Day 662's greener choices

Photo by Steve Gunther for Sunset

In celebration of Earth Day, here are a couple of ways we're trying to live a little greener. We're certainly not going to save the planet on our own, but we can make more responsible choices about what we bring into our household.

Shop Smarter: Our consumer-driven society tells us that we need the latest and the greatest everything. It's so ... exhausting! Not to mention terrible on the environment (and our wallets). In addition to being of-the-moment, shopping vintage and second-hand is actually quite green. And -- this might be a stretch, but -- I'm lumping discount stores like TJ Maxx into this category as well. These stores are the last stop before a trash heap for overstock items, discontinued products, and things that didn't quite make it past inspections. I'm not saying I'll never buy retail again, but I'd like to significantly reduce it.

Reduce Waste: We've eliminated just about all paper products from our house, save paper towels and, well, TP. I don't think we can do much about the latter, but we can certainly reduce our usage of the former. We're lucky enough to have curbside recycling pick-up, but unfortunately, don't take advantage of it enough. I'm promising to do better, and you all are my witnesses. I'd also like to start composting -- do you compost? Tell me about it!

Make Better Choices: Living "green" is so accessible these days, there is almost no excuse not to make smart choices when it comes to what we bring into our home. From low-VOC paint, to bedding made from sustainable materials, to cleaning products (for the house and ourselves) free of harmful chemicals, I'm going to be more mindfull of the things I'm buying.

Are you doing anything new this Earth Day? There are all kinds of great ideas here.