A Greener Life

Heart memory game via Scrumdilly-do. This project completely rocks!

I love Valentine’s Day. Cliche? Yes, because I said “love” (wah-waaaaah). But I think this holiday is the perfect excuse for DIY-ing some cards, decorations, and gifts. Something about the personal-ness of v-day makes it especially appropriate to make your own tokens of appreciation for that special someone.  I’ve been seeing a ton of cool and fun projects come through my feed reader lately–projects that can be accomplished using materials you probably already have in your possession.  Some of these are more kid-centered but that’s to be expected–we all need an “excuse” to make a Valentine heart lei.

• Valentine garland
• Valentine heart leis
• tablecloth treat bags
• heart-themed Memory game
• quilling valentines
• cupcake toppers
• Valentine’s book wreath
• origami hearts

And if you are a Baha’i, you can keep these decorations around or repurpose them for Ayyam-i-ha. Neat!

Or maybe the year of the non-use of the plastic bag, I should say. Or something.

Last year, my husband and I switched to canvas/recycled plastic grocery bags. They really are great–they hold more, you can wash them when they get dirty, and they’re really durable.  Probably the only downside is that sometimes they’re easy to leave in the car or back at the house, and you really have to make an effort to remember to bring them with you. We leave them by our back door in a basket so we pass them on our way in and out. That helps usually.

My point: I’d like to just stop using all types of plastic bags. Produce bags, ziploc bags, takeout bags. I can’t rule out garbage bags yet but who knows. If anyone out there has eliminated or cut down on plastic in your life, I wanna know how-be sure to comment!

Maybe Little Joy Recycling will help me to stop moaning and groaning about how my homeowner’s association doesn’t care about initiating a recycling program. Currently we lug all our recycling to the Westpark Recycling Center but only after it sprawls across our back patio for about 3 or 4 weeks.  Not to knock Westpark, because it’s great, but you know, nothing really beats curbside.