A few days ago I was looking in the back to school section in Target and a couple of thoughts hit me. First, I looked for any products made from recycled materials. This month I have started buying things that are made from recycled materials. It is even better if post-consumer recycled materials are used because that supports recycling programs across the country. I was able to find a few notebooks and pocket folders that were made from recycled materials, and there were also a few three-ring binders and calendars too. This is a definite improvement over a few years ago when I can't remember seeing products like this. The majority of products people were buying were plastic. Now plastic is not my favorite material and I try to avoid it whenever possible. Plastic products may be more durable for carrying to and from school, so I hope people remember to recycle them when they are finished using them. And that brings me to another point. It doesn't make sense to just throw away all of your notebooks, folders, pens, pencils, and whatever supplies you might have left after the school year. I completely understand the yearly tradition of buying school supplies, and I am not trying to suggest you should not buy anything. I suggest buying what you haven't saved from the previous year and only what you are certain you will need. Overbuying is another way to create waste!

I try to save any folders or notebooks in good condition for the next school year. I just scratch out the class name on the front and write the new name. This year I am going to try very hard to buy any paper, notebooks, folders, and other things that are made out of recycled materials. The big office supply stores have a great selection of recycled paper, folders, and much more. From what I can remember, the cost is not much more that non-recycled materials.

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I have been a little under the weather. A couple of exciting things. Last weekend before going to the American Idols concert, my friends and I ate at The Flying Burrito in downtown Little Rock. The Flying Burrito is a member of the Arkansas Green Restaurant Alliance. It was great to see a recycling center instead of just a trash can when we were done eating. Also, it looked like their to-go containers were made out of paper, not Styrofoam. For all of this to even matter and make an impact, the food has to be good. If no one likes a restaurant committed to sustainability, then people won't see the ease of recycling, eliminating plastic, and many more things. Don't worry about this place - the food was great! Today I am going down to the new Heifer Village for lunch at the Cafe @ Heifer. I have been there before and this is also an eco-friendly place to eat. If I remember correctly the "plastic" cups are made out of corn. I have read some information about corn plastic and there seems to be mixed feelings. Corn plastic, or PLA (polylactic acid) plastic, is biodegradable and made from a renewable resource. Some people are against the use of PLA plastic because it is difficulty to break down in some compost bins and is not recyclable. I think that for right now, it is better than just using petroleum-based plastic. Some places are not going to recycle and at least you can throw away a Corn plastic cup knowing that it should biodegrade.

Not only is the Cafe @ Heifer a great green option, but the architecture of the Heifer buildings are great models for sustainable building. The landscape appears to be all drought resistant and there is a very cool rain water collection system built into the building. Water landing on the roof of the Heifer Village is used to water the flowers all around the building. Rain water collection systems are great ways to conserve water and use what is given to you - not what you have to pay for.

Just a quick note about what I think I am going to write on next. Back to school in an eco-friendly way. I was in Target recently browsing the school supplies, and a few things came to my attention about how we could be more eco-friendly.

I recently saw a news story on Argentanews.com (a great website for news in NLR) about Mayor Hays wanting to convert the Central Arkansas public transportation fleet to compressed natural gas (CNG). I am not too familiar with this technology and whether it would be more beneficial compared to new technology in diesel fuel. The board of Central Arkansas Transit voted to not convert toCNG and instead focus on cleaner forms of diesel fuel. Regardless of the decision made, I am happy to hear that public transportation is "cleaning itself up." It would really be great if more people chose to ride buses that have lower emissions.

It is always nice to see people considering eco-friendly ways of living. But what about those people who choose not to lead a sustainable life. I think one of the easiest things to do is recycle. It doesn't take much more effort than taking out the trash because of curbside recycling. Now,NLR accepts more for recycling so you aren't putting out as much trash. I know some people that put out two full recycling bins and half as much trash. That is really great to see. I also know people, however, that do not recycle. How can we convince them to start? Certainly it might be more difficult for people who do not havecurbside pickup, but you can still collect plastic, aluminum, and paper in large bins and take it to collection sites. So, I am sort of stuck on this right now. How can I convince people to recycle? Any suggestions?

Perhaps one of the hardest parts of living an eco-friendly lifestyle so far has been when I am not at home or close to home. Normally when I am out and collect some amount of trash that is recyclable, I save it and take it home to put in my recycling bin. This past weekend I was in Branson and it was more difficult for me to do this. I did save my trash that was recyclable and bring it home, but I had to deal with packing trash. Obviously I wanted to do this, but it was more of a challenge. Because of this, I tended to reduce my impact by trying to really eliminate my trash. I mainly used a resusable water bottle and used only one shopping bag for all my purchases. I forgot to bring a reusable bag, so I got a bag from the first store where I bought something, and then I used this bag for everything else I bought. When I came home, I then put that bag in the recycling.

We spent two days at Silver Dollar City (SDC) and I was worried about two things: recycling and vegan food choices. I was very surprised when I saw plastic only recycling bins next to many trash cans. At first I wondered why there was only plastic, but after walking around the park for a while, I realized that a majority of food items are served in plastic containers. As for the vegan diet, I was surprised to find several options. One morning for breakfast we went to a bakery in SDC and I nearly died from the smell of cinnamon rolls and other non-vegan breakfast foods. But, they also had a fresh fruit cup and that was nice to see. If you have ever been to SDC, then you are likely familiar with the "skillet" places where you can get a bowl of fried potatoes, veggies, and meat. I used to love these places and was happy to find a vegetable only skillet stand. This was probably not added to the menu for vegans to enjoy, but I sure was thrilled to see it was available.

As promised, I investigated how much it would be to buy carbon offsets for the trip. I tried to use terrapass.com, but I think you can only buy offsets for one year at a time. This is only about $70-$80, so it is not as much as I anticipated. There are several different websites on the internet where you can purchase offsets, and I need to investigate them some more before purchasing offsets. For the time being, I am going to keep a record of miles driven and likely purchase a credit at the end of the year to offset my driving for this entire year.

I got my electricity bill for last month. It was about 50 dollars (700 kWh). Our apartment is fairly small so there is not much that uses electricity. I am anxious to see what this month's bill will be. Even though I don't get a bill for my water usage (apartment complex pays water), I have been doing some things to eliminate water waste. I filled a half gallon milk container with enough water to keep it on the bottom of a toilet tank. This displaces about a half gallon of water. The toilet still flushes fine, it just uses less water. This is in addition to what I was already doing: "navy showers," using a cup of water while shaving, turning off the water while brushing my teeth, and only running the dishwasher and washing machine when I have full loads.

This weekend I am going to take a small trip with a friend and his family. I plan on keeping track of the mileage and then purchasing a carbon offset for the trip. I found a great website for this after reading Ed Begley's "Living Like Ed." He recommends terrapass.com. You can do several different things on this website. You can calculate your carbon footprint, purchase carbon offsets, read about various environmental projects, and also purchase devices to help you measure and control your energy usage. Check it out because I was surprised how affordable it was to purchase these offsets.

I recently watched a few episodes of "Eco-Trip" with David de Rothschild. In each episode (on the Sundance Channel), de Rothschild follows a product from start to finish to see the environmental impact. One episode I watched was about the creation of a white cotton T-shirt. I had no idea how damaging a non-organic cotton crop is on the environment. This show seems to help making people aware of their environmental and global impact. I am not sure when the show comes on, but I am able to watch it throughNetflix instant viewing. I hope to watch more because it was very enlightening.

Another week down; another week of success! I have really been trying to be conscious of the impact of everything I do. This week I made sure that any electrical devices that do not need to be plugged into the wall at all times are connect to a power strip with an on/off switch. For example, my TV, DVD player, and Playstation are connected to a strip because these are not turned on all the time. We do not have cable in my apartment, so the TV only needs to have power when we watch a movie. Ghost power (what a TV, for example, draws from an outlet to cut down on "warm-up" time) is eliminated in this case. Small kitchen appliances are easily stored and do not need to constantly be plugged in. I have even started charging my phone, iPod, and Kindle during the day or evening so I can unplug them as soon as they are fully charged. I realized that by charging these things at night when I am asleep, there are several hours of wasted electricity.

So far this month my roommate and I have filled up two large recycling bins and not even one full bag of trash. A lot of our waste is recyclable. We also have a compost container in our freezer. We can't have a compost pile, but we contribute to other people's compost and eliminate food waste in our trash. One great thing about this is that our trash doesn't smell so we don't have to take it out until it gets full - saving plastic trash bags.

I urge you to look at this cover story from last week's Arkansas Times. It is all about the possibility of wind energy in Arkansas. This is a hot topic now because Arkansas is welcoming several wind turbine companies (we already have a LM Glasfiber plant that makes the blades for wind turbines). The St Thomas Episcopal church in Springdale has three wind turbines providing a small portion of the energy for their church. What inspired me about this project is that the church didn't necessarily do it for financial purposes alone. They wanted to show a commitment to sustainablity and the Earth. This a great article, so check it out!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. I am really having fun this month being eco-friendly. I knew my first big test of the month would be this past weekend when I was spending time with friends and family. Here are a few things I faced. Because I was with a lot of people, we mostly ate on paper plates and drank out of plastic cups. I kindly asked if I could use a regular plate and a glass cup, to reduce waste that cannot be recycled. I understand the reasoning behind having paper or plastic plates and cups, but I would rather wash a few more dishes than create as much waste. One quick common sense tip if you are completely without options. Reuse your plastic cup and utensils as much as possible. Paper plates might be hard to reuse, but plastic is easily rinsed off and ready to go for another meal! I also thought my vegan diet would cause me trouble this weekend, but I was able to find enough to eat and not offend anyone in asking for help when fixing meals.

So, what else have I been doing this month to reduce my environmental impact?
1. Laundry - I wash all my clothes in cold water and only wash full loads of clothes. I have been using environmentally friendly/biodegradable laundry detergent from Seventh Generation. So far I have not noticed any problems in getting my clothes clean. As for drying, I keep an eye out that I do not over-dry and waste electricity. Sometimes, I will even take out my clothes a few minutes early and let them finish air drying. I have a few sets of "over-the-door hooks" that I can use.

2. I talk about driving fairly often, but it seems like I do a lot of driving and putting gas in my car. So far this month I have been trying drive slower everywhere I go. This includes not slamming down the gas pedal when accelerating after stopping at a red light. Also, I have been trying to run all of my errands one trip and plan my driving route to eliminate a lot of waiting at stoplights. I try to never wait in my car with it running when going to a store with someone.

3. Turning off lights. If you are not in a room, then turn off the lights. Unless you are going to come right back to, say, the kitchen, then turn off the lights to conserve electricity. I have noticed some places posting little signs or stickers next to light switches to encourage energy conservation. One place I most recently noticed this is at the Hendrix Campus. Even in the restroom, there was a sticker next to the light switch asking people to turn off the lights when leaving. (Unless someone else is in there!) One major change (I think) is turning the air conditioner up to 80 degrees. Even during the day, my apartment is comfortable. I turn my fan on at night and sleep without being too hot.

I next plan on tackling some water conservation issues and several other topics.

I am very excited to say that yesterday started my "green month." I started my vegan diet/lifestyle and eco-friendly behaviors. When I was driving from Conway to NLR to work, I was doing between 60 and 65 mph. People were passing me on the left, but I was saving fuel and money! My first mess up of the day, though, was pretty early on when I forgot to take a "Navy shower." If you don't know what this is, let me tell you. It is a good way to get in the habit of conserving water in the shower. Basically, you turn on the water and get wet. Then you turn off the water and lather up with soap and shampoo. Then you turn on the water and rinse off the soap. This really cuts down on the amount of time the water is on. (Plus if you are competing for hot water in the morning, there is more hot water available!) Another slip-up was from fixing lunch. Ok no meat and no dairy. Well I was fixing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with vegetable chips. I sat down to eat my lunch and Brooks (my roommate) asked if I found jelly without gelatin. No, I hadn't. I forgot that gelatin comes from the collagen from inside animal bones. But when I looked at the label on the jar, no gelatin was listed. Fruit pectin was the gelling agent instead of gelatin. Good to know!

At work, I collected all of my waste and scrap paper and took it home to put in my recycling bin. I tend to have to print more that I like to, so I collect my wasted paper and either recycle it or reuse it as scrap paper for notes and grocery lists.

As for last month, I drove approximately 1600 miles in June and filled up my car with about 5 1/2 tanks of gas. This sucks! A portion of this amount will be hard to eliminate (commuting to work), but I hopefully will start planning my driving route better to eliminate backtracking and inefficient routes. According to Carbonfootprint.com, I put 0.61 tonnes of carbon in the atmosphere. I hope to lower that number.