What Ana Does

So lately I've been thinking about dog poop. My dog's poop, specifically. Since adopting Benny we've been collecting plastic bags to clean up after him on our neighborhood walks. And using plastic bags, or even having them, has never sat well with me. Plastic bags are kinda evil. For years we've been using less and less plastic bags, always bringing reusable bags to the grocery store and pulling out my little reusable tote (always stuffed into my purse) while shopping. But lately, now with the need for them, we've been more lax about accepting them at stores. And I don't like it. Then there's the landfill issue -- another sensitive subject with me. I'm overly-aware of what we throw out. Can I reuse it? Can I compost it? Can I recycle it? Those plastic bags of poop drop right into my trash bin and get taken to the landfill where they'll decompose very very very slowly. I read recently it takes over a 100 years for a plastic bag of dog poop to ...

Glass Jars and Plastic Cups I've always had this strange issue about throwing things away, especially anything reusable. Even recycling doesn't cut it for me. So here's a mini-list of what I don't always throw out. Glass Jars -- especially salsa and tomato sauce. Once cleaned and labels removed, these jars are incredibly useful. They hold kids craft supplies like paint brushes, markers, googly eyes and scissors. ( See here for step by step. ) I have one labeled "Homework Pencils" because Leah will find ANY excuse not to do her homework and "not finding a pencil" was an easy one to fix. You'll find jars of all sizes around the house -- some on the kids' desks (holding rocks and shells) and in windows propagating rosemary. Why buy them!? But, guys, they really shouldn't be used to store food again, okay? Maybe as drinking glasses, but not for canning. Got it? Plastic Cups -- these I wash and save for my little artists to dip bru...

Here's one lesson I learned -- I should have started collecting my trash from around the house weeks ago. But vacations, drinks with coworkers and spending quality time with the kiddies always took priority. Next move, I'll be starting months in advance! Big love to my trash men if they make all this garbage disappear! NINE BAGS OF TRASH - AND A CHAIR