treading lighter

What I hope to do is improve our (me, hubbie and 2 kids) environmental footprint a little each day.  It's something I have been thinking about for a year or more, and I have already implemented small changes.  I think the root of our problems lie in that we have always perceived ourselves as being contientious and not wastefull.  We recycle, buy some kids clothes on consignment, kept my 1990 Honda Civic to keep fuel usage low.  Also when we compare ourselves to our friends we look pretty good in comparison to most.  So we've been pretty insulated and maybe a little smug, but as I have read more and seen more (yes I am addicted to TV), I realize that we are wasteful and we could certainly be doing a LOT more.  Now I don't want to shock the family into rebelling so I am going to be a little sneaky at first and then bring them on board as we go along.  For hubbie I will be pointing out the savings from the changes I will be implementing and for the boys (ages 9 and 6) I will find a way to engage them in the process and hopefully find ways to get them exited.  Today I am going to start with leftovers.  I was about to clean out the fridge this am, and I thought about how much food we waste.  We are not good with leftovers, but no more!  I went to the library for recipe books and I am going to make a contientious effort to reuse meal leftovers for lunches or to create other meals like soups and casseroles.  Cross my fingers with this one, because convenience food during the week is a tough one for me.