A veg friend and I were giggling over the guilt we feel about certain items in our life that do not fall in line with our worldview. She feels guilty about not cloth-diapering her kid; I was embarrassed to step into my (albeit small) gas-hog SUV. So, since my last post was about perfectionism, I’ll debunk all that.
Non-eco friendly/non-animal friendly/non-health-friendly/non-my-agenda-friendly items Hubs and I still use:
-Our 2006 Jeep Liberty: 2 years left to pay; lost its value; it’s not going anywhere soon
- Razors; sometimes disposable ones!
- Swiffer Wet Jet: I’d like to think I’m going to get on my hands and knees every week and clean the kitchen floor. Like I said, “like to think…”
- Ibuprofen: in the land of chemical pain-relievers, this one is probably the “least harmful”
- Regular ol’ batteries: not the rechargeable ones
- Plastic wrap, plastic baggies, plastic cutlery: I try to remember to bring my own fork & knife to work, but usually just use the plastic stuff provided there…
– Pizza & Mexican food: about once every 5-6 weeks, we make concessions and just eat some damn cheese
– Traditional household paint: probably one of the most toxic things to bring into the home, but I can’t afford $30/can for the non-toxic stuff. Opening windows is free…
– Leather shoes/jackets/gloves: I haven’t bought any new ones but I’m certainly not throwing out the old ones.
– Paper towels & napkins: might switch to cloth napkins, but recycled paper towels is what works for us
–Trashbags: there are bio-degradable trashbags, recycled trashbags…nothing breaks down in a landfill anyway but I suppose we could use something that isn’t made of petroleum. One day, when we have a yard, we will compost and have minimal trash production.
–Tampons: my husband experiences enough of my bodily functions without throwing wearable cups and reusable pads into the mix.
I’ll add to the list as I think of more. This has actually been a good exercise for seeing what changes we have already made!
