Sunday Planet Saver

It's easy to get overwhelmed when greening up our lives.  I mean there's so many habits to change and so much to learn about that at times it can seem like a lot of effort.  That's why I'm all about simple steps.  Just like any journey in life, it doesn't happen all at once it starts with a single step.  So for today's planet saver suggestion I'm appealing to your eco-sensibility to BYOM (bring your own mug)

My favorite Coffee Mug!

I don't know about you, but I don't even try to start my day without a fresh cup of coffee.  When I worked in the "real world" I often had 4 or 5 cups of coffee throughout the day just to stay productive. You know how much we love our coffee in the Pacific Northwest, home of Starbucks, Tully's, Seattle's Best and my favorite Fidalgo Bay Coffees!  Up here you can't throw a stone in the city without hitting an espresso stand! Even if you are just drinking 1 or 2 cups a day, or taking tea on your break, those disposable cups, lids and stir stix add up quickly in our landfills and most of those disposables are not recycle-able!

Think about it in these terms:  There are 365 days in each year with 260 weekdays, so if you work 5 days a week, each year you may be sending 260 plastic, paper or foam cups to the landfill along with plastic stir stix and lids.  That is a lot of unnecessary waste!  

Instead, why not bring your own mug (and spoon) to the office.  You can reuse it all day long without worry of the bottom giving out and at the end of the day just a quick rinse and it's ready for use again tomorrow.  Plus, with your own mug, you can express yourself!  I love that!  When I worked in corporate America I always tried to find a fun happy and colorful mug to express myself in the gray cubicle rat-maze where I spent 260 windowless days every year!  It was a little something that I could do to brighten my workspace up.

So tonight when you are getting your backpack, briefcase or purse ready for the week to come, take a second and add your favorite mug from your cupboard. It's a simple step with a huge impact!  It's easy being green when you take it a step at a time!

When we all do our small part, we really can change the big picture!