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New habits are hard to break

If your family is anything like mine, saving up for a two-day, one-night hotel/water park stay is a BIG deal. It was a big splurge, but totally worth it. We had a wonderful weekend.

One of the ways we made it work was to pack all our own meals and snacks.

I made pancakes and mac and cheese and boxed them up for easy travel. We had fresh fruit and veggies, sandwiches and cold cereal. I also brought silverware and cups so we wouldn’t have to use the throwaway stuff in the hotel room.

I hauled it all in a random combination of green bags and the new cooler we got for $5 at last week’s Rock County Young Professionals White Elephant Silent Auction. (Hooray for re-gifting!!)

Anyway, about five minutes after checking in, I was peeling a banana when I found myself automatically reaching for my counter-top compost bin.

What to do? Do I toss my peels in the hotel room trash like a normal person? Or do I pack them up and take them home to be composted like the geek that I am?

I chose geek.

When we checked out on Sunday, I hauled out two little bags of compostable stuff and recyclables. (Along with a lack of compost bin, our room didn’t have a recycling bin.)

For a minute, I wondered why I bother. It’s not like saving a handful of coffee grounds and pop cans is really going to make a difference in the world.

I decided it’s like voting. You can’t complain about the government if you didn’t vote. Nor can you complain about waste if you’re throwing banana peels in the trash.

That’s one theory, anyway.

Maybe I just did it because I’m stubborn. Or maybe it’s because I have this hilarious mental image of my boyfriend’s kids describing me as that weird lady that’s always saving orange peels in her purse.

Or maybe it’s just because I’ve made a new habit.

As I speak, I have this morning’s orange peel stuffed into my now-empty lunch container on my desk. Reporter Gina Duwe’s banana peel is in there, too. During a normal workday, my coworkers wander past my desk and hand me their apple cores and clementine rinds.

One snack at a time gets boxed up, hauled home and dumped in the backyard bin.

We’re not saving the world, but we’re sure making some great compost.