Hooray for Recycled Dishes!

I recently came upon these Re-Play children's dishes at our local Walmart.  They're inexpensive (approximately 5 a package), made from recycled milk jugs, BPA free, & manufactured in the USA.  The plates have deep wells, so it's easy for E to scoop her food , & the plastic very thick & sturdy.

While the plates are not microwavable, they're dishwasher safe & durable as all get out.  If you're in the market for some sturdy, environmentally friendly children's dishes, I'd highly recommend buying from Re-Play.  They're fabulous!

Wait, Wait, Don't Trash Me

One of the biggest things I've learned from frugal living is that I need to be creative & look at the possibilities of absolutely everything we have & try to maximize its use.  Here are a few "creative" ways to get the max out of things before they go to the trash.

Save cereal crumbs for yogurt--I save the tail end, yucky in milk cereal, for yummy crunch in yogurt.  Bug & I both love it & it's certainly cheaper than buying/making granola for that purpose.

I've also heard of people saving the lining from their cereal to use in lieu of waxed paper.  If you use waxed paper, let me know what you think of this frugal method. 

Hold on to your butter wrappers--Once you finish a stick of butter hang on to the wrapper until you need to grease a baking dish.  Simply rub the wrapper on the dish & you're good to go.

Freeze & reuse shredded cheese bags--Save these in the freezer & reuse them as wrappers for chunk cheese.  I only reuse these once, but it still saves needing to use a ziploc.

Reuse bread & tortilla bags--Rather than throw these out, save them for wrapping up pizza, double bagging things for the freezer, etc. 

Hold on to those bags--We bring our own bags to the grocery store, so we frequently run low on bags for small trash cans.  Last time in Texas I hit up my gram for some of her bags & she gave me the bag that held their toilet paper, which I thought was brilliant.  We don't go through tp super often, but this method can be applied to any number of exterior product bags. 

While I can't avoid creating waste entirely, it makes me feel better to delay or re-purpose things on their way to the bin.  Any of you lovelies have any other ideas?

Resole Those Tired Old Shoes

Don't mind my fantasy shoes...

We don't have a cobbler around us, so when we headed to Indiana for Christmas I brought along all of my janky broken down shoes to be repaired at our local Meijer.  I had two pairs of leather knee high boots & a pair of heels that were down to little nubs instead of soles.

For the cost of $40 I had three pairs of shoes repaired & prettied up, far cheaper than even a single pair of boots.  Shoe repair is a totally green & totally frugal choice.  If you're able to find a cobbler near you, hit them up & get those  fixed, you won't be sorry. 

Ways to Save on Christmas Wrapping

One of the more obnoxious expenses of holiday season are the costs of wrapping the presents.   The wrappings are thrown away & it seems wasteful to harm any trees & create more trash just to wrap presents.  I try not to spend anything on wrapping paper, gift bags, boxes, etc. & have tried to cut down on the waste of traditional gift giving.  Here are some ways to cut down your expenses & your impact.


Go Reusable--Most stores are offer really cute reusable bags.  The bag on the left my Mom bought to wrap my birthday gifts.  It was $0.99 & holds a ton.  The red gift bag was gift wrapping from a Target.com present & we've used it multiple times.  Instead of a bunch of small gift bags, consider buying one large reusable bag. 



Save & Reuse the Bags/Bows/Tissue You Receive-- I  save every gift wrapping that I receive.  After several wedding & baby showers we've acquired quite the stockpile.  This is a great way to cut down on your environmental impact & your holiday expenses.

Ask for Boxes--Many stores offer free gift boxes at the holidays.  Simply ask if they have any available. 




 Make Your Own Gift Tags--One great way to reuse the deluge of annual Christmas cards is to cut them into gift tags.  It's cheap, looks cute, & gives a second life to Christmas cards. 

 Hit Up The Dollar Store--If you don't have a stockpile & want traditional wrappings the dollar store is a great place to purchase gift wraps, etc. inexpensively. 







Buy After Christmas Clearance--Wait until gift wrappings go on clearance. Items are a fraction of the price & I've was able to get all of the cute wrapping items to the right for pennies of the original price buy buying after Christmas (& many were sustainably harvested!). 

Think Creatively--Wrapping paper can be made from salvaged brown bags, newspapers, old maps, & other such items.  Look around to see what you have on hand before you rush to the store. 

Hopefully you don't have to spend money on your holiday wrappings & hopefully such wrappings have a minimal impact on the environment.  Season's Greetings!

The Complete Life Cycle of a T-Shirt

Remember back in the day, when you were in school, & you'd study the many uses the Native Americans had for buffalo?  Nothing went to waste.  Every single bit of the buffalo was put to use.  I always found that to be the logical use of such an animal; yet, today, things get thrown away well before they have been used in entirety.  It's cheaper to buy the next model than have your current model fixed.  Lets face it, we are a throw away society.

While I wouldn't have the first clue as to how to render the most use out of a buffalo, or how to repair a broken appliance, I have figured out how to make the most use out of one thing--the t-shirt.  Imagine with me if you will...

I am so wishing this were my shirt right now...

Stage 1
You purchase your shirt.  It's beautiful, unblemished, everything you would hope a t-shirt could be. Until you drip marinara all across your stomach or rip a hole in the bottom while trying to tuck it in. In disappointment you throw it out or you could...

Stage 2
Begin wearing said shirt under sweaters or as a night shirt.  While it can't be displayed in public, it is still good for warmth or use in the privacy of your own home.   Until...

Stage 3
Said shirt is now so utterly stained, holey, shrunken, etc. that it is no longer justifiable to wear.  What to do?  Cut it into rags.  Don't forget to save the seams for tying up tomato vines and the like.  And then?

Stage 4
Your tshirt rags are now so thin/disgusting/stained that they cannot be used.  Simply throw them in the compost pile.  They'll decompose in due time & nothing is wasted.  

Feel free to skip step two if you'd like.  Either way, t-shirts really lend themselves to a long life span & I know that for most of my life I wasn't using them to their full potential. 

Not exactly the same as the buffalo...but close.

Also The Green Goddess Blog is now on Facebook & Twitter.  Feel free to friend or follow me!!

Green Organizing

One of the major tenants in green & frugal living is to be creative.  This does not mean that you necessarily have to be a creative person; you simply need to look at your possessions with the ingenuity to see them for ALL of their potential uses, in order to give them their fullest life possible.

I've said before that I am not the neatest person, but for some reason I LOVE to organize small spaces; I rock at cleaning our closets & cupboards.  JC always complains that my favorite things to clean are the things no one will see, which is true, but I believe it is one of my many lovable eccentricities... at least that's what I keep telling myself.

Seeing as how we don't live near a container store, nor do I have any interest in spending virgin materials or money to find things to hold my things, I've had to get creative.  Here are some ways I've recycled items in my bathroom: 

Paper clip holder turned bobby pin holder

Random oversized coffee cup turned chapstick/travel sized lotion holder (note the lotion is upside down, the ideal frugal way to store lotion).

Non- recyclable (in our area) candle turned Q-Tip holder

Childhood desk organizer turned sample organizer

Non recyclable candle turned thermometer & lose band-aid gatherer

Non-recyclable No. 5 plastic baby wipe tub ala tiny baby wash cloth wrangler

 No. 5 plastic cookie tray turned in-drawer organizer

Egg cup turned floss (these were a gift from many years ago, I wouldn't buy pick style floss myself) & Q-Tip home.   *Ok, I admit that I DID buy this one after Easter on deep clearance, but if you had one sitting around you could recycle yours for this purpose.

Sushi dip dish turned chapstick/floss/white strip fetcher.  

Before you head to the store in search of a container look through the things you have on hand.  Start with things that you can't recycle in your area & see if you can re-purpose them in your own home.  From there consider canning jars, tea cups, bowls, baskets, boxes, etc.  The recycling possibilities are endless.   

Recycled Alphabet Magnets

I'm a huge recycler, even if that means I can't throw everything in my recycle bin.  Recently I discovered that I couldn't recycle lids in my area.  It has been killing me to think of throwing them away, so I have been trying to come up with some practical way to reuse them in our home.  Then the other day, while surfing on Amazon for alphabet letter magnets it hit me-- I could make magnets out of my milk lids!

Per my usual crafting I tried to use things on hand (why spend money if you can use stuff that's free), but this is just a loose idea of what you could use.  Adjust as you'd like.

Supplies:

• assorted milk/juice lids
• magnets (I used magnets from old magnetic notepads)
• scrapbook paper
• letter stickers or a marker
• glue

Instructions:

1.  Trace the milk lid to create a pattern for your paper.

 

2.  Adhere letter sticker.  I bought mine from Walmart two years ago & am unsure if they're still available.  You could also draw your own letters or print pretty letters from the internet.   These could also hold little pictures & other assorted lovelies.  Get as creative as you'd like!

3.  Glue down the paper inside the lid. I used hot glue.  (On a side note because we don't buy paper plates I use my left over vegetable trays from Aldi as a glue catcher.  Just another way to try & re-purpose.)

4.  Adhere the magnet on the back.  I tried hot glue but that didn't hold permanently; however super glue worked.  Let me know if another kind of glue works for you. 
 
5.  Stick to magnetic surface & let the learning & play begin!

So far I only have A-E, but we're almost to the end of two other gallons of milk.  Here comes F & maybe G to meet you at  the top of the coconut tree!

Cheap Entertainment: Toddler Activity Bucket

I firmly believe that the cornerstone to frugal living  is being prepared.  Instead of thinking about the next month, I'm always trying to gather the things we will need for the next year or more.  I have found over time that if I plan ahead & stay organized I'm able to get the exact things I need for my life at minimal cost.

One of the things I've been trying to prepare for is Little E's move into the arts & crafts stage of life.  I've slowly been gathering supplies & hanging on to things that I probably otherwise would have recycled.

While saving is definitely a component in planning ahead, I find that it's a slippery slope into horderville, so I always try to have a container to limit any collection.  That being said, last Valentine's Day, my sweet father in law sent us popcorn in this adorable monkey tin.  I figured it would be absolutely perfect for gathering E's future art supplies. 

I went through my old teaching supply & found markers, chalk, and many many stickers.  I also found cardboard tubes, crayons, balloons, as well as letter shaped cookie cutters from E's Nana.
I even saved unused brushes from my fluoride for future paint brushes.    

 I've also been saving every single sticker I can get my hands on from the moment I got pregnant.  I knew that if my child had ANY of my genetic predispositions she'd love stickers too.  When I was a kid I didn't care what the sticker said, or if it was even cool, I LOVED it.  So I've been saving stickers from samples, the ends of panels of stamps, even the junk mail stickers.  If it sticks, I'll keep it.

I learned pretty early on as a camp counselor that kids are creative enough to take any regular household thing & make it into treasure. It's just a matter of making sure you have the supplies on hand, & that you have the creativity to see things through the eyes of a child.  Well that and limiting your collection to a bucket!  :)

25 New Gardening Uses for Old Things

I ADORE Real Simple magazine.  They have all sorts of amazing ideas, so when I came across this list of 25 New Gardening Uses for Old Things I just had to share.  The list is especially impressive to me because I have only ever heard of one of the ideas...and that's really saying something.  It's compilation of ways to reuse common household items in the garden.  Gardening & recycling.  What's not to like?  Ch-ch-ch-check it out!

Happy Belated Earth Day To You

Yesterday was one of my very favorite holidays.  I look forward to Earth Day all year long.  I always use it as a time to try to reflect upon my actions, how they impact the Earth, and to set goals for the next year.

This upcoming year I hope to:

• Attempt to use/make more natural toiletries
• Support local farmers & utilize our farmers market
• Look into reusable feminine products (eek!)
• Plant at least one tree to replace the one that fell on our house
• Try to pre-cycle & use products that are in less packaging to bring less waste into our home
• Attempt to grow & preserve as much of our own food as possible
• Use only green/natural cleaning products in our home
• Continue to purchase 100% post consumer content recycled toilet paper

 Even if you are not big into the green living moment, consider making one small change this year.  It will make an impact on our Earth, and every little bit counts.

Also if you live near a Lowes go & get your free tree today!  They're giving away a million! 

Have a blessed & wonderful Easter.

Reuse: Gift Materials

In recent years we have had many occasion to receive gifts:  wedding showers, wedding, baby showers, baby, baby's first birthday.   For all of those gifts, and all of those celebrations, we have received many, many gift bags.  Now I grew up in a house where we saved and reused all bows, boxes, and gift bags associated with gift giving, so this is not a new idea; but man, do I have a collection!  I have been collecting all of the many gift bags we have received in recent years, and  since we've moved to Arkansas, I have also been collecting tissue paper that is still in good condition.  If you have never considered doing this, it is an amazingly worthwhile frugal habit.  Gift bags/tissue/bows are OBSCENELY overpriced.

I keep all of my gift bags in a large gift bag that was somewhat crunched from transporting a gift from our wedding shower.  I then organized them within that bag:  wedding/baby/Christmas/birthday-- all smallest to largest within their category.  Yes, I realize that this is a little OCD, but it saves so much time when I need to wrap something last minute.

As far as tissue paper goes, up until recently it was shoved in a large crunched up gift bag.  Nice, huh?  However, we have had many a snow day here, and on a recent snow day I neatly folded up all of my saved tissue and organized it by color and pattern.  I have to say it was time consuming, but I was bored, and it was something for my idle hands to do, and I hope it saves time in the future.

My salvaged bows are just thrown in this gift bag that is too crunched to use to give gifts.

So, for all of you, dear friends, who will have a special occasion shortly, I hope you enjoy your present, given to you in a reused bag, stuffed with reused tissue, and tied with a reused bow.