thought that I would feel stuck, bored, and miss out on all of those little trips here and there. It was fun though, I planned my errands and shopping trips wisely. I also found several places close to home that the boys and I could walk to. We would wake up early, and walk to the Post Office or Farmer’s Market before the weather became too warm. Getting out and walking became a fun way to connect with my kids, and they got to see a little bit more of our town.

I would like to continue this trend of Gold Star days for August, and see how just many more days I can go without driving. If I can make it 10 days this month I’ll be really happy, but even a few here and there will help a bit.