Wishcasting Wednesday and CTWW

I love Wednesdays for blogging, at least on this blog.  On Wednesdays, I love to see what Jamie over at http://jamieridlerstudios.ca and what http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com prompt me to think about.

This week Jamie asks: "What guidance do you wish for?"  As usual, Jamie's question follows right along with things that I have been thinking about.  For me, I wish for guidance in following my dreams and my passions.  I know what my dreams and my passions are, at least I think I do, but I think I need guidance on how to follow though with them.  How do I make them them a part of my life instead of just a dream in my mind?  Is it possible to take them and make them something I could make a living at and if so, how do I do it?  How do I follow my dreams and my passions and not give up on my social work profession?  How do I follow my dreams and passions and afford to do it?  I guess these are just a few of the questions that I wish for guidance on.

Last week, for change the world Wednesday, I wrote about reducing my waste.  I guess on some level I made a pretty huge goal for myself.  One of the things that I have to remember in my life is that I can take small steps to get to the large goal I have, I don't have to leap to the large goal right away.  I have done better this past week with making my own tea and bringing food for lunch, but I have not been perfect.  I still need to get better at planning and making sure that I have food in the house to make dinner and that I actually make dinner.  I also need to get better at packing my dinner for work and using up leftovers.  I have been better this week, but not where I was hoping to be.  I also want to do better at not buying my coffee or my tea out.  A lot of my goals will help reduce waste and also help my finances, a win win situation.  As I wrote above I want guidance in following my passions.  One of my passions is living a greener more natural life and that includes reducing waste.  So, this is a goal that I will be continuing with and hopefully as time moves on, the small changes I make will lead up to the large goal I have.

This week, reduce footprints asks us to look at our fridge and see what we can do to make sure that it operates efficiently.  There are lots of suggestions that they have and I plan to follow through checking out my fridge.  One of the suggestions is to change the gasket.  I know that we have replaced it recently, but I will double check to see that it is still working right.  I will plan to write an update of how things go after I follow reduce footprints suggestions.

Amy

Change The World Wednesday (a day late)

This weeks challenge is a really appropriate challenge for me.  Zero Waste Week 2011 started September 5th and the goal over at http://myzerowaste.com/ is how can I reduce my waste away from from home.  This challenge is really appropriate since I have been rediculously horrible about eating out, wasting food, and buying coffee/tea out.  When I look in my recycling bin, and the fact that I recycle is the only saving grace for me, I cringe when I see how many plastic cups are in there.  That means I have wasted a ton of money by buying coffee/tea out instead of making it at home and I am using way too many plastic containers.  I have tried to make this change earlier in the summer, but I haven't really succeeded.  My new goal is to either make my drinks at home or at least being a reusable mug with me instead of using a "disposable" cup/mug.  I have also been buying too much soda and since I want not only reduce my soda intake, but actually eliminate it, I will make sure that I bring at least one of my many water bottles that I fill at home from our filtered water system.  I will also make sure that I continue to buy healthy frozen juice concentrate for the kids to help reduce plastic waste.  I have been horrible about eating out also.  This means that I use disposable products more than someone who eats home more often.  I will be planning better so that I don't feel like I have to eat out because I don't have a meal planned, there by reducing my waste and saving money.

Since the above goals will take some planning on my part, I will be forced, in a good way, to plan my meals and my liquids so that I don't feel the need to stop at a store/take out place to get either food or drink.  I will be forced to plan my grocery list there by saving money, eating healthier, and hopefully reducing my food waste.  I am totally guilty of buying food that I forget about and then have to throw it away because it has gone bad. 

I am hoping that these zero waste week 2011 goals will not only help reduce waste, but increase my wallet and help to make me healthier.  Hopefully is will also help with my stress since i will have my meal planning done and I will be saving money as well as helping the earth!

Amy