Noteworthy Green: My "Why Doesn't Everybody Do This?" List for Going Green and More

Since it's Earth Day, I thought I'd add a little bonus list to this week's Noteworthy Green. Here, in no particular order, is my top 5, easy peasy, "Why doesn't everybody do this?" list for going green:

1. Put a reusable bag in your purse, backpack, or glove compartment.

I admit it can be hard to remember to bring your cloth bags to the grocery store, but you can at least put one bag in a place that's going to go with you every time you go to the store. I keep a reusable bag in my purse, and I use it for quick runs to the drugstore, thrift store, or clothing store. Or you can just say, "I don't need a bag, thanks."

2. Use a reusable water bottle and/or thermos.

If my kids can do it, you can do it.

3. Use a Keeper.

The menstrual cup has to be the best kept secret yet most amazing product on the market. Every woman should have one.

4. Make your own household cleaners.

It only takes a minute and saves oodles of money (not to mention avoiding toxic chemicals).

5. Change your lightbulbs.

As I said yesterday, if you haven't done it yet, do it now. You have no excuse.


And now for this week's news roll:

::SmartFamilyTips suggests safer alternatives to Teflon. I'm in the market, so I found this post very useful.

::Greening Families describes the EPA's plan to test chemicals in pesticides to see if they are endocrine disrupters.

::Frugaldad provides a guest post called "The Three Most Influential Lessons My Parents Taught Me." Great info for parents!

::SoundMoneyMatters suggests a 10-10-10 rule for purchases: “What will the consequences of my options be in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years?”

::Maureen Dowd at the New York Times interviews the creators of Twitter to find out if they're "as annoying as their invention." (This interview has nothing to do with going green, but as a Twitter-hater, I found this piece amusing.)