Earth Day!

Friday, April 22 was marked as Earth Day.  I woke up with high hopes of doing all kinds of green things but as with many of my ambitions, things did not work out as I would have hoped.  I had done some research to find some local farms and farmers markets to visit and hoping to maybe pick a few berries. Unfortunately, I found everything closed (only open Saturdays) and that the berries need another week.

As my first act of green, I decided to break open my new box of Burt's Bee's Natural Toothpaste and hoped it wasn't too nasty.  I had bought it on a whim off the clearance rack at Target, mostly because it had a free lip balm (of which you can never have too much).  I made sure to be conscious to turn off the water while I brushed too!

 We headed out to run a few errands and my mom was convinced we could find some produce somewhere!  First we hit the post office and I was tickled to find green stamps!  I bought some for my newsletter and mailing that needs to go out soon.  We went down to a parking lot near my mom's church after where she had spotted someone selling produce and he was there!  We hopped out and found he had squash, onions and gorgeous strawberries.  I was pretty sure I could whip up a great meal with these fresh local ingredients.

I needed a few more goodies for our dinner so we popped over to my (second) favorite shopping spot...Trader Joe's!  I grabbed some organic chicken, Brussels sprouts, fresh grated Parmesan and some whipping cream (for the berries!) to round off the meal.  I had lots of my own shopping bags; I have been trying to encourage my mom to use them instead of all the plastic ones most places give.

I have also been thinking a lot about all the cups I use when I buy beverages out so I brought along one for a trip to the Starbucks!  I was glad I did not offend the store clerk with my Caribou Coffee cup!  She gladly filled it with my favorite frap and I saved ten whole cent by bringing my own!  That was a nice perk!

Our day may not have started out as planned but we managed to have a lot of fun trying to shop organic and local food and looking for other ways to make green choices.  Every day we can make efforts to do little things that can help make a difference for our planet!

To see about the yummy meal I put together to celebrate Earth Day, stay tuned for my new blog...The Cooking Post!