for the newbies

Condo Blues gives us 8 Steps to Reducing Household Trash posted at Condo Blues.

Chris presents Green homes explained posted at Home I Own. While a little out of our usual prospect, I did find Australia’s take on greening homes fascinating and thought it was too interesting not to share.

June Tree talks about Green Living: Ways To Recycle And Buy Used posted at The Digerati Life. Always a good topic.

health & beauty

Sheila V. Flores presents Affordable Natural Face Scrub posted at Eco Glamourista.

mike marlow presents Overeating Keeps A Belly Busy posted at Raw Food Recipes. While I don’t personally subscribe to the raw food movement, I have great admiration for those who do!

in the news

Looks like Katy Unitek can’t get enough of us! She has a new submission,  California Leads the Charge! – Boots on the Roof posted at Boots On The Roof.

Steve Faber presents Check Out These Fun Diesel Cars – High MPG / High MPH posted at super gas saver, saying, “Just because you want be green behind the wheel doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, too. Sip fuel to the tune of 40+ mpg, but don’t get bored doing it.”

living spaces

TSW presents a post on the issue nearest and dearest to my heart: Green Cleaning Products: How To Clean Your House The Eco-Friendly Way posted at The Smarter Wallet.

patio & garden

Guffly presents Autumn is the Time to Fall in Love with Cleaning | Guffly posted at Guffly.

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That concludes this edition of Tips for Green Living. Thank you all for your excellent submissions and I hope you found some useful info in this carnival. You can find a new edition posted every second and fourth Monday here at Green Your Apartment. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Tips for Green Living using our carnival submission form.

Go green and live well!

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But why that order?

1. Reduce

Here is a great example we have all come across: if you can get one one-hundred-ounce bottle of concentrated laundry detergent why buy two fifty-ounce bottles? It is a simple answer: you shouldn’t. A general rule when purchasing a product is that if it will not go bad or go to waste, get the economy size. It reduces the packaging used and often, the burden on your wallet.

2. Reuse

I have a confession: it has been awhile since I have purchased food storage containers. Why? Because I reuse those huge glass pasta sauce jars for my pastas, soups, and side dishes. For main courses I have large glass bowls with a plastic lid that have served me nicely for years.

Another confession? I have reused cereal boxes to ship my eBay items which are cushioned by ripped up magazines I have already read and junk mail flyers. An old tea pot that was stained and burned beyond repair? That can quickly become a colorful planter for a houseplant. In fact, you could even reuse that one-hundred-ounce jug that had laundry detergent in it as a jug to water your plants with (after a thorough cleaning, of course).

The key to reusing is to “think outside of the box” and ask yourself how you can reuse what you already have to fulfill the needs you have elsewhere. This also helps save you money and time by not having to shop for new items!

3. Recycle

Now we finally come to recycling. The milk jugs you did not turn into bird feeders should be recycled. The glass jars you just can’t use, recycle them. But since you have already reduced your waste and reused what you can, even the amount you recycle will be reduced. Less money spent and less stress on the environment – go you!

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The very point of reusing items to take a once useful item and use it again to suit your new need – you’ll quickly see what I mean. It’s remarkably easy and extremely frugal. And if you’ve been reading this site for awhile, you know how much I love to save time AND money!

Before I go on, I must say that I have an obsessive love for Real Simple’s New Uses for Everyday Things column in their monthly magazine. I clip out these tidbits, scan them into my computer and then reuse the clips for packing paper in eBay sales and the like! That column has massively improved my creativity in repurposing the various items I come across into new useful items.

Newbie

1. Instant Tupperware. You know that glass spaghetti sauce jar you were about to throw away? Why not wash it and use it as instant Tupperware for that chicken soup you made for the sickie in your life? You already have it, it’s still perfectly good and if you’re giving it to your sick friend across town, you can tie a ribbon around it to make it more present like. Viola! Instant love.

2. Newspaper makes for a streak-free shine. That’s right – spray your mirrors and glass with a white vinegar and water mix, then wipe clean with regular black-and-white newspaper. I don’t know what it is – the ink or the paper’s consistency – but my glass is nice and shiny. Plus my Sunday paper is reused after reading!

3. Old t-shirts and pajamas make excellent bedding for dogs and cats. Take a large t-shirt, tie the sleeves and stuff with other old clothing or rags and toss in the kennel or crate. Not only does your smell stay and comfort them, but it’s soft and doesn’t cost you the exorbitant prices pet stores charge for pet bedding. And if the cloth gets ruined, it’s easily replaceable.

Amateur Environmentalist

1. Illuminate with repurposed lighting. Instead of purchasing costly candlesticks from Crate & Barrel, why not reuse some empty wine bottles for tapers or those mismatched martini glasses you inherited with some tea lights and sand? You’d be surprised what could be made into a lamp with a simple kit purchased at any hardware store – an old saxophone, a seasonal tin, or even an old inherited silver candlestick!

2. Rethink your packaging. This one I use all the time for eBay sales and gift containers. Old cereal boxes are great for shipping books or gifting a sweater or t-shirt. Instead of buying bubble wrap, I use the plastic bags that seals the cereal in the box as well as magazine clippings I’ve already scanned into my computer to save and the wrapping from popcorn packets. Old maps make great gift-wrapping for kids too!

3. Fancy indulgences can be practical. I am a candle nut and will occasionally splurge on a few expensive candles like White Barn New York’s Cinnamon & Clove Buds or even a spa essential like a good foot soak. The only way I can justify these purchases is that I later reuse the containers for toiletry items. Apothecary jars like the ones the candle and the foot soak come in often sell at more than what the candle and soak cost – so I get my pampering AND some fancy decor out of the deal!

Certified Tree-Hugger

1. Shop at thrift stores, Freecycle and Craigslist before hitting up the chain stores. When you’re looking for a new piece of furniture, be willing to go cheap and repurpose an old item. For example, when we moved last year my Mom had a microwave stand similar to this one that she no longer had room for. I was in desperate need of a good printer stand and cabinet for my home office supplies. A little paint and ta-da! I have a repurposed printer stand with cabinet and all it cost me was $10 for paint.

2. Think outside the cabinet. Old silverware makes fun coat and towel hooks, old plates can be painted and reused as chargers for candles or pieces of art, broken dishes can be used as bits in art projects or aerators at the bottom of the soil in your potted plants.

3. Before tossing, consider a giving the item second or third life. Have an old book that you’ll never read but love the way it looks? Make it into a secret stash for cash by cutting out the middle. How about that toothbrush caddy that is painted olive green from the ’70s? A bit of paint and you can use it as a small vase, using the toothbrush holes to perfectly line up the flowers. An old bookcase can easily become a storage cabinet, a locker with the addition of a few old cabinet fronts, a trophy display case and if deep enough, a dresser with the use of canvas boxes.

Essentially, the fun in reusing is to be creative and see what life you can give the items you already have. Waste not, want not my friends!

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Like the tips but have an even better one? Leave it in a comment!

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