Creative Ideas

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Recycling includes re-using items creatively. Buy products that are made from recycled items. Many companies are now making products from recycled materials, including furniture, clothing, flooring, packaging materials, stationary and even dog beds, dog toys and dog clothes. The various materials used for recycling include aluminum, plastic soda bottles, reclaimed cotton, reclaimed wood, rubber and paper.

Reuse shopping bags. The plastic kind can be used as small trash can liners. If you shred documents, use the shredded paper as packing material when shipping things. Reuse partially used notebooks - just rip out the used part and use the rest. Instead of throwing away printer paper that has been botched on one side, cut it up and use the front as scratch paper. Instead of throwing away old t-shirts and socks, re-use them as dusting cloths or rags. Instead of buying new books, go to your library and save paper by checking out books with your library card.

Wasting Less

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Green doesn't come from store. Green comes from surveying what you have, and utilizing it to the max. Nowadays, way waste the money? Gas prices are sky high. Why waste the gas? In theory if people traveled less, they would use less gas. Gas Prices would go down. Only in a perfect world.

Cleaning Whiteboards

Just a quick tip I found out today. Instead of buying whiteboard cleaner, simply put some rubbing alcohol on a tissue or rag and it works just as well!

More Uses For Common Household Items

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Many large companies are starting to hop on the 'green living' bandwagon. Anything from cleansers to air fresheners. But most of this is simply a ploy to make our wallets considerably lighter. Common old tried and true everyday kitchen goods, such as baking soda or vinegar, are packaged in pretty colored spray bottles and sold to you for exorbitant prices. Now, I'm sure you don't want to spend money on something you probably have in your kitchen cabinet. So, here are some good uses for things you probably already have around your house. You can save money and also save the environment in the process by wasting less materials.

Vinegar is a great cleaner and disinfectant. Simply mix some vinegar with water and it cleans all kinds of surfaces: mirrors, counter tops, and makes that old coffeepot run like new again. It also works wonders on pet stains. Why pay all that money for a can of stuff that contains vinegar? Some people can't stand the smell, but the odor of vinegar dissipates quickly.

Baking soda's got to be my favorite. As a deodorizer it can't be be beat. Just stick a box of it in your frig every couple of weeks, and it smells like new. It also works well as a toothpaste, but the taste is not so good. If you have an upset stomach, some baking soda in water settles the stomach and results in a nice big burp.

Saving Money and Resources - At the Same Time

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Frugality is often criticized these days. Calling someone frugal is nearly an insult. Now I do differentiate between saving money and sneaky actions that harm others in an effort to save money out of my own pocket. For example, going to the restaurant on kids night to have a cheaper family meal is great. Lying about my kids’ ages to get them dinner under the “kids eat free if under X age” is not good.

Living a simpler, cheaper, and less resource consuming lifestyle has been proven especially useful as the economy has spun down and our income was cut in the process.

1. If our children want toys and knick knacks, they have to save up and buy it. (Christmas and birthdays excluded.) We get all our books are from the library, with us buying a few coloring books and activity books as the current ones are used up. Benefits include:

   1. Kids learn you don't have to buy something just because you are at the store.

   2. And a big lesson in remembering to bring your money along if you want to shop.

   3. They learn the value of saving up and money management.

1. We’ve asked Grandma to trim the kids’ hair while they’re over there. A bang trim usually delays a haircut for a month, a savings of $10-15 per kid.

2. I asked for new replacement toaster for Christmas so I didn’t have to buy it myself. Got it for Christmas, too. And unlike the Yankee Scented Candle in the closet, this gift actually gets used.

3. When making pasta or Mac’n’cheese, I do it in bulk. Think big cauldron pot of boiling water plus a couple boxes. Eat a plateful for the family’s dinner, freeze the rest for family lunches during the week. Cheaper than buying frozen lunches, and in such quantities, I can usually use less cheese powder for the macaroni and less energy overall for the process.This saves cooking time and the energy used in food preparation. The leftovers used for brown bagging are cheaper and healthier than eating out.

4. Our children have been taught that saving water and electricity saves money as well as the Earth. Aside from an over eager kindergartner turning off the lights on her baby brother when he plays in his room – and his complaints met with “just play in the dark” – our electric bill has come down about 10%. And our water bill is down about 5%. All due to more careful actions by children to not leave faucets on and being willing to play with less water in the tub.

5. We ask our children for ideas of what to do with used, broken or damaged items. Whether rebuilt into a collage or sculpture or put in the recycling bin, we are trying to build in an ethos of thinking about the status of the item. This is instead of dumping everything in the trash when done with it.