A SAVVY New Years Resolution...

As new years resolutions go; I tend to not make them.  If I do it is something simple like washing my face EVERY night {no matter how much wine I have had}.  I feel that if you make a small goal you are more likely to achieve it and feel successful rather than making a big one and feeling let down if you slip up a little.  BUT this year I want to make a big change... I want to be more green.  Now it may seem by that comment I am not green at all... but for those that know me personally, I am pretty green already.  I use re-usable grocery bags, carry a re-usable water bottle, clean my house with rags {old cloth diapers work the best}, and have a hybrid car.

This is a stack of magazines I came home to after a 2 week vacation!

 But what I really want to green is the amount of paper I use/receive on a daily basis.  On average I receive 12 paper bills {credit cards, household bills, ect} in the mail a month.  I also receive 18 magazines a month {down from 25!}... I know that is a lot!!  And of course I can't forget the insane amount of weekly mailers and store ads {the bulk/junk.}  I recently read and article in Sunset Magazine where a family lived with virtually no waste.  The family even took glass jars to the store and had the deli counters put their meat and cheese in them!!  Now I am not even close to wanting to green my life that much.  But after a lot of thought I am ready to make a change: I resolve to use less paper!  And here is how I plan to do it.

 I am going to start by eliminating the extra bulk/junk mail by visiting DMAchoice.org.  Here I will be able to stop the direct mailers that come every week.  Next I am going to visit catalogchoice.org.  This website will help cut down on the catalogs {though I do love getting my Pottery Barn and Crate N Barrel... and will continue to receive those!}  I spend so much time flipping though catalogs that I know I am never going to buy out of... so I will be saving paper AND time!

 So now that I have cleaned up my mail box how can I clean up my filing cabinet?  I will admit that there are some things I do NEED to keep in paper form or at least keep somewhere for record.  I found this next product on television while I was running at the gym.  I typically would not pay attention to an info-mercial but I must have been thinking about this while running.  The Neat is a scanning device that will take any piece of paper {receipts, insurance policies, and medical files} and keep it in a readable file in your computer.  How awesome is that!!  Now the only down fall to this is that IF you scan everything onto your computer and IF your husband accidentally spills a Mai Tai cocktail all over your keyboard while on vacation; you might lose what you have on the computer.  But if you back up regularly {which I do now} this should be no problem.  This is an investment {for the $399 price point} but in the long run you will be SAVVY for the environment and paper free.

 So the last thing I need to tackle is the massive amount of magazines I get each month.  I love my magazines!! I enjoy reading all of them and ear marking the pages of things I want to buy, look up, make or use.  How can I still enjoy all of my magazines but still cut my paper usage?  After much searching and searching I can't find anything.... I have looked at all of the readers and none of them have ALL of the magazines I get... but I guess one is better than none!  My favorite so far is the nook color by Barnes & Noble.  Again it is a little bit of investment {$249}, but it will save so many trees and well that is priceless!!

Of course going this green is going to take some time and a whole lot of effort and I am going to share all of my SAVVY ideas and information I come across with all of you!