LancesWorld.com Journal

Well, folks, today was an ecologically friendly day if ever I've lived one. Let's recount some of the things that transpired today that benefited the environment. First, I took public transit to and from work. Of course, this is nothing particularly new, I've been doing it most days for the past 4 months now, but it certainly is a good thing. One nice thing about public transit is that it is going to run regardless of whether or not I'm there. That means that my riding it has a marginal (if any) incremental impact on the environment. Since I have to get from point A to point B anyway, I may as well get on a vehicle that is already headed to where I need to go instead of driving my own car.

The second thing that makes me environmentally friendly today is that I walked to the grocery store. This isn't a big deal, really. There is a CalaFoods just over a block away from me to the South and an Albertsons about 5 blocks to the West. Both are very convenient. I prefer Albertsons by far, so I walked up the street to buy a few things there this evening. I considered driving there, but then thought about how silly that would really have been, so I walked. I knew that I was only going to be picking up a few select items, and so I went prepared, which leads me to the third ecologically friendly undertaking: I brought along my own canvas bag. This prevented me from having to use a new plastic or paper bag at the grocery store. This helps reduce waste, and it also saved me five (5) cents! Yes, Albertsons credits you 5 cents for each bag of your own that you bring. Next time I go there to buy a loaf of bread, I'll take along 100 bags of my own, thereby making the bread free!

The canvas bag that I took along with me to use was actually one that I purchased at Trader Joe's the other day. It only cost me $2.99, and it is a very nice, heavy duty bag. You might think that it is a little silly to buy a grocery bag, but in the long run it has many benefits. First of all, it is much more environmentally sounds. Secondly, if I take it to Albertsons 60 times, it will more than have paid for itself. 1 down, 59 to go. Also, everytime I use it at TJ's, I am entered to win a $50 gift certificate. If I won that, it would more than pay for the bag!

Oh, I never want to be one to disappoint my friend Adam, particularly since he is graciously putting me up for a few nights when I visit ND for the Michigan game in the fall, so I have posted the first few pictures from the Australia trip on flickr. Enjoy!