Why Not Lime?

Learning from My Friend Mimi

This is a picture of me and Mimi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Here, you can see that we are in disguise. I am hippie Cher, and she had these awesome 50s housewife glasses. Although we would have done this just for the blog, we didn’t. It was Halloween.)
I am bringing Mimi into the picture because she is a recycling queen, and she is very environmentally responsible.
And here, you can see that I am a model Why Not Lime? model, a.k.a. “Tree Hugger”:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

… or tree leaner, as it were.

(Mimi told me to do it.)

I went to Mimi’s house the other night, and she shared a great deal of tips for recycling. Because I would like to interview Mimi for you at some point via video, I am going to share just a few of my favorite green tips that I learned from Mimi.

#1. She uses Seventh Generation and Method cleaning products, although she thinks that Seventh Generation is probably better. I think this would be a fairly simple switch to make. Just choose the environmentally safer brands instead of the not-so-safe brands. I’ll have to delve more into that topic later.

#2. She has stopped using plastic and paper bags at all stores - not just grocery stores. Yes, when you see Mimi in the mall, she will be carrying reusable cloth bags, just ready to be filled with… whatever it is she gets at the mall.

#3. Mimi has stopped using plastic bags in her smaller trash cans. Her goal is to use no plastic in her trash cans, except for the recycled ones in her tall kitchen garbage can. I just bought some Seventh Generation ones today. I’ll have to Consumer Report them for you.

#4. Mimi’s mom likes to take in soda/pop cans, so she sets them aside for her. Mimi’s mom also collects them at work. Apparently her mom makes a killing at the grocery store. If you’re not redeeming cans for nickels, like Iowa cans allow, there are “Golden Goat” locations around Omaha where you can collect money for non-nickel cans. I copied them from the Keep Omaha Beautiful website and pasted them below.

#5. Mimi’s whole family recycles. There are separate bins for different types of recylables. It is a smooth system that she claims has taken years to create, but they are diligent recyclers. After the system is down, it’s easy. So the lesson learned is to take one step at a time towards becoming more of an earth friendly consumer - don’t let it overwhelm you and your buying decisions.

THANKS to Mimi for being my star today, and I’m sure we’ll see more of her lime-savvy tips later - hopefully in a video blog.

Golden Goat Machines - 13 locations (24 Hours)20th & Vinton (Bag’N Save)51st & Harrison (Bag-N Save)107th & M (Bag’N Save)86th & West Center(Center Plaza)770 N. 114th St. (Cub Foods)30th & Ames (Phil’s Foodway80th & Blondo (No Frills)1402 Harlan Dr., Bellevue (No Frills)601 Galvin Road So., Bellevue(Shopko)90th & Fort(Shopko)144th & W. Center (Shopko)30th & Weber (Shopko)

Posted under: Recycling, Getting Started Green