Good Green, Bad Green: Fluorescent Hues and Plastic Blues
Good Green:

~I finally just got around to buying a battery recharger and 4 rechargable AA batteries. It's a small one that only recharges 4 AAs at one time, but it cost a lot less than others I saw at the store. One difficulty with trying to live a green life is the initial expenses involved for certain things. My husband and I have talked for a couple of years now about investing in a recharger, but it never seemed like we had the money to spare. I think it will pay for itself fairly quickly by eliminating the cost of all the disposable batteries that we go through (especially now that we have a digital camera). I would love to get a solar recharger at some later date so that we don't have to recharge with coal-generated electricity.

~I had to replace some light bulbs and got more compact fluorescents. Unfortunately, I was replacing compact fluorescents that have recently burned out, only lasting about 2-3 years which is rather shorter than the "Up to 5 years" that I recall was touted on the packaging. As far as I can tell, they aren't guaranteed to last that long and I didn't save the original packaging, so I'm not sure I have any recourse there.

On the plus side, they now make a bug light compact fluorescent that I bought for our porch, and the bulbs I bought for inside are  "natural spectrum light" which can have a positive effect on health and mood.

Compact fluorsecent bulbs save energy -- the output for the indoor bulbs I bought is equivelent to a 75 watt bulb but only uses 20 watts. The packaging that I'm looking at now also says that it outlasts up to 8 standard bulbs which means less landfill waste. They can be a bit pricey. I spent $11 for a package of two bulbs, and the bug light was about $8, but I think we'll make that back easily in electric bill savings. It also means I'll have to spend less time buying and replacing bulbs, and I'll be less likely to hurt myself by falling off the chair that I have to stand on tip-toe to reach the light fixtures with less bulbs to change.

Bad Green:

~I have GOT to get in the habit of bringing our canvas reusable bags when I go shopping. I've spent the last couple of years collecting a critical mass so that I wouldn't have to be torn between de-forrested but biodegradable paper, or landfill filling and oil manufactured plastic. I let the canvas totes get filled up with projects or other items, or I just simply forget that I should pack them in the car when I feel the need to go grocery shopping.

~My soda habit is bad deal for the planet as well as my body. I'm in the habit of walking half a block from our house to the gas station on the corner to buy one 20 oz Dr. Pepper per day. With tax it costs about $1.16 and that's quite a bit of plastic waste. I do recycle the bottles, but most greens know that it takes a lot of of energy to recycle and it's best to "Reduce" and next best to "Reuse" before recycling. My husband has a wonderful solution for this. He found he could take his 20 oz reusable coffee mug and get it filled at the fountain at the same gas station for 52 cents.

I'm thinking this would also be a good solution to eventually wean myself off of Dr. Pepper as well. I can start by not filling the mug up all the way, and gradually cut back how much I ingest. That's difficult to do once I've bought a bottle because I'm reluctant to waste the soda.