It’s The Little Things.

So, we all know the basics we’re thankful for every year on Thanksgiving: family, friends, food, clothing, a roof over our heads, having a job. Absolutely. I agree completely and am thankful for each of those every day of my life. However, I feel like the little things are sometimes forgotten. Things that we overlook, take for granted. Things that make our lives easier and less stressful. Things that make you smile. So today, I would like to share my list of little things I am thankful for, and perhaps it will make you thankful for a few little things of your own.

• soft toilet paper
• toothbrushes & toothpaste
• pets (cats, dogs, hamsters, you name it)
• pasteurized milk (multiple varieties)
• chocolate
• bubble baths
• public transportation
• Wal-Mart (or other get-everything-in-one-stop-inexpensively shops)
• recycling centers
• yoga
• sticky notes & dry erase boards
• cell phones, specifically the iPhone (& really, any Apple product)
• public wi-fi
• contact lenses
• hybrid cars
• hair ties
• forks, knives, & spoons
• Febreeze
• ATMs
• central heat & air
• Groupon & Living Social
• Arrested Development
• flowers
• sunglasses

So, as you sit around your table with your family tomorrow, take a second to remember the little things in life that make you happy. Things you are lucky enough to have, that don’t really get the credit they should on a regular basis. I am so grateful to have my friends and family in my life that continuously make me a better person. I know I complain from time to time about my job (who doesn’t?), but at the end of the day, I am lucky to have one.  And thanks to that job, I can afford my apartment, clothes, and food. So embrace the day to day extras that we are lucky enough to have in our lives. It’s the little things that are the icing on the cake, or rather the Cool Whip to our pumpkin pie.

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Fine, Call Me A Tree Hugger.

Originally, I had started this post because a friend (or frenemy, rather) brought up the idea that reducing my carbon footprint means nothing. I, as one person, am not going to change a single thing. Buying organic toothpaste, recycled paper towels, or a Brita filter will do nothing but cost me more money than if I were to purchase regular merchandise. However, I beg to differ.

• If every family in the country purchased one package of 100 percent recycled napkins instead of regular, it would save 1 million trees.
• Last year, the US used over 39 billion (yes, billion) plastic bottles–enough to circle the globe 190 times. Each Brita filter can save up to 300 of those bottles from being tossed in a landfill.
• By replacing one box of 48 ounce petroleum-based powder laundry detergent with Seventh Generation’s vegetable-based detergent, we could save 96,000 barrels of oil–enough to heat 5,500 houses per year.
• It takes 75,000 trees to print one run of the New York Times Sunday edition. Read news online.
• The average grocery shopper uses between 500 and 1,200 plastic bags per year. Buying a couple reusable bags from your grocery store will save those bags from resting in landfills.

Anyway, those are just a few things I can personally do that A) make me feel like I’m making a difference, B) don’t take a lot of effort, and C) show how one person can, in fact, change the world. My goal for next weekend is to actually buy a sorter for my paper, plastic, and aluminum waste that I can keep in my kitchen. My apartment complex does not have a recycling facility, but there is one exactly 4.2 miles away. That is my next step in becoming a little more eco-friendly each day. Not to mention, we keep our townhouse at a whopping 64 degrees, unplug the electronics, and reuse our water glass each night. And perhaps down the road, an environmentally friendly wedding theme will be in the picture. Basically, I want to do good. I want to see others doing good as well. I’ve joined the Green Team at work, and would like to see one established in my neighborhood. To sum it up, at the risk of sounding completely cliché:

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” -Mahatma Gandhi