6 DIY Recycling Ideas for Non DIYres

It only takes a short drive to go from my city that has a formal recycling program for glass, paper, metal, and plastic to tiny rural town America that tried and failed to make their city recycling program pay for itself. They reluctantly canceled the program.

In a situation like that I would take the DIY approach to recycling and reducing my household waste. But what do you do if you aren’t a DIYer, don’t have the skills, or time? Don’t worry; you can easily recycle items if you put your mind to it. Here are six DIY ways to reuse items even if you are not a DIYer.

1. Paint Halloween pumpkins instead of carving and use as food later. This year I painted my pumpkin which means it didn’t uh, self compost early like Husband’s carved pumpkin. The day after Halloween, I cut the pumpkin in half, scooped out the seeds for roasting, composted the goop, and then roasted, drained, and pureed the pumpkin for food. I froze 8 cups of puree from that pumpkin – that will make a lot of pumpkin soup!

2. Coffee can as compost caddy. I keep an empty plastic coffee can with lid under my sink for daily food scraps destined for the outdoor compost bin instead of one of those cute little ceramic containers. Truthfully I wanted a cute little ceramic container when we started our composting experiment. Then Husband brought a plastic coffee can home from work because his office doesn’t recycle and was about to throw it out. He thought it life in it and that surely I could “do something with it.” What can I say? The guy marvels at my creative reuse skills. Some girls get flowers, I get garbage.

3. Save and refill small empty bottles from new/refill bottles. If I can’t refill an old bottle from a bulk/refill size, I split the contents of a new bottle between it and an empty bottle (I do not mix different brands of cleaners. It’s not smart to cross contaminate even when using environmentally friendly brands.) This way I have a small stash of cleaning supplies under the kitchen and each bathroom sink to use as the need arises.

 

4. Cut up old towels to reuse as cleaning/shop rags. For towels that are too worn to donate, I cut them into fourths, stash them with cleaning supplies under the bathroom and kitchen sinks and use them like paper towels. Yes, I have to wash them and that uses other resources. However I put them in with my regular laundry so I’m really not doing or using anything extra to clean that tiny towel for another reuse.

5.Plastic bags for trash or pet pickup. I use reusable shopping bags but I still end up with plastic bags when I buy bread, dried beans, frozen vegetables, etc. I put those bags to reuse for doggie duty because my city requires me to bag it as well as my household trash. Of course I could just get my groceries in a plastic grocery bag from time to time but I found that those plastic bags multiplied in storage like bunnies! I found a better solution by trading a family member who wanted to kick the plastic grocery bag habit a bunch of my extra reusable shopping bags for her hamper of plastic grocery bags. It’s not a perfect solution but it works for me. As always your mileage and needs may vary.

6. Find a new reuse for something you already have even on a temporary basis. For example:

• Turn a teapot into vase.

• Turn a trashbag and towel into a draft blocking chimney pillow.

 

• Turn a six pack container or coffee caddy into a household organizer.

Do you have any recycling DIY ideas for Non DIYres?



This post is part of The Green Moms Carnival  where our topic is recycling. Be sure to check out the rest of the carnival posts on our hostess Recycle Your Day November 15th!

Candyland Cake

Little Mr G. had a birthday. Birthdays mean cake. No crappy grocery store bakery cake for this kid. Mr G’s mom made a cake from scratch, plunked it on a clean and reused cake plank, and decorated it to look like one of his favorite game boards.

Photo curtesy of Mr. G's mom

Candyland!

With real candy, yo.

Coolest. Cake. Ever.

This post is part of Trash to Treasure Tuesday and DIY Day.

Practically Green

When I got my free review copy of Micaela Preston’s book Practically Green Your Guide to Ecofriendly Decision-Making  I devoured it in almost one sitting. Yeah, I liked it that much.

Practically Green teaches readers how to make mindful green choices and not to get stressed out if you can’t 24/7 365 days out of the year. Micaela is one of the few green authors that I’d read in awhile that acknowledges that sometimes there isn’t a greenest of green answer for where you live or for what you need to do due to time, money, or location. She doesn’t make you feel guilty about it either. But she does encourage and show you how to find the greener way that works for you and with the way that you live. Practically Green is the kind of book that I would write if I wrote a book. (That’s supposed to be a compliment by the way.)

Practically Green gives many environmentally friendly options at all price points, has 30+ DIY projects, and some great recipes that can help you avoid a fast food meal or a junk food snack when time is short (try the Mexican Pizza Puffy – easy, quick and a hit when I made it for dinner!) Best of all, the book is peppered with anecdotes on the hits and sometime misses of Micaela’s green living adventures. It’s nice to know that a green living guru has some of those Oops moments like I do too.

I appreciate how each chapter in the book is broken down into “Buy It” and “Do It” sections because while I lean towards the DIY approach, sometimes I want to or have to go the Buy It route. The best example of this is in the Cleaning chapter. If you want to buy a greener cleaner Micaela tells you what chemicals to avoid in store bought cleaners in the Buy It section. She also offers tips on which brands of cleaners are more environmentally friendly and are more widely available. If you want to save some green and make your own cleaners, Micaela gives you an easy recipe for making your own room deodorizer spray (which I’m going to try soon) and all purpose cleaner in the Do It section.

If you’re looking for a green living book that isn’t preachy and offers a practical real world approach to environmentally friendly living you’ll find it in Practically Green: Your Guide to Ecofriendly Decision-Making. Be sure to check out Micaela’s blog Mindful Momma while you’re at it!

Decorate Your Pumpkins with Stencils!

Husband wanted to carve pumpkins this year for Halloween. Intricate carving with stencils kind of pumpkins like the Bruce Campbell/Evil Dead pumpkin our friend carved last Halloween. I wasn’t surprised. He's been talking about  it off and on ever since he snatched up a pumpkin carving kit on super duper mega sale last year after Halloween.

Looks like we’re decorating pumpkins this year.

We gathered our supplies. Pumpkins – check. Carving Kit – check. Stencils – check. Paints – check.

Can you believe we got these little beauties for $1.99 each?! First we went to the North Market for pumpkins. They only had one and it was a little bigger than a softball so we passed. Then we trucked over to Aldi to grab milk and saw what was left of the Halloween pumpkins for sale. They were the right size and on sale for $1.99. Yes please.

Chances ae the pumpkins were so cheap because they were a little dirty and the backsides are a little mottled but some water, dish soap, and a few squirts of vinegar from a spary bottle took care of the dirt. Using the front side of the pumpkin dealt with the mottling.

Big Game Bargain Huntress score!

*bows deeply*

Husband plunged a knife into his pumpkin and scooped out its brains!

We saved the seeds for roasting and the stringy pumpkin goo. Husband says the goo is what you’re supposed to use for cooking. I think it’s the rind. Does anyone know for certain?

I got my spider stencil off the internet and printed it out on the backside of some junk mail.

I used the stencil to paint my pumpkin because Husband said he can’t trust me with knives (he’s right.) Well that and I wanted to keep at least one pumpkin intact to use for food after the holiday.

Also I can’t draw worth squat without a computer. Hence, the stencil.

As you can see, I choose to paint my pumpkin in the style of a 5 year old child with no arms and no legs. When I told Husband my plans he shouted, “Like Matisse!” Goofball.

If you’re thinking “Hey that looks a little like the bug that’s on the Method bottle!” you wouldn’t be wrong. I had to use their stencil so I could enter my pumpkin in Method's pumpkin carving contest. The winner gets cleaning supplies. I figure after this little adventure I'll need a slew of cleaning supplies to clean up the leftover pumpkin chunks and goo.Wish me luck!

Husband carved his pumpkin following the lines of a stencil that came in the kit. I think his came out much better than mine.

You can bet these little beauties will grace our porch on Beggar’s Night.

Updated 11/4/2009: Hey guess what? Method did a random drawing on their pumpkin carving contest entries and I won! My prize is a bunch of Method cleaning supplies. Yay me!

Blitzkrieg’s Balloon Boy Costume!

Blitzkrieg needed a costume for the Capital Area Human Society’s Halloween Pet Parade but what do you do if you dog hates costumes?

Hmmmm…Think. Think. Think.

After watching way too much of the evening news. I got it!

It’s timely.

It’s twisted.

It’s recycled!

I gathered my materials…

When Alice.com asked me to recycle the packing materials that came with my order, I don’t think they meant this way. *evil grin*

…and used them to create this. A dog Balloon Boy costume!

I played with Photobucket to make Blitzkrieg's costume stand out in the foreground of these photos since there's so much going on visually in the background.

Husband held the balloon in the parade and I pulled Blitzkrieg in the box I attached to his wheeled carrier.

"It’s for the show”

Blitzkrieg's Balloon Boy costume was a hit. We helped raise money for one of our favorite charities and Blitzkrieg earned some noms doing it. High fives and tail wags all the way around.

This post is part of  Reinvented's Trash to Treasure Tuesday and A Soft Place to Land's DIY Day.

Reverse Trick or Treat: Green or Just Mean?

I’ve tried writing this post for two weeks. The subject turns one of the happiest times of my year into a depressing stress ball of emotions. I’m talking about Reverse Trick or Treat.

Here’s the deal. A kid comes up to your house, takes the candy you give them. They give you a flyer about how Fair Trade chocolate makes sure that cocoa farmers sell their crops to chocolate companies for a fair market price, it isn’t grown with forced labor, is sustainably grown and how you should be giving it out instead of whatever you are giving out. Sometimes they give you a piece of Fair Trade chocolate.

Some folks think that coming into a stranger’s house or doorstep and automatically judging them and assuming that they are jerks because they are not giving out or obviously caring about Fair Trade chocolate is a perfectly OK way to spread the word. I don’t.

Why don’t they focus on encouraging people to GIVE OUT Fair Trade chocolate at their own homes instead? That’s less antagonistic and could sell a lot more Fair Trade chocolate which is the goal. I’d also like to see them work harder at getting more Fair Trade chocolate for sale in regular grocery stores especially the fun size/Halloween type candy. The only type of Fair Trade chocolate I can buy locally are full size bars of chocolate. Even though I love them and I want to support the cause, I can’t just blow the entire month’s grocery budget on buying full size Fair Trade chocolate bars to give out to the army of Trick or Treaters that knock on my door.

It kills me that there is an organization out there that thinks that I should and is encouraging children and their parents to judge me in my own home if I don’t.

Reverse Trick or Treat also assumes I don’t care when in fact, I do care. While I don’t blog about it much (and maybe I should) everything I bring into my home I think about. Hard. In fact, last year I agonized over the Halloween candy decision, got depressed, and gave myself a migraine trying to think of something that was also allergy free, vegetarian, plastic free, cruelty free, low waste, organic, local, and isn’t a toddler choking hazard.

Reverse Trick or Treat assumes that I’m not aware the issue. Wrong again. I visited cocoa, coffee, and sugar farms in the Dominican Republic. I’ve seen with my own eyes how the “rich” family who owned the farm lives in a house with a dirt floor and has the luxury of a 13” TV hooked up to a car battery because they do not have electricity.

I can’t fault the cute little munchkin with the flyer on my porch or their parents for being the only one full of wrongful assumptions. In my research for this article, I found that when it comes to Fair Trade chocolate, the Fair Trade chocolate industry isn’t always fair to it's farmers. It’s not just the Fair Trade coca industry either. In some countries Fair Trade collectives do not pass the extra money they get from selling their coffee at the higher Fair Trade price back to the farmers in the collective. That’s right. I assumed that when I buy a Fair Trade product that someone is watching the watchers to ensure that Fair Trade stays that way. I was wrong.

This feels like a punch in the gut. Now I know how Dorothy felt when she pulled back the curtain and found that the Great and Powerful Oz wasn’t a wizard at all but just an old man.

This doesn’t happen in every country or with every Fair Trade collective or Fair Trade product, but it’s apparent to me that the discussion about Fair Trade chocolate and how to make sure as a consumer that I’m buying something that is as Fairly Traded as the name implies is much larger than a doorstep conversation. And trust me, it’s a conversation that I’ve had and it’s not very easy to verify either way. So like a lot of questionable things, I’m going to try to limit my consumption. I’m not going to stop buying Fair Trade chocolate or Fair Trade goods altogether because there are many countries and collectives where the Fair Trade system works as it should. But I am going to be even more selective about Fair Trade items and start asking a lot more questions about what I buy and how I buy it.

Of course, as always, your mileage may vary.

What is your take on Reverse Trick or Treat? Green? Mean? Or otherwise?

I Have a New Friend, Her Name is Alice.com

Alice.com is a web store where you can buy household cleaning and sundries online and have they shipped directly to your door. Their free shipping has appeal. I thought it was a great idea but I honestly doubted that I would use it.

Until now.

Husband over trained for a race and has to take it easy for a bit so his sports injury will heal. He understandably doesn’t want to nor should he do the 4 shop power hop with me for groceries. It was a good time to try out Alice.com.

Alice.com the Experience

I bought a bunch of stuff (with my own money, thankyouverymuch FTC**) from Alice.com. They didn’t know that I was considering writing about my experience until after I got my delivery because I asked them some questions about what I got and how I got it for this article.

The Good

I have no hang ups about shopping online, I do it all the time. But the thought of buying cleaners on line when I can easily buy them from a nearby store felt weird at first. I guess it’s because I like to flip bottles over and read ingredient labels because I’m like that. I was pleasantly surprised that this information was available on Alice for each product they sell.

• You can search for products by Category and then sort by: Best Match, Alphabetical, Coupons offered, High Price, Low Price, Green/Organic (I really like this one!), Premium, Bargain Hunter (also a favorite!) You can also search for products by brand name. 
• If you don’t see a product you want for sale, you can email them and ask them to carry it. I asked them to sell bars of laundry soap since they already carry 2 of the 3 ingredients I need to make powdered HE laundry detergent. I got an email back a few days later saying that they would consider it. Knock me over with a feather! A++ in the customer service department.
• I was surprised at the number of environmentally friendly products for sale, some more mainstream, some I had not heard of before. I took the opportunity to buy a couple of items that aren’t for sale at my regular grocery stores (cross fingers that I like them.) 
• Alice really thinks about their packaging and how the orders are shipped. The packing materials are lightweight pillows (#4 plastic) and are also made from recycled plastic (yay Alice!) Being so lightweight, the pillows cut down on the package weight and in turn reduce cost and amount of fuel needed to deliver the package. When I asked Alice about their packaging, they described it much better than I can. They said:

“When you receive your box, you’ll notice we strive to ensure that our packaging not only looks good, but is good for the earth as well. Each Alice box is made of 66% recycled material and is 100% recyclable. The inks used are non-lead, water-based inks, and the air pillows inside are a sustainable packing material alternative that can be recycled repeatedly.”

I’m very impressed that they use lead-free ink. Being friends with The Smart Mama, I’m learning that lead is in a lot of unexpected places. She makes me think. Alice makes me think. Geez, and here I thought I was just buying some borax to clean my toilet. Who knew?

• You can use coupons. Husband needed shaving gel (In the interest of martial harmony this is what the guy likes; he can’t be persuaded to use something a little greener, so this is what I buy.) Alice automatically applied the coupon to my purchase. Thanks for saving me .55 cents Alice!
• Alice is fast. I placed my order after 9:00pm on a Thursday. Early Friday I got a confirmation email that my order shipped. It arrived on my doorstep Monday morning.
• They randomly give out free samples! I was lucky to find a bag of free samples with my order. Funny thing is, I considered buying Dropps but decided against it. Now it looks like I’ll get to try them out after all.

The Not so Good

• You have to order at least 6 items from Alice.com at a time. It makes perfect sense, because they offer free shipping. I didn’t think I needed 6 items so I asked a friend if they wanted to add a couple of things to my order. Turns out I ended up ordering 6 items for myself anyway. Oh well. (Yes, I split the free samples. I’m not greedy.) 
• The packaging is one of those environmental double edged swords. There are a lot of plastic bags involved in the packaging. The bottles were taped and in zippered bags. I understand why because I’ve had toiletries leak all over my suitcase when I fly (not fun!) This could be a concern if you don’t like plastic or don’t have a place to recycle the plastic pillows. This isn’t an issue for me. I either reused or recycled the packing materials from my order. As always, your mileage may vary.

I can see how Alice.com comes in handy when time is short or when I don’t want to go from store to store to buy all of the environmentally friendly products I’d like to try. I really wish I had Alice.com when I was a college student because lugging bags of groceries home on a city bus stinks. Will I use Alice.com again? I think I might. What about you?



**By the way FTC, I didn’t get any money from Alice.com to talk about their service or from the companies or products shown in this post. My readers are smart enough to know this since I said  I bought everything with my own money, but since you’re busy being the Fed and all I thought I’d spell it out for you. You’re welcome.