My Pet Peeve

So, I may not be the most environmental person out there, but I try to do at least my part. I use cold water to wash most clothes, I use a lot of vinegar and water as a cleaner, I love Mrs. Meyers lavender concentrate cleaner, I use more rags than paper towels, heck, I even reuse dryer sheets (equal part environment and money for a few of those). I am a huge recycler. I could actually recycle a lot more if my recycle bin didn't fill up way before they came for it. Who would have know that two little bins that I could stack up and put boxes under would in the end hold so much more than one giant rolling bin that they only empty every other week, and I can't put so much in it that it can't shut. Ok, that's not my pet peeve I was aiming at, but I guess it it too.

My real pet peeve is PACKAGING!

How, pray tell, in a work where we are all trying to be more environmentally conscience, can you actually end-up creating more trash? Yesterday I had to get more light bulbs for our basement lights. Turns out, I thought I had bulbs, only had one and I needed 5. Just the idea of needing that many annoyed me, seeing as those things aren't cheap anymore, and they don't grow on trees.

Well, off to the store I go. Look through about a ton of different bulbs, find the environmentally happy twirly ones that are the right size and wattage. Not a great price, but they were supposed to last years and I really don't like taking the whole fixture apart to change bulbs.

I get home, and eventually get a chance to change the bulbs. I open the cardboard package with my 6 bulbs in it, only to find more cardboard. Six individually wrapped little light bulbs. Not only do they each have their own cardboard box in the big cardboard box, but there was more cardboard inside that too. Seriously?! I mean, these little guys are not travelling to the moon. Why can't they be packaged like the old bulbs that used a fraction of the pasteboard these guys consumed?

All I could think was with the electricity I was saving using these environmentally happy bulbs, there would be so much more waste with the packaging not to mention that not fitting in my recycle bin, on top of all the energy needed to make that pasteboard stuff.

I avoid packaging when I can. I don't buy those individually packaged snacks. I am fully capable of putting stuff in little containers on my own. Speaking of, we use very few sandwich type bags. I have turned to the reusable containers for the boys and Jamie's lunch, less trash and less money re-buying stuff you plan on throwing away. I reuse the trash bags from the recycle stuff, since i can't bag that, and use the trash bags for the dogs outdoor waste. Yeah, our community doesn't have yard waste pick-up, so I have to trash that "stuff". Previously I just added it to my yard waste and it went to compost. Now, it goes to some landfill unless I want to haul that "stuff" in my car across town to pay an extra fee to dispose of it. Seriously? How is all this more environmental?

Ok, my one pet peeve about my light bulbs turned into a total rant that sounds like I'm about to strap myself to some tree and refuse to move when the bulldozer comes. I love tress and all, but really? I have way too many chores to do to sit there, although it would be a good chunk of time to read, hum?

I'm signing off now before I go on about tiny cars that wouldn't adequately fit safe car seats, and would prevent school and activity carpooling.