Being Green is Easy

I’m green and not ashamed. I carry reusable bags in my car and in my handbag. I like to stay hydrated and carry around a BPA free reusable water bottle. At home have 3 gallon water jugs that we fill up once a week at our local water store. I buy and sell vintage which is a great (and fashionable) way to reuse and recycle. We have a garden where we grow some of our food, albeit not the majority of it, but maybe one day with more time and space it will grow.

I’m here to tell you that being green is much easier than you’d think. It was a slow process for me, but these days there is much less plastic waste in my home with just as much recycling as trash. In the kitchen we have two trashcans which makes separating trash and recycling so much more easier. Break that cereal box down, shake out the inside bag, toss both into your recycling trash can and you’ve just recycled my friend!

Earth Day Chico Bag

Ok, it isn’t always that easy. When I started my transition from disposable water bottles to a reusable water bottle I would forget to bring my water bottle out with me. Slowly I started to remember more often and am now at the point where I rarely have anything but a reusable water bottle. It also took a while for me to find a water bottle that I liked. Since we don’t use a dishwasher I couldn’t use an all aluminum bottle or the kind with straws since there was no sure way to disinfect them. I do make sure to only put water in my bottle which eliminates gross smells and stains.

I use a DFL 24 ounce flip top water bottle for everyday use and when running take the Nathan QuickDraw plus bottle with carrier. A site that I came across but haven’t purchased anything from is reuse it. You can shop by country of origin which is pretty unique.

By the way, I am a water bottle snob. When I’m at fitness boot camp or at a workshop I feel a bit of sadness for the people who have disposable water bottles. I do think water bottles have their time and place. For instance on vacation! We can’t very well carry water bottles with us on planes or we’ll have to throw them away. Does that make me less of a water bottle snob? Hope so!

With more cities joining the effort to ban disposable bags the options for reusable bags is growing. You can get big ones, small ones, ones just for produce and others for your fave retailers. I wish it was smooth sailing when it came to using reusable bags at stores. I won’t go more into this because as I was writing I realized that it started to sound like a rant. I’d rather celebrate reusable bags. Just know you might have to guide the cashier who isn’t used to handling reusable bags. Oh, and don’t let them try to charge you for it. They should be giving you a 5 cent discount!


I love, love, love Chico Bag! I was gifted my first Chico Bag in purple for a birthday and can’t live without it. I also love my Recycle Heart which is a limited edition Valentine’s Day bag and another limited edition green bag with the earth wearing headphones and “Listen to Your Mother” across it. There’s no way you can’t find a bag you won’t love!  The best part is that they fold into themselves as a little pouch that fit in your pocket, handbag or car.

So now that I’ve shared a little about recycling, reusable water bottles and fashionable bags, I hope you will join me in being a green snob!

How to use your reusable bag:

***Keeping it real: No compensation has been received for including the above items or dropping names. All photos used were with permission - please take advantage of the links back to their site