19th Annual Midwest Reggaefest

Every year we venture forth to the Midwest Reggaefest in Ohio.

held at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park.

Three days of primitive camping (read no running water or flushing toilets) and three days and nights of reggae music. Our two main reasons for going are 1) we love camping and

2) we LOVE Carlos Jones and the PLUS band.

(they even played at our wedding almost 12 years ago!)

This year I was so happy to see that the campground has implemented and pushed recycling at the stage, quarry lake, playground and campsites. 

It was so nice to only have to pack out paper recycling!

Each year I make the little ladies outfits for when PLUS plays.

Last year was dresses with band's logo,
this year skirts and custom shirts!

C is for Carlos & P is for PLUS Band!

Every year that we've camped since Meira was born,

it has rained at some point.

But the best part of the rain is when the sun comes out and we see this:

What a great end to a day full of music, dancing, and fun!

From Recycle Bin to Playland!

One of our favorite playgrounds in our area!

It's such a great, concrete example for kids. 

Who knew something so fun could be the end result of recycling!

Choosing a *Green* Hotel

Something new is happening in the world of hotels.  A little process by the name of LEED, which stands for "Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design," that was dreamed up back in 1998.

It's a 3rd party rating systems that certifies companies based on these criteria:
Location and Planning, Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation and Design Process & Regional Priority.

When we went to Gatlinburg, we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, which was the 1st LEED certified hotel in the town. (click on the underlined words to read in depth the extent that this hotel is green). 

What we saw in the hotel were:

recycle bins inside & outside the rooms,

dual flushing toilets

recycled toilet paper

as well as, thermostats for the rooms, and the request to reuse your bathroom towels. One more tip from us is to skip maid service - do the sheets & blankets really need to be cleaned so soon?!

Saving the World One Tree at a Time

The non-recycler in our house says to me whenever I dig paper out of the garbage,"there you go, saving the world one tree at a time." And I always answer with, "if we added up all the people saving the world one tree at a time, imagine how many trees we would save!"

So it pleases me to watch the girls not even think twice about putting their paper scraps, empty cracker boxes, and miscellaneous other papers straight into the paper recycle bin.  It is just second nature to them to do so!

Before we moved, we lived in a community that "got" recycling and heavily promoted it.  They recycled plastics 1-7, glass, cans, aluminum, all papers, cardboards, paperboard and all curbside.  The community we live in is trying to get there.  But for now only glass, metals, plastics 1&2, and newpaper is curbside.  I can sneak in my 3-7 plastics to work, and put them in the recycle bin there.  But my papers I have to take to the drop-off facility at the other end of our town.  This has become quite the outing for the girls. They love tossing the papers and boxes and cardboard into the containers and seeing who can through the farthest!

Just think!

"You use paper and paperboard products every day, from newspapers to food packaging to office paper. In fact, paper and paperboard products make up the largest portion of the municipal solid waste stream in the United States and as a result,

offer the greatest opportunity to recycle. "

So in the spirit of proving that ONE person CAN make a difference, see the below pictures. 
One person at a time, filled these containers with waste paper.

And just think - each container is a container load of waste being kept out of a landfill.

Happy Recycling!