The Houston Independent School District's Board of Education took a big step last night, voting to replace all cafeteria trays with a biodegradable version. The new trays will break down in a matter of months, versus the hundreds of years for the older model.

The switch will be made in elementary schools by this coming August, and in all schools over the next couple of years. It will cost the district's food service budget $160,000 or so for the switch in elementary schools, and about $300,000 when the switch is made at all schools.

I see this as a tremendous step, especially considering the budget crisis most Texas school districts are facing. I'm glad to know that the Houston leaderships understand that something's cost is not only determined by its price tag.

Hubby and I were at my parents' house in Dallas this weekend so the extended family could meet Baby Boy. Mmm... cable... HGTV, DIY, and new to us this trip... Planet Green. "Renovation Nation," "G Word," and "Wa$ted" were among the fabulous shows we encountered in our trip. Check them out.

"Wa$ted" focuses on showing families how they can decrease their ecological footprint. If you want to see the size of your ecological footprint, go here. There are a lot of things you can do to decrease the amount of waste put out by your house, but if you're not ready to commit to composting, buying a rain barrel, or trading in your SUV for a Smart car, here are some quick and easy options:
- Use your dish towels instead of paper towels
- Cook extra and put it into tupperware for lunches and dinners later that week instead of buying individual servings (soup, lasagna, rice & beans, spaghetti, etc.)
- Same goes for other foods - carrots, grapes, crackers, goldfish, etc.
- Already have individual servings in the pantry? Save the containers, rinse them out, and they make great snack cups.
- Take reusable bags to the grocery store, or better yet, to the farmers market.
- Cut up old t-shirts and use as cleaning rags
- Clean your house with a vinegar and water mixture in a spray bottle - You will not only reduce the number of plastic bottles your home throws away, but rid your house of unnecessary chemicals.
I list only a few ideas because an exhaustive list can be intimidating. Start with one idea and as you get comfy, add another!

I stopped in at Subway today for my traditional Wednesday lunch (the only day of the week I don't bring my lunch), and noticed something different. In the past, the "Sandwich Artists" would slide your sub down the aisle on a small white sheet of paper, and then wrap it all up together in the larger Subway paper. Now, it seems, they are reusing the smaller white sheets and only wrapping up the sandwich.

This reminded me of a recent USA Today article I read on restaurants going green. Subway was one of the companies mentioned:

Scrapping some wrapping

Subway is testing a new way to serve subs to dine-in customers: with less wrapping. Unwrapped sandwiches are served on a thin paper sheet placed inside a basket made of 10% recycled material. The test will expand this summer to more markets, says Elizabeth Stewart, marketing chief.

But Subway's biggest green impact has been its napkins, made from 100% recycled paper. Subway figures its 4 billion recycled napkins save 147,000 trees annually.

Husband mentioned that we are using cloth diapers with Baby Boy. We're following the example of some friends of ours that use cloth diapers and love it. Supposedly, cloth diapers are a cheaper way to go, and better for the environment. We don't use cloth exclusively. We use them only when we're at home. I'll leave Baby Boy in the cloth if I'm running a quick errand, but if it's likely that I'll need to change him out and about, I'll switch him to a disposable. I have no desire (or room in the diaper bag for that matter) to carry dirty cloth diapers around. There are some really good websites out there with lots of information on cloth diapering, but there's a lot of information to sift through. It's EXTREMELY overwhelming.

So we've hung the clothesline, and it is already paying off. We hung our new cloth diapers, and the few light stains that remained after washing were bleached out by the sun. Here in Houston we have no shortage of hot days, so it took no time at all. So far we've been impressed, but we'll see what we think once we dry a load of clothes.

Image source: clemente