So Yesterday was Father's day. This year for fathers day my mom got my Father tickets to NASCAR!! Wow.. and like just about every red-blooded American male my father was thrilled. For him what could be better than watching cars race at high speeds and lots of collisions.... For me, however, NASCAR does not hold that same thrill and exictement. Not to mention the gallons and gallons of petroleum that are used so a bunch of men can drive in circles at high speeds for several hours =( Not very nice to mother nature. This however was for my father, so I resigned if I was going to go to watch a NASCAR race I was going to make every thing else about the day as Eco-friendly as possible. So I wanted to share with you 5 things that I did to try and make the best of a NASCAR fathers day =)
#1 Carpool: by picking up my sister and then meeting the rest of the family to all carpool together we were able to save gas and reduce our carbon emissions =) A good first step!
#2 BYOB H2O: By bringing our own water (in a reusable water bottle!) we were able to save $$ by not purchasing 5 dollar bottles there, but also not create waste from those empty plastic bottles. =)
#3 BYOB food: Our family also made our sandwiches ahead of time from yummy organic ingredients that we had at home. We also brought fresh fruit to munch on that I had bought on Saturday from the Farmer's Market. =) By bringing our own organic foods, not only did we eat healthier and have more delicious foods than was being sold at the racetrack, but we were able to reduce the waste that we created by packaging our food in reusable containers!
#4 Walk: Instead of taking a shuttle to the other side of the racetrack to get to our seats we walked. Good for the heart & planet earth. Also reduces the need for gym excursions =)
#5 Up-cycled fathers Day present: Getting presents that people love and that are sustainable has to be one of the most difficult tasks for me. I want people to like their present and not feel like I am trying to force my belief in a sustainable lifestyle onto them. This year however I found the perfect gift for my dad! He collects reptile figurines so at a Whole Earth Festival I saw these awesome statues made from old bike chains! Perfect, recycled and sure to please Dad! The guy who makes these has many different kinds of statues so if this is the kind of thing you think your Father, brother, boyfriend, or anyone really would like go check out his site....
metal souls. I also used recycled paper to wrap Dad's present. Dad was really pleased with his new lizard =)
