Compostable SunChip Bag and Green Living

If you had not stumbled upon SunChip's compostable bags, well, they only come with one variety now.  What articles don't mention is that it's only been pulled off the market in the U.S.  Because only Americans care more about their convenience and "noise" of a chip bag than the effects that bag has on the environment.  You wonder why other countries don't care to listen to the U.S. about environmental issues and pollution.  We can't even get behind a great innovation for CHIP BAGS.  Come on, people. Yes, it's loud, but it's not hard to pour the chips into a bowl, or you could adopt my method of opening the bag really wide and sticking your hand through.. just don't hit the bag.  Another solution is to put them in an airtight container, which will keep them fresh AND you can just compost the bag.  My favorite container: OXO pop containers.

While sometimes living green might seem expensive or inconvenient, there are actually small ways that every person can live just a little more responsibly.  Maybe you can help encourage this with your gift-giving this holiday season.  Here are my favorite discoveries and why I love them:

• Wrap-n-Mat: placemat and sandwich holder in one, cute, and totally reusable.  Easy to clean and cuts down on use of plastic baggies for the brief period that you carry your sandwich from home to work.

• Snack Taxi: again, so cute, and so handy for snacks.  I usually just rinse it clean but will occasionally wash it with some dish soap.  Way more fun than a lame old snack bag anyway.  Lined to prevent leakage, though not recommended for super leaky/wet snacks.

• Twist cleaning supplies: biodegradable sponges, cleaning cloths, etc, that are all safe to sanitize in the dishwasher (makes me love them more than rags or towels that I have to run through the washing machine).  I had been feeling so guilty about using paper towels as much as I do for daily cleaning, being a total clean freak, and found my much better solution.  In the long run, I'll save money on paper towels, too! 

• Free high efficiency light bulbs from Duke Energy: customers can call or go online to request them and you get a whole box full.  These bulbs last for years and help you reduce energy costs.  Be sure to look into proper disposal of these bulbs!  

• Reusable produce bags: Washable bags for your fruits and veggies (just stick them in your reusable grocery bags... you are using them, right?).  You can get these at a variety of places online or at some grocery stores.  Maybe there isn't the same money saving aspect to these bags, but they are not terribly expensive and really, who wants an accumulation of those plastic bags from the grocery anyway?

See?  It's not so hard to be just a little green.  When you drive by one of those landfill mountains, you can be at least a little glad that you added that much less non-biodegradable crap into that big, smelly pile.