A BIG Gold star for Whole Foods!

Continuing with the theme of my previous post: I took a trip to Whole Foods today. I have mentioned it a few times before - I really love that place and every time I go there, they give me a new reason to. I know it's a bit expensive ... but I think it's worth it.

As the check out lady bagged my groceries in the cloth bag I brought along, I noticed a little sign which said something like this - "Bring your own bag. Whole foods is plastic grocery bag free for Earth day, 2008". I asked the bagger what this was all about and she said that Whole Foods has completely STOPPED using Plastic grocery bags since this year. They did a trial run in Austin first in Dec. They got such an amazing response from shoppers that they have now initiated it company wide. Of course they will still offer paper bags, but they are the first and one of the few food retailers that make their paper bags out of 100% recycled paper! How amazing is that? I would any day pay those extra few bucks on my groceries to support a company like this one!

Green is in!

This year it really is all about going green. And since I am such a trend follower and ofcourse I love our dear mother earth, here are a few changes I have made or am trying to make to 'go greener'. Some of these might seem insignificant, but if frail and puny Gandhiji thought that way - we would not be the proud independent nation we are today.

Also, I would love to hear what you all are doing, so that I can add them to my list.

Things I do:
1. Wash clothes only in cold water - supposed to be big savings in this!
2. Always clean the lint thingy in your dryer.
3. Use cloth grocery bags
4. Donate clothes I don't use - a way to recycle.
5. Reuse containers / glass pottles etc.
6. Resuable water bottle at work!
7. Resuable wash cloths for kitchen counters and brushes for bathrooms instead of the disposable paper towels - we waste too much paper towel!

Changes I am making this year:

1. Switch off unnecessary lights around the house.
2. Try to refrain from using the ac/heat as much as possible.
3. Shut the tap as I brush my teeth.
4. Say no to tissue-wrap while buying clothes.
5. Buy less.
6. Find recycling stations - I only have paper in my apt. community. I don't buy much of plastic, but would love one for cans and bottles.
7. Shorter showers. (toughie)

A cool site with lots of info that I heard about on Oprah is http://earth911.org/

MySpace!

Space is something I had no concept of when I was growing up ... probably not much through college too as I had roomies and someone or the other was always piling up in my bedroom through wee hours of the night. But after the first job, and esp. after getting an apartment of my own, the concept of space started sinking in. I started identifying things as 'mine'. My Car, My apt, My bed! The more time I spent in my space, the more possessive I got about it. I could share it for a while, but beyond a limit, I wanted it back for myself. An evening with friends, a weekend with an out of towner, 3 weeks with my parents, became some of those undocumented limits. Whenever I exceeded them, I just got this strong feeling of "I want MY home, MY space, MY alone time back." I didn't think it was such a big deal, as it was easy to leave the social scene and come back to my place whenever I wished. But now, I am at that point in my life, where I need to start thinking of sharing everything that was mine with someone who is a stranger (when compared to all the others that I know!).

Is there a better way to ease into this process or do I just get married and begin those arguments on who has more closet space? I mean I love my closet, I don't have an inch of free room in it and if you give me a bigger closet, I know I can fill it up pretty easily.

Yes, there are definitely those evenings when I would love to have someone around to go for dinner with or cuddle up to while watching a movie. But I have many nights when I just want to be by myself - not really anti social - but more like "a break" from any associations.

Once married, will I have to give up that freedom? Do married people lose their individual space and start having a combined couple space? Or do many just have fights not realizing this is the reason that they are fighting? Should I be making deals with my to-be so that there are no issues on this later - "Honey, thursday nite is my night to watch aimless TV shows. DND!" And will that one-night-off deal be really enough? Or is this all a part of the sacrifice and compromise that people keep talking about.

I guess one logical solution would be to find a guy who feels the same. But on conversing on this with Ciara, we found a major roadblock here. Bunch of guys we know are postponing even 'looking' for their partners because of this very same fear of losing one's space. This is perfect for us, cause we share the same fear. We can't date the guys we are talking about cause of them being in the friend zone and stuff, but it definitely makes us wonder about the pool of guys out there doing the same thing. If these boys aren't putting themselves out there, how are us girls suppose to now find these boys and let them know we are on the same boat??? Help!

The Way I See it #289

I love those little quotes they put on the Starbucks cups. Didn't have a chance to make my breakfast today, so grabbed a soy chai this morning and this is what my cup read:

So-called "global warming" is just a secret ploy by wacko tree-huggers to make America energy independent, clean our air and water, improve the fuel efficiency of our vehicles, kick-start 21st century industries, and make our cities safer and more livable. Don't let them get away with it.

- Chip Giller, Founder of Grist.org, where environmentally minded people gather online.

My msg for the day: Go Green!

A different kind of running!

When in a relationship, do you feel like you are always in this mini chase? One seems to eternally running behind or away from one another. If he is running behind you, you show some disinterest. The minute he shows some disinterest, you go chasing him. I guess it's what keeps the interest going. Cause if it was just a one way chase, it would be mighty boring. But what happens, when one forgets to stop chasing and be chased. Is that the relationships doom? Also does that really have to be a conscious decision or does it happen naturally in the "good - meant-to-be relationships"? Or have I just been in too many relationships where aimless "mind games" have been played? Am I talking gibberish here?

Shoes

One of my many resolutions of 2008 is to learn to differentiate between what I 'need' and what I 'want' and to try and buy only that which I need. Sounds pretty simple, huh? I read it in some magazine that it will help me from doing the unnecessary spending and facilitate saving more. 15 days are up and how did I do? Well I realized that the only way I could keep it up is by just staying away from the malls. That wasn't too tough to do esp. since I OD'ed on shopping in December.

But, this morning, I opened my shoe closet and even though I saw piles of shoes right in front of me ... I realized I 'needed' not 'wanted' another pair. How did I manage that? I am wearing jeans and they are a little taller than my legs ... so I 'need' to wear heels. And it's cold, so it 'needs' to be close toed. And since it's work I am going to, it 'needs' to be comfortable too. And out of all the gazillion pairs I own, nothing fits this bill! Does this justify a shoe buy? :) Anyone wants to place any bets on how long my resolutions last? :P

Acceptance

"He just accepts the way I am, doesn't really try to change me."  This was told to me 2 days back when one of my gal pals spoke about her boy friend.  As I drove down 71W, her words kept coming back to me and I thought - Wow!  What a great virtue to have.  Accepting people for what they are and not forcing ones thoughts on the other.  Lots to learn from lots of people, but with the start of this new year, I think acceptance is on top of my list.  I have a few friends who have mastered this art of acceptance and of course, they are the pleasanter ones of the lot.  I tend to want people to behave 'my' way.  For example, if a person is not too punctual and I am, I just can't seem to understand why!  Why can't he just leave early?  Why is he so inconsiderate of my time?  True.  It is a horrible trait to have, but is it really that bad?  There are so many other reasons why I am his or her friend.  Why can't I just accept this as a package deal and live with it?  I can think of countless situations where conversations and evenings would have been so much more pleasant, had I not complained or mentioned or nagged about some insignificant habit of a partner, friend or a relative.  Yes, people do have habits which can get on your nerves, but I think I am beginning to believe that "not accepting people as they are" beats all the others hollow.