Are you wasteful?

I've been doing a lot of research on the internet lately on how to save money, how to live a more frugal life, how to be "green", etc. One article I came across was about how wasteful Americans have become. I don't believe myself to be a huge wasteful American, until I was in the bathroom unrolling toilet paper and had seriously 10 squares of toilet paper. I just stopped and stared at the roll. Did I really need that huge wad of toilet paper to wipe pee off with (Yeah, TMI I'm sure but it opened my eyes). I ended up only using 3 squares.

Now I'm not telling you that everyone needs to use less toilet paper (although it could potentially save our trees and save you just a tad bit of money), but I want everyone to be aware of how much "product" they use. I tried doing my daily routine yesterday with the mantra of not to be wasteful. When I was squeezing out my toothpaste, I made sure I only used a pea sized amount. No need to cover your whole brush with toothpaste. More isn't going to get them any cleaner. I tried this with shampoo, body wash, hand soap, dish soap, laundry soap, hair products, running water, face wash, toilet paper, paper towels, (which I plan on cutting out and only using rags from old tshirts) etc. The verdict was that a little bit will do ya!

Do you waste food? I was taught, growing up, to only put a small amount of food on my plate. That way I ate everything, and if I was still hungry I could go get more. If you loaded your plate up with food and then didn't eat everything, then you were lectured about "how there is starving children in the world and what they would give for the food that you're wasting!" Maybe I need to start applying that lesson to everything around me. I invite you to be more conscious with how much "product" you use and I plan on doing the same thing.

The less we use, the less we'll have to buy, the less money we'll spend, the less bottles and packaging will end up in landfills. None of this sounds bad, it's worth a try to help our bank accounts and the Earth.