Holiday cheer

I thought this was a fitting holiday e-card for my December of reducing paper waste.

A few other pictures of my reduced waste holidays:

Much Ado About Toilet Paper

Re-purpose genius: I wrote a love note on that homemade caramel's paper wrapping.

Ya know, I meant to write more about paper and packaging during the Reduce Paper Waste month of Operation Consumption Liberation.  I really did.  But here we are, December 16, and I’m still scrambling to figure out what the heck I’m going to do on Christmas Day since I’m waiting until after the big day to travel home this year. Christmas orphans get lonely, yo!  Feel free to drop by my place or invite me to dinner. (FYI: I like peppermint stick ice cream. Also, doorbells and sleigh bells, schnitzel with the noodles.)

Anyway, since my last post, I:

• Bought a car after the pokiest 4-month-long shopping process ever.
• Hosted a friend on my floor for several days.
• Got shingles. (Not contagious unless you’ve never had the chicken pox and just happen to touch one of the open blisters in my armpit—because I’m totally walking around with my armpit exposed in the middle of December—THEN you might get the chicken pox.  Anyway, the blisters itch like crazy.  For two days I felt all achy and worn down in that flu-like way for the first two days.  And since I live alone, there was no one there to make me soup. Poor shingles-afflicted, single-occupant, Christmas orphan me….)

How is that for a whine fest?  Memo to self: this post was supposed to be about paper. 

The Paper Challenge

This month is all about gift wrapping.

I can’t believe it is already December 4. The last month of my Operation Consumption Liberation challenge!  While I *may* be gearing up for OCL 2 in January, for the time being, let’s break down my December challenge: I want to reduce my consumption of paper products and other packaging (we’re talking bubble wrap and Styrofoam peanuts, people.)  I chose December for this particular challenge namely because the holiday season’s abundance of gift-wrap.  But reducing my paper waste goes far beyond skipping the fancy gift-wrap paper.  Here are a few things I am currently and will be doing this month: