Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

It is recyleing day today, and this subject is so fun for me so I'll tell you what is all means to me!

"forever in a landfill"

Reduce

Reducing what we use, such as electricity, and the need to buy new things. I have changed a whole lot since I got interested in all this. If we need something, we think, "Do we need it to be brand new?" Or could we find it at a second hand shop? I wanted to find a juicer, well I bet the goodwill has one, and it needs a home. And if I don't have to buy one new, that is reducing the new amount of things that are manufactured, and that is a good thingfor the earth.

If you are a mama like me, you can breastfeed, which is best for baby anyway, and cloth diaper, did you know each diaper takes approximatly 500 years to "go away."

Plant a garden if you can it is an amazing expereince! Your hard work pays off all summer long. Summer and I ate zuchinni almost everyday for lunch, we love it. The seed packet probably cost $1.30 and one zuchinni at the store is $1.50. Makes more sense to me, to put a little work in and your rewards are great!

Water is where you can try to conserve as well. When I use water I think of how those African ladies have to walk a long way just to dip their one little bucket in the water and carry it all the way home. I bet they don't take their water for granted. So it always makes me think. What you are supposed to do is run the stream of water the width of a pencil, and shut your water off while brushing your teeth. Also if you can hand wash your dishes, that uses way less than your dishwasher.

Electricity is where we try to help out too. Chris wanted all new windows for this house and I was skeptical, but I'm so glad he made that decision. Also we never leave a light on in a room that we are not in. With our DVR, if we pause the TV and are going to be away from it for awhile, I shut it off now. There is controversy about this one in the house, I believe if you unplug things, then there is no way it is using any energy; Chris on the other end thinks if it's not on and plugged in it is fine. So I try to unplug things when not in use. We used to not care, we where energy hogs, but now we are aware of it. I remember we would leave the basement light on for days at a time. When Summer and I go for our walks I see outside lights on or central air units running when it is 62 degrees out, because I am aware of those things it drive me crazy! Shut off your lights, sunlight is great light, especially for outside, and try opening your windows! =D I wish some people would wake up! Since we have started all of this our electricity bill has gone from $199 a month to drumroll please....$116 a month, cha-ching that is a lot of savings people!

Reuse

Reuse is something that was a weird concept for me. We live in such a greedy and convenient world. Disposable everything from cups to plates, razors, and bags. I now try to think of how I could use things in a different way. Like sour cream and butter containers, I can use them as poor man tupperware or a crayon holder. Before with my Ziplock bags when I was done with them I would throw them away, no matter what was in it. Now if it had meat in it I pitch it, but they have plenty of use in them, so I reuse!

Freecycle is another great way to reuse. If you have never heard of this, it is a green group in your area that recycles the stuff they don't want. This reduces the need to go buy something if someone offers something you need. The best part is when you are doing a deep clean and want to gets rid of a lot of stuff most likely someone else could use it! I have gotton rid of an old recliner, decoratives cornstalks, miniblinds from our old windows, extra veg from my garden and a box of test strips I didn't need. By doing this you are not filling up the landfills and giving your old stuff new life! To find your local freecycle click here! We got a water softener from freecycle, cool huh!

Recycle

If you don't recycle you should consider it. For some people in some towns/cities it is easier than others. You can go to your cities webpage and find your towns recycleing info, such as what number plastics yout town accepts and if they take glass or not. Any paper including paper towels can ne recycled as long as there is no grease, so if you get pizza take out the box will have to be throw BUT you can take the top "lid" off and recycle that. Once you throw something in the garbage, it gets taken away form your house, but it will sit in a landfill forever or take thousands of years to actaully "go away." So many things can be recycled and made new again, give it a try!

I'll list some paper goods that are recycleable you may have not thought of, and if these are being made into some thing new they arebnot clogging up the landfills.

Paper towel and tiolet paper rolls

Paper plates, no grease remember!

Junk mail

construction paper

wrapping paper

any cardboard

Happy Greening!