I promise to throw a Green Bridal Shower

Howdy folks. I've been reading this blog, and I must admit that I am feeling pretty bad about myself right now. I am such a consumer hog. I could do such a better job at reducing the amount of trash I create if I just tried a little harder.

The wonderful people at cleanbin.wordpress.com make their own laundry soap, pasta sauce and pasta (tried it before but it's so time consuming... I even own the pasta maker attachment for my kitchenaid mixer but it makes such a mess and takes forever), and practically anything else that you could think of so that they don't have to buy it with all the packaging that comes with it.

I've done some things in this department, but I must admit that I could do so much more. I've sewn bag after bag to take with me to Aldi's when I go grocery shopping, however I need to do a better job of bringing them with me to other stores too. If I just have a couple things, I always tell the clerk I don't want a bag, but if I brought my own bags with me wherever I went, I would feel better. Yes, I recycle the bags that don't end up as wastebin liners but still, I feel bad.

The cleanbin people don't buy store-bought cakes because of the plastic packaging and were saddened when someone brought them one. I'm sure they don't even buy cake mixes because that comes with packaging too. Get this: they even take reusable containers with them when they go out to eat (which they don't do often anyway) so they don't get their Whopper or Big Mac wrapped in plastic which would be promptly thrown out anyway.

I'm feeling the major guilt: we stopped at McDonalds last night when we were on the road, still over an hour from home and dead tired. If I was going to stay awake I needed some caffeine, so I got a McCafe latte and a McChicken sandwich. Trash, trash, trash. At least what the hubby got was recycled (an energy drink in a can from a gas station). I wish I had thought ahead and we could have brought our thermoses (is that the plural form of thermos?) and made some coffee at my grandma's before we left. That would have been a heck of a lot cheaper too.

I did, however, buy reusable plastic spoons and forks for our wedding shower instead of my maid-of-honor buying the throw away kind. I wrote a cute little poem that went along with them so people would know not to throw them away.


But then I think about all the stuff that we did throw away, and I am sickened. The cake came in a throw-away container, as did the big Subway subs. Many of the decorations were one-time-use only, such as the balloons, tablecloths, and the kissy-lips tablerunners (which was actually a thrifted wallpaper border).

I am throwing my friend, T-2, a shower next month, so right here, right now, I am announcing to the world that I will make her shower green. I will dig out those reusable forks and spoons. We'll use real glasses instead of styrofoam. (We'll be using my collection of Coke glasses since this is going to be a fifties themed party). I already bought reusable fifties-styled burger baskets for our burgers and fries, so hasta la vista paper products! I will most likely have to use paper napkins though, to line the burger baskets. *sigh*

The decorations will be reusable. I am going to get some thrifted records and make record bowls with them. My friend, T-3, already made two which she gave me. One can hold the cards. Another can hold the games. If I make a few more, they can hold things such as chips, candy, etc. as long as I clean them very, very well. I'm also planning on having us watch the old fifties version of "The Father of the Bride," and I can use those red and white reusable popcorn containers that my nephew gave us for Christmas.

I could make another bunting (T-3 really thinks I should) using material I already have. I think it would be cool to make one that looks like records, but I don't think I already have any suitable black fabric that would do the job.

I probably won't buy a cake, as she is having two other showers where I'm sure there will be cakes. We can do ice cream malts instead for our dessert, in true fifties fashion. Of course, those will be in glasses that I already own, so no plastic there.

Now for the gifts: I can't really tell people not to wrap her gifts in wrapping paper because it's bad for the environment. Oh well. At least I know I'll be using a reusable gift bag.

If you have any other ideas on how to make her shower greener, please let me know!