Since I asked you, it’s only fair for you to find out what I do/will do to reduce my carbon footprint.

1. I eat a vegan diet.  My husband and daughter are nearly vegan. That right there has a HUGE positive impact on the environment.
2. Every single light and lamp in our house has a CFL in it.
3. We rarely wash our car.  This is more a result of our laziness, but I suppose it does cut down on our water usage.
4. Speaking of cars, we only have one.  My husband walks to work.
5. I recycle religiously.  I even make a special trip to take plastic grocery bags to the recycler (and I dig them out of the trash when my husband has put them in there).
6. I will purchase some reusable produce bags.  In the meantime, I only put things in a bag that need to be (like lettuce that is excessively wet or small things that will roll around the cart if not contained).  Otherwise, I just throw stuff in my cart without a bag or I reuse the bags from a previous trip.
7. I mainly purchase organic produce and I’m growing my own organic tomatoes!  If space was not a factor, I would probably grow most of my own produce.  I would also compost, but I can’t do that now because we rent and have raccoons and other critters around here that would make a mess of it.

One thing that I thought of this morning (as my hubby was getting a coffee at Starbucks) was to take your own cup to Starbucks. It’s not a new concept, but NO ONE does it. If everyone did that, can you imagine how much waste that would save?! I think our landfills must be full of white cups with green logos by now.

And I just thought of one more right this second.  Take your own containers out to dinner with you.  That way, if you have any leftovers, you can bring them home in that instead of the plastic, cardboard or styrofoam ones that the restaurant would provide.

Anyway, so let’s get on to it. My lucky winners this month are:

Danielle (prize pack #1)

“I reuse any container that I can, such as plastic tubs from butter to cottage cheese. I use them for storage or holding other foods.”

AND

Liz (prize pack #2)

“To reduce my carbon footprint, I:

• Try to buy second hand clothes/accessories.
• Donate or sell my son’s outgrown clothes/toys.
• Recycle and reuse containers.
• Hand wash dishes and don’t leave water running.
• Use an electric water kettle (more efficient than stove top).
• Turn off lights when not in use. Unplug computer/small appliances, etc when not in use.
• Use water bottles (reusable).
• Filter my water instead of buying bottled water.
• Buy used furniture.
• Use green products in/around the home.”

Thank you to everyone who entered and for sharing all of your great tips.  A more appropriate question may have been “what are you already doing to reduce your carbon footprint” because everyone who entered sounded like they were already doing quite a bit.  This, by a mile, has been my biggest turn out for a contest.  Awesome!