Emerald City is Very Very Green

Emerald City is the greenest place I've ever been.  Green in the foliage and in the hearts of the city and people. For example, Seattle made a law that says that stores cannot give out bags unless they are thick enough to be considered reusable.  That means at our local grocer they only give out paper, not plastic and at the mall J C Penney bags would cost 30 cents each. There's also a huge push for solar power despite the lack of sun bringing many to need Vitamin D supplements or lights.

If you've ever seen "Man of the House" with Jonathon Taylor Thomas and Chevy Chase, there's a scene where Thomas scolds Chase for throwing everything away in one can instead of sorting the trash into the four bins for different recyclable materials. I was reminded of that scene on our walk because today is trash day and each home has one can for yard and food waste; another for paper, plastic, and cardboard; and another for garbage.

I mentioned the grocery store before but thought I'd give a shout out for local and organic foods. I was in the spaghetti sauce aisle and there was a jar of sauce that was over $10 for 19 oz. A bottle of Ragu is under $2 for 24 oz just for comparison. There was also a $9 jar and other high priced, organic options. Later I was in produce and looking at asparagus. I've never really done much with it, so I asked an older lady next to me what she looks for when buying asparagus. She told me a couple tips then said, "Well, it all looks good and the price is good, but where is it from? Is it local or is it from Mexico or something?" I don't think I've EVER asked myself that question. Turns out it was from Washington. Go figure.

I feel like I'm getting an education on the care of our planet living here. I'd heard of different initiatives, but here the people really go out of their way to save the planet.  I respect that.