DAY ONE

Today my only expenditure was a few items and a prescription at the drug store - and all necessary purchases so I'm off to a good start. However, I did not use a reusable bag and instead used plastic bags.

Plastic bags, are of course, very bad. They were banned in San Francisco last year and I've heard rumors of the same happening in Portland. The plastic is not biodegradable and takes years to breakdown. According to data released by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2001 somewhere between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year.

I've always used plastic bags for my cat's litter box waste. So is there a better litter out there? Maybe a flushable kind? But then I discovered that present means of sewage treatment do not kill the T. Gondii parasite, which is carried in cat feces and can contribute to the ultimate deaths of sea otters. Well, I like sea otters...but I also like my cat and she (and I) both like a clean litter box. Solution? I'm going to continue to use plastic bags for her litter waste. Yes, plastic is bad but so is killing otters. We have lots of plastic bags around the house that can be reused for the cat like grocery bags and bread bags. So, I think the lesson learned is that it's best to use a reusable bag (like a cloth grocery bag) until you need to restock your plastic bag supply for the cat's litter box.

Total day's expenses: $46.66 (plus rent)