I must, I must, I must . . . . reduce my waste.

Usually I end I MUST, with . . . . increase my bust.  You know the little song. "I must, I must, I must increase my bust. The bigger, the better, the fuller the sweater!"
But I've given up on that dream and moved on to: " I must, reduce my waste", because that's actually something I can control :)
Here's what I'm doing:

• Padded Bra's

• Chicken Cutlets  

Wait we're talking about garbage:

• I wasn't sure if I was going to write down buy fewer cans, because we recycle those, but they usually come in packaging of their own. Although if it's cardboard you can recycle that too so, I'm torn. Lee had a good point, all packaging whether it's recyclable or not, takes resources and energy to make, so we're cutting out cans.
• No take-out. Take out containers create so much garbage!! One night of Chinese take-out is almost an entire bag of garbage
• No Disposable razors. It's not so much the razors as it is the plastic packaging they come in. Or maybe I'll just stop shaving my legs all together ? ? ? ? probably not . . . . probably!
• Buy milk in Glass Containers, not only good for the environment, but cute and retro too :)

• Make my own laundry detergent. It's super easy, and you skip the huge plastic bottles. If you'd like our Laundry Soap recipe, follow the LINK.

• No more plastic grocery bags. We've been bringing our own bags to the grocery store for years now, and I'm assuming you've been too. But now we'll be bringing our own produce bags with us. 

• Cancelling our cataloge and magazine subscriptions. Except for Martha :) 
• Really trying not to use paper towels. I'm not going to say we aren't going to use paper towels (because seriously I'm not cleaning up dog puke with anything else), but we're going to make a very conscious effort to reach for a dish towel to dry our hands instead!
• Make my own household cleaners in old cleaner bottles (as soon as I run out I'll be sure to write a post full of recipes)
• More good Old Home Cooking, package free :) You can peek through our meal plan monday's to see some of our recipes.
• I'm really excited about this one: Make my own . . . . sandwich bags!!! Here's an example, tutorial to come! 

• use bulk bins more. The plastic bag from Bulk Bins isn't great, but it's better then the plastic bag inside the cardboard box, in shrink wrap.
• Use craigslist more! Although we use it a lot already :) Used goods, don't have packaging :) 
• When we need to get rid of something, you know something that no one would buy, like an old kite or a ratty old chair, offer it for FREE on craigslist. We've had a lot of success doing this! Freecycle is also a good for this. And what ever we can keep out of the landfill is GREAT!
• Re-use when ever possible
• Re-use old clothes as rags
• Re-use any old fabric or clothes and make a quilt (currently working on my first one, I'll let you know how it goes). 
• Re-use old tin cans as pencil holders (I just really miss this idea from elementary school)

• Borrow and Rent. Instead of buying a huge ladder you might only need once or twice is a waste, try renting it from Home Depot or you might be lucky and have a fabulous neighbor who has one. We've done this for everything from a ladder to a saw to a pick up truck.
• Keep things in good repair. If you take care of your stuff, it's less likely to break and you won't need to buy a new one wrapped in packaging :)
• And last COMPOST as you read in our previous post we've been composting!

So there it is, all of our plans, what's that they say about the best laid plans . . . eeeeek!

One thing I noticed while writing this post was that almost all of these tips will also save money! It's funny how these two different topics completely align with each other! All the changes we've been making have been sending ripples through the rest of our life. For example:
Cutting down on garbage = making more homemade meals= healthier us!
or
Cutting down on garbage = making our own laundry soap = saving money and healthier soaps for us!
or
Cutting down on garbage = re-using old clothes = made a quilt = warmer us = not having to buy a new quilt for winter = saving money!
I'm starting to like MATH!