Faith, Hope, and Love

So remember in Jaunary when I spent a week trying to be really green ? Yeah, well... I'm doing it again . And this time, I got the smart idea of trying to involve the entire school. So far I haven't honestly been that successful (only 7 people offically signed up for the group). But... people are asking me about it, and today I got rid of the trash can in my class which completely shocked the kids. It was awesome! (Although, it's also for my own happiness because at least for this week I don't have to feel horrified as I watch my notes and handouts make their way into that grey plastic bucket versus the student's binders.) Tomorrow's focus is on Transportation... so, since I will NOT be taking the bus or any public transportation in Houston (that sounds more terrifying than it did in Dallas), I need to go bug some co-workers into letting me carpool with them for the rest of this week. I will say what I'm most excited about doing No Impact Week this tim...

If you've been reading the blog for a while (or at least at the beginning of the year), you know that I spent he first week of 2011 attempting to reduce my impact on the environment . No Impact Week was inspired by No Impact Man , who kept a blog, wrote a book, and made a documentary about the one year he and his family lived a no-impact life. It was a gradual process. The cut things out weekly/monthly in order to see if it's possible to have a good life without wasting so much stuff. Which... if we have to admit, as Americans, we waste A LOT. The family had no TV, no electricity. They ate only local foods and ate vegetarian. The rode bicycles are scooters everywhere. They used no toilet paper and cloth diapers for their young daughter (who, as a side note, was super cute!). When I heard the no toilet paper thing at the beginning of the year, I was like, "uh... do I have to do that?" I found him just a little bit crazy and over-the-top and I had no desire to fol...

So, I'm doing this No Impact Week for Yes! Magazine . And so far... so good, I think. It definitely has presented it's challenges, but at the same time I am realizing there are a lot of easy  things I can do to lessen my impact on the earth. Like yesterday was all about food, and I shopped at a Farmers Market for the first time. Some of the prices were a bit steep, but for the most part I'd say it was equal to what I'd find at Kroger's or Wal-Mart. And it's not like I have every really  focused on shopping for bargains, etc. I just grab the brand I like, or just go for the one with the cheapest price sticker under it. But it's not like there's ever a real plan  to save money. Anyway, I decided to my own re-usuable bags to the store. I felt a little bit awkward about telling the cashier, "Please don't use your bags. I have my own." But her response was all cheerful and the bagger instantly took them from me and began filling them up. I o...