Acting locally

So sitting at my desk on Friday, I had an odd thought.... Look at all the waste that comes with a single cup of coffee when bought at the little cafe in the building you work in... This cup cost me just under $2.00. A fair price.... about the same for the same amount of coffee from the Dunkin Donuts store across the street.


While the cup of coffee itself is a simple cardboard cup with a plastic top, the innovative little cardboard device to carry the cup and keep your hand from being burned by the hot coffee inside is what got me thinking... You probably can't tell from the picture, but it is made from recycled materials, and boasts about it along with stories about conservation and earth friendly practices.


As I thought about it for a minute, it dawned on me that reusing this ingenious little device for the whole week would save the cafe 9 of these a week ( I usually drink 2 cups a day). While the cafe will appreciate this (they wont have to purchase a case of these over the course of a year), I am also keeping 9 of these a week out of the office trash and subsequently out of the landfills.

When we do little things like this we don't see the global impact it has. Imagine if 100 people in just the US did the same thing I am doing... that would mean 900 of those cute little cup holders are not being put into land fills, and the recycled cardboard that was used to make them will be used to make something else more useful. The energy used to make them will not generate any Carbon Dioxide or waste water.... I don't know the what the numbers are that I am effecting, but, that little bit, multiplied by the number of people doing the same types of things.... WOW

Its these small, local acts that add up to have a global impact....

Don't forget to to click the adds...

Busy, Busy, Busy....

So its been a while since I have posted any updates to this blog of mine. I have been busy, busy, busy. I have gotten a job, have moved to the Boston area and my Brother's family came in for a visit from Cleveland.

As is always custom when they visit (and once a year for that fact), we have a lobster feed. The entire family gets together for lobster, baked beans, potato salad and what ever else we decide to whip up. As usual, I get to cook the lobster and beans.... here is the "Little" brother winning his battle with a lobster, he got the biggest one...

My brother's wife, Marcie, is from California..... and it may be because she is on the wrong coast, or it may have been the panic from seeing the lobster, but I think we should revoke her license...


Getting the Family together for a lobster feeds brings out all the old toys that we have hanging around.... here my great-nephew Wes plays in a toy that I bought my daughter 13 years ago... this was a hit then, and its a hit now... all the short people took turns climbing into this contraption...



As part of this little gathering, my other little great-nephew, Luke, also got in on the act, but you can tell they like the ladies, here they are playing with Craig's little girl (I forget her name). She is a cutie, and her daddy better get used to the boys clamoring all over her...

Also, we celebrated little Gracie's birthday while I was there. She turned 4 while in Maine, and that by itself is no big deal, but considering she almost died from a siesure when she was only 9 months old, makes every one of her birthday's special.

I hope to get back into a regular routine of posts... keep clicking on those ads...

Courtney