The Day after Christmas

Today begins the annual week of Returns and Exchanges.

I have Zero intention of being anywhere near a shopping plaza for the next few days. Of course I’m mindful that; “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Or in the case of California, concrete and asphalt.

Our gift exchange this year was the gift of time.

The other half and I replaced a couple items that were worn out or lost. However most of our gift exchange was comprised of broken things we personally repaired or paid to have repaired. This is the first year we’ve done the season like this. I think I like it, there’s a thoughtfulness that is somehow more intimate and caring.

It’s also GREEN for those to whom that matters.

Our general philosophy is to reuse, repair, & retask, I guess that’s why our recycle bin is the bin that’s half full or less, each week and the landfill bin typically has only one kitchen bag of waste.

If I had a bit more property, I’d be composting a majority of the kitchen waste. I suppose I sound like a wing nut but I’m a believer that it takes remarkably little to minimize my impact on the environment. I believe that if everyone minimized, we’d make more of an impact than some arbitrary carbon tax.

So to those of you at the malls, Return and Exchange away, just make sure you’re not wasting stuff. Take advantage of the after Christmas sales and above all, be good to each other.