I tend bring my breakfast and my lunch to work and eat them at my desk out of Pyrex bowls, whether I microwave my lunch or eat it cold. I drink my coffee out of my coffee mug instead of pouring it into a styrofoam cup. I have inexpensive flatware I use, and I brought a sponge and dish soap to work so I can wash all of these dishes daily. When I do, I try to use as little water as I can to get them clean, and I bring home anything I can compost.
All these reusable items are good, as they mean much less material used and a lot less thrown out. But I noticed that I was consistently using the paper towels at work to dry my dishes and to dry my hands after washing them. This was easy to fix – I have several dish towels I got from freecycle months ago, and I brought one in. I’ll take it home once in a while and toss it in the laundry, but actually it stays pretty clean because I spread it out to dry every day and it doesn’t dry anything more than clean dishes and clean hands anyway.
And speaking of sponges and cleaning, if you have a dishwasher, it’s easy enough to put a sponge in it to clean and sanitize it. I’m thinking about switching to reusable dish cloths, and those can be thrown in the laundry.
In the years before reusable grocery bags became widely available, I also used to bring my lunch to work in a plastic grocery bag, but now I don’t have that option. It forces me to find a greener solution, and I use an insulated lunch bag now.
Some changes are difficult, and some aren’t. These are simple changes, mostly free, and they don’t affect my quality of life at all. What are some simple, easy changes you’ve made? What changes are you considering?
