In the new year...

Recently took care of county business, but in the process narrowly missed being surrounded by the above gaggle of (large!) feathered friends looking for treats before entering the administration building. Guess they're used to being pampered up the road in Upper Marlboro...

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Need to do a bit of shopping in DC (after errands), and I must remember to take along a couple of reusable bags along, to avoid the dreaded 5 cent bag tax that just went into effect this January 1st.

Whatever your misgivings about Whole Foods, at least it was ahead of the bag curve, as it provides a 5 cent discount for each reusable bag a customer uses (and has done so for years). In the 'burbs, Target recently started touting a 5 cent reusable bag discount on its receipts for customers who bring them in (as I have on occasion); however, it apparently hasn't yet trained all employees on how to activate the discount--a problem which has crept up more than once, which currently makes its reusable bag discount more myth than reality.

Now, while I find the notion of a bag tax annoying, it's even more foolish for affluent folks to waste gas (and time) shopping elsewhere. The fact is that there is visibly more litter in DC and suburbs since stores have begun using plastic bags in earnest (in lieu of paper bags)---you never saw paper bags, say, fluttering in the wind from a tree or other such nonsense. At least the DC government has actually proposed a way to pay for a program ahead of time, instead of coming up with a program first and then figuring out if it can be paid for.

Christmas sparkle, green edition...

The Internet is brimming with tips on green gifts, entertaining, and the like. Of course, it helps to have your place decked out, the better to get in the mood for seasonal festivities. There's no need to empty an already-thin wallet or further foul the planet to make your abode all sparkly for the season.

Reuse

I was walking, walking down the street...and spied something nice on the ground--a lovely winterberry branch--which I promptly took home to stick in a vase.

[Cost=zero, or the cost of picking up the branch off of the ground.] Also free for the snipping, boughs of (evergreen) holly which I have in the yard. Both the wintergreen and other hollies will keep about a week or so indoors.

It doesn't hurt to retrieve a few free finds left over from the year before (or the year before that), such as:

[Cost=zero. However, my chances of finding the above (hickory?) nuts this season would also be zero, because they have been AWOL in this part of Maryland this year!] (Neither have I seen the usually plentiful acorns.)

Recycle

A live tree for a small house--the solution--a small tree! You get the pine aroma throughout the house, but in a size where you can get the tree in the house. (And have a choice as to where in the house to place it.)

When the holiday season is over, this little pine will be broken into small pieces and scattered over the ground to decompose.

[Cost=$10, at Whole Foods. Because I had my own decorations, I was able to stay away from Whole Paycheck's obvious sucker bait, such as the bags of cinnamon-scented pine cones.] However, I wish the store had the little rosemary trees, which appear fuller.

The tiny decorations were purchased last year, from Dollar Tree, which is cheaper than too-chinchy-to-pay-for-security Walmart. (Also, while both chains sell scads of made-in-China trinkets, Dollar Tree has a larger selection of Christmas decorations). Go figure.

All other decorations were saved from the year before--purchased at Target the day after Christmas, at a massive discount, so I spent no more than $6.

Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!