Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Ah, my world- she is a-changing.

Not to brag or anything, but my recent verbalized environmental consciousness appears to be rubbing off on those near and dear to my green heart- which is the best inspiration as it only spurs me on to do more!

(Lucky you.)

So, my boyfriend called the other day after a shopping spree at Walmart with some green news he thought (correctly) I'd get a kick out of. Turns out that Walmart is now printing receipts on the FRONTS and BACKS of the piece of paper- cutting their receipt paper usage in half. I loved hearing about this, as I think it is such an elegant, easy way to make a note-worthy change. And, the beauty of this, along with a lot of other "green" methodologies, is that in addition to benefiting the environment these companies are also benefiting their budgets by making such little changes. (Also- I am not trying to say that I know the powers that be at Walmart, and that my green nagging had anything to do with the new receipt format. All I'm saying is that now my boyfriend noticed the change that may not have registered [no pun intended] with him otherwise.) Baby steps...

A changed person I can take credit for is little sister #2. Once, the cause of my bathroom dumpster diving (HAD to retrieve her carelessly tossed shampoo and conditioner bottles, and properly move to the recycling bin) is actually starting to notice exactly what she is consuming, and taking responsibility for how she is disposing of it. My crowning moment came when she proudly pulled out a tiny little drawstring bundle out of her purse the other day.

"What the heck is that thing?" I inquisitively inquired.

"Oh, just my new reusable shopping bag. It folds up into itself, see?" To which she proudly demonstrated. My heart swelled, now if she'll just remember to use it...

Not to be outdone, little sisters #1 and #3 have also come up with their own green scheme, to sometimes hilarious results. The back of our backyard butts up against a wooded area, and over the back fence any unusable food item is now tossed. Whatever the animals don't eat can decompose into fertilizer, and that much food is kept out of the landfills. It is comical in that my mother absolutely cannot find out this haphazard compost pile, for fear of "attracting the animals." (And frankly, considering I was just diagnosed with Lyme's disease AND West Nile Virus, maybe that neurotic matriarch is on to something after all...) My in-the-know little brother is distressed by the whole operation, because, well, he's not sure that the squirrels like popcorn and lettuce. To which little sister #3 retorts, "Then it can rot! Better then being in a landfill!" He usually doesn't have a response, and sighs as the girls win yet again.

Although there is still lots and lots of room for improvement, little sister #3 sums it up as simply and eloquently as only a 14 year old could; "There are 7 people in this house, if we all just make small changes it can add up to a lot of change. And, any good we can accomplish is better then nothing at all."

And that is exactly why I'll keep on writing.