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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

My Big, Fat....


vermont in the fall
I think Vermont is out to make me a better person.

Moving here has been an eye opening experience. I always had a vision of the people in Vermont as earth loving, Ben & Jerry's grubbing, organic farming, hemp growing, local food eating, hybrid car driving, tree huggers.

And they are!  ( But its a wonderful thing : j )

Never have I been to so many restaurants where right on the menu they name the local (literally down the road) organic farm where the turkey (in your turkey burger)  grew up and where the cheese (from that cheese platter) was made and the orchard those apples (in your dessert) were grown! Amazing!

It is a way of life here and I love it. 

reuse + reduce = responsible
I think being aware of your personal impact on the environment (your carbon footprint i.e. the amount of carbon dioxide that you personally produce from the use of electricity, water, flights, your car, etc) is the first step to becoming  a responsible citizen of planet earth.. Then the next step is actually practicing the well known "Recycle, Reduce, Reuse". 

Here are the top 5 things I am trying to do to reduce my  BIG, FAT carbon footprint:

1. reduce bottled water ( this was hard! we now use a filter and reusable bottles)
2. turning off lights when not in use
3. buying locally grown and organic products when possible (also hard because organic can =  more $$)
4. recycling and buying "made from recycled material" products
5. reusing grocery bags and refusing plastic bags when buying small items



some "earth friendly" items I like:

reusable aluminum water bottle
                            
                           reusable bamboo utensils with chopsticks!
                              never use a plastic fork touched by a million germy hands again
   
recycled water bottle gel pen
doctors love a good pen and this one's awesome!
                                                                          

6 comments:

  1. I never been to Vermont, but would love to visit! Love your thoughts on RRR..

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  2. wow i am so proud of you! especially for the bottled water thing :) - love, your husband, me

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  3. Great post! It is hard, sometimes to do what's needed to lead a healthier more conscientious life, but the rewards are so worth it. We, too live where the restaurants even the supermarkets feature locally grown and harvested meats fruits, vegetables. It makes such a difference!

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  4. What a great post! Every little bit helps!!!!! The planet (and I) thank you for reducing your carbon footprint! :D

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  5. Everything you said about Vermont is so true!! There are so many amazing restaurants and cafes that create delicious food using produce and meat grown and raised in the same town. And the farmers' markets in the summers have amazing produce.

    If you haven't been and are close by, you should try eating at Hen of the Wood in Waterbury. It's my favorite restaurant in VT, by far. (just make sure you make a reservation first!)

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  6. i will have to check our Hen of the Wood! thank you!

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