When visiting our old home in the deep South a few years back, a friend of my neighbor did something kind for my daughter.  It was sweet, unexpected and though small, I’ve never forgotten the gesture.  When we got home from our trip, I did what my mother would expect of me…I wrote the woman a thank you letter.  Reportedly, when she received the letter, she informed my neighbor, also a long-time Southern gal, and then asked her, presumably in that think drawl, “Now…where’s she from again?”

I’m from Montana.

Not Montgomery.

But I was tickled that for a moment, someone might entertain the notion that I was born south of Mason-Dixon.

This month I have encouraged you to reduce your waste by reconsidering your magazine subscriptions, turning old baby blankets into hankies, and turning off unwanted junk mail.  But I still require the mail man to make that 90 degree right turn onto my walkway every week for two reasons:  insurance paperwork and personal correspondence.

I’m no Luddite when it comes to communication.  I still use text, Facebook and email far more than I would like to communicate daily, sometimes hourly it feels.  But I love sending personal mail.  If only because my Mommy made me do it so many years back.  I keep a pretty perpetual calendar (thank you Etsy!) on the wall in the dining room with names of people I want to write on their birthdays.  I’m usually a few days late and have yet to get it them all out every year.  But I keep up with it and hope my girls are watching me actually do one thing positive.  Can hand-written letters make up for “I’m sorry I forgot to make you lunch, Mommy was on Facebook all day?”  I don’t go out of my way to find card made of pre-recycled  material but maybe I could…

Insurance:  my youngest burned her hands and I don’t want to miss any premiums or overpay any co-pays, so hard copy is the best option for me.  No more on this topic because nothing ruins a morning like dwelling on health insurance.  But most certainly a Zero Waste FAIL.

UPDATE:  4/15/14

ZW Win?  While trolling thrift stores today looking for a flower pot, I came across…an entire section devoted to old greeting cards and stationery.  New favorite find.  Of course, while I was there, I also found some old tupperware, a juicer for $2, hand weights, a framed picture of a chicken.  But no flower pot.