Lessons from my grandma
Kitchen sink. (Photo: FreeRangeStock.com ) My grandma cooks a big family feast every year on New Year's Day. Usually, my mom helps her with the bulk of the cooking, and I contribute by bringing a raisin pie. But this year my mom was baby-sitting one of my sick nieces, so I helped Grandma instead. For the first time, I contrasted the way she does things with the way I do, and when I left that day, I had insight into a few ways in which I could be less wasteful. Here's what I learned: I fill up the sink unnecessarily . When I'm washing dishes, I fill up both my wash and rinse sinks within about three inches of overflowing. My grandma, on the other hand, fills the sinks only about one-fourth full, if even that much. I've seen Grandma do that thousands of times, but for some reason, this was the first time I had given it much thought. At first, I thought maybe it was deliberate because she's on a fixed income, but then I realized she has probably done dishes l...