The Take-Along Essentials

Studying for finals is upon me, so I have to keep this one short for now. One thing I always find important is having reusable items on hand when I am "out and about". Women know that these days our purses are more like duffle bags, and adding anything more to them might cause some serious damage to our shoulders.

With that in mind, I narrowed down the important things that I like to keep in my purse that save money and the planet. If you are someone who drives more than walks places, you can always keep them in your car instead. Here they are:

• A reusable water bottle. You can buy these almost anywhere, even thrift stores. How does this save you money? You won't find yourself buying any bottled water wherever you go. How does it save the Earth? No bottled water=no plastic=no waste. For more info about the truth behind bottled water, see my links to popular films on the subject at the bottom of this post.
• A reusable hot beverage tumbler. Mine again is stainless steel with a fulling sealing lid so that I can throw it in my purse and not worry about leaks. I got this one from Value Village (thrift store in WA). If you don't want to lug both beverage containers around (and I don't blame you), you can use the tumbler for water or coffee. This one may or may not save you money (depends on the cafe), but it certainly saves the Earth by avoiding those paper cups which equal waste!
• Last but certainly not least: A fold-up reusable bag! This is an absolute must since it is so compact and weighs nearly nothing. Some stores will give you a discount for using cloth bags, money saver! And you are not using plastic or paper bags, Earth saver! The ones shown above are from Target. I bought them years ago in the $1 section. I heard they still sell them in-store. There are many other brands and ones that fold up even smaller than this (I think some of them you can fit in your pocket!). Do a Google search and find the product that works best for you.

These three simple items really keep me from contributing to waste in our environment. Some of you may not be such a tree-hugger like myself; so instead, think about the lack of waste accumulation in a different light. How much time and money do you spend sorting and recycling, taking out the garbage and buying new bags? I don't throw out my trash that often, but people with families can every couple of days. Reducing what you waste, little by little, will save you time and money in the end. And don't worry, I have more ideas to share!

Links to bottled water info:

FLOW: For the Love of Water http://www.flowthefilm.com/

Tapped http://www.tappedthemovie.com/ (Looks like this one is on Hulu right now for free!)