Compassionate Lafayette

eco Challenge is beneficial for me , fun and rewarding.  I am enjoying feelings of success - and enduring 😆 failures

My great aunt sent over some lentils she received from government assistance and didn't know what to make with it. 1 1/2 cup of them made a MASSIVE serving of curry. ...which I will be packing for lunch every day this week.

I had several big distractions during this month-long challenge including a ceiling leak in my only closet during Hurricane Barry and a new job.  But I think I changed some behaviors and learned a lot!

I live in an apartment building with a community room. We use a table in the community room for sharing things we no longer want.  Because of our close proximity I/we feel more comfortable loaning things and borrowing things than I did living in an apartment complex. I know my neighbors so much better here and spend more time with them.

I discovered using baking soda for facial scrub, so I started using it for other cleaning - body soap, bathroom tub and sink scrubbing and other surfaces.

A couple of the places I go to regularly now know not to even offer me a  straw. 

I haven't been successful with this challenge. We had strawberries and grapes, but they came in plastic containers. While I managed to not "buy" any prepackaged snacks - someone generously gave me some. And then I ate them.

I've only occasionally bought bottled water. It never made sense to me. But every now and then someone gives me bottled water. I reuse those bottles for a while, until I'm afraid that plastic is breaking down more than I care to be drinking.  Any ideas for what else to do with them?

I realized that the arguments I was having with family members wasn't good for me or for them. Inviting them to learn with me causes fewer arguments and makes a little progress. 

When I started picking up litter I was uncomfortable. I thought people might think, "Yuck, she's getting her hands dirty picking up other people's trash." or "Why is she picking things up off the street?"  But I'm getting less self-conscious about it. Diane