Itty Bitty Impact

Last week our challenge was to time our showers and keep them under five minutes. How did you do? It was tough for me, but I’m proud to say I was able to do it. I’d like to shorten my time even more. I think if I do it gradually, I won’t even notice the difference.

Our next challenge is perhaps something many of you are already doing: Use reusable shopping bags. Mike and I have about 10 different reusable bags for groceries…and yet, emberassingly, we often forget them and are forced to choose between paper or plastic. This is a bad habit that I am dying to change…hence, a perfect Itty Bits Challenge!

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I always get the itch to do a little self-pampering in the early spring. After a long winter of dry-skin, I can’t wait to get my healthy summer-glow back. But most facial products are chocked-full of nasty ingredients (see Natural Beauty: Avoiding Toxic Make-Up). So today I thought I would share with you some of my alternatives to department store products.

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The majority of cosmetics and toiletries on the market today contain enormous amounts of toxic chemicals which have never been tested for safety by the FDA. Not only are these toxins sitting on our faces all day long and being absorbed into our bodies, but when we wash them off we are washing them into our water system and the earth. I challenge you to switch to an all-natural brand, and see what kind of difference it makes with your skin/eyes/allergies. Even if you don’t notice any outward benefits, at least you can feel good that you’re no longer washing those chemicals down the drain every day! If you already use natural cosmetics, please share you experience in the comments!

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Introducing our new Friday series, Itty Bits: a compilation of inspiring tid-bits from all over the internet. Itty Bits is also a chance to end each week by setting a goal for the following week.

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Tutorial: Mama Mouse shows us how to make our own reusable market bag.

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Yay! We’re engaged! We’re in love! We can’t wait to get married! There’s just one problem…we need to plan a ‘green’ wedding for 300 guests. It’s going to be a challenge, but we already have some great ideas for reducing our waste on the big day.

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Today is about reflecting on 2009 and being thankful about all that has happened in the year. It was an eventful year for us here at Itty Bitty…for starters, the blog was born!!

I can’t tell you how excited I am to grow this blog. My hope is that it will be a place for readers to see that we’re not alone in the struggle to reduce our impact, while still maintaining a normal life, holding down a job, and providing for a family. I know better than anyone that it’s nearly impossible to exclaim “I’m never driving my car anywhere ever again!” and POOF, you’re suddenly the green-queen-supreme in your neighborhood. We need bite-sized, practical ways to cut back on our consumption and waste…and that is exactly what Itty Bitty will focus on: the small things that add up and make a difference.

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Do you know what the ingredients are in your household cleaning supplies? Probably not, because manufacturers are not required to list their ingredients on their bottles. Some {like Febreze and Dawn} only list certain ingredients on the bottle, and conceal others. And if you did know what was in them, you wouldn’t be happy, and you certainly wouldn’t be wiping your counters down with them. It’s time to do an itty-bit! Mike and I set out to rid our home of toxic cleaning supplies. We did our research and we’ve found a brand that we can use with peace of mind!

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About a year ago, we resolved to never throw away a plastic bag until it had been used so many times it had holes in it. We started washing out the baggies and sticking them right back into the “bag drawer” to be reused. The result has been amazing– I can’t even remember the last time I’ve had to put “Ziploc” on my shopping list. I feel really, really good about the fact that we’ve pretty much eliminated the unnecessary waste of baggies from our lives, just by changing one itty-bitty behavior.

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