Do you really need to buy that?

It's Boxing Day. The day for shopping! Wisdom from my mom would be to ask, "Do you really need to buy that...or do you just think you do?"

Mom, you are the greatest at the "3 R's". Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.


I remember zip-lock bags being rinsed out, hanging to dry over the kitchen sink faucet years (and possibly decades) before the whole recycling movement came into being. You also reused Christmas wrap, which, at the age of 18, as I wrapped my first boyfriend's Christmas gift, I was mortified by. I thought, "He's going to see the old tape marks, where the scotch tape had pulled some of the colour off the wrap when the person opened their gift the year before!"

Hmmm...funny memories! Now it's the "in" thing to wrap gifts using newspaper, magazine pages and even, wrapping in usable items like kitchen t-towels and give those as part of the gift too.

Mom, you were ahead of your time. You still are.

As part of this year of intentional living, and beyond that, I'm going to begin to step up my commitment to the 3 R's. You know, I TRY to bring my own bags to the grocery store and I TRY to do my best....but then I often forget my plastic bags in the car as I go to Save On for groceries.

So...here we go! No more plastic bags! I am committing to going to the car to get my reusable bags from this day onward. I am committing to NO MORE PLASTIC BAGS!

Thanks Mom, for teaching us the 3 R's, even if I scoffed, years ago, at the thought of using pre-used Christmas wrap on my first boyfriend's gift! You're right, he would never have noticed. And if he had, he would not have cared.

love you!
Crystal