Cereal Gift Box

Gift wrapping seems like such a waste of paper and boxes, all to just get ripped up. But it definitely adds to the fun of getting a gift...So, even though I don't eat sugary cereal - when I saw this little gem in someone's trash I knew I had to have it! I added a little crotcheted plarn set of handles and reused some tissue paper and it was ready to go! If the box weren't so cute, I could have recovered it with some other recycled papers such as weekend funny papers, collage of scraps, etc. For a smaller gift, upcycle a toilet paper roll, sounds tacky but I promise it comes out cute. Check it out here. 

Christmas is coming - will you commit to reducing single use paper during this time!?

Milk Carton Reuse

Milk carton food container

Sorry I've been missing for so long! I do have some more ideas to share though!

I found another way to reuse a milk carton - as a leftover/food container. I have been slowly getting rid of all my plastic containers and using glass. Recently I committed to taking one home cooked meal a week to a sick friend, and have found myself wanting to buy disposable foil pans (which I did once) as well as plastic food containers so she wouldn't have to worry about returning anything to me. This is so much better because it's reusing something that I only have so many creative uses for. My only caveats are:

• wash empty container out immediately with warm soapy water to get all the dairy out
• let food completely cool before putting it into the container - it has a waxy coating that makes it wonderfully waterproof but is not made for hot things
• clip, tape or staple the top to close it, but be careful not to jostle too much because it's not sealed like a plastic container would be

I'm pleased with this reuse!

Glass Bottles

Glass bottles being washed for reuse

Much as I try to NOT to purchase single use bottles, they creep in. They come with guests. They come holding delicious sauces and liquids that I don't know how to make. Some I send off to recycle. The ones that have good tops that can be washed (most of them) I clean and reuse. Because of the small opening, cleaning can be a bit of a challenge. Typically they go through the dishwasher but don't come out fully clean. Enter the bobble wand - find it where the bobble water bottles and filters are sold. It's silicone and small and works great for larger mouthed bottles. The secret weapon for harder to clean or small mouthed bottles is activated charcoal. I keep a few tablespoons in a tin by my sink. These little black "rocks", along with hot water and soap, and a vigorous shake, gets bottles clean clean clean! So, after all that, what do I use these bottles for? 

• home made salad dressing
• lunch box drinks such as tea, kefir, soda
• home made syrups for my soda machine
• concentrated coffee for iced and hot coffee
• iced tea
• instead of water bottles

Drawer-ganizers

Berry tubs make good organizers for kitchen and other supplies

such as closures, egg cups, cookie making supplies, napkin rings

Food containers are one of my largest sources of single use waste. Milk, berries, mushrooms, honey - these are some of my staples that generate containers that I then need to reuse or recycle. I had an 'aha' moment when I realized that on the one hand I was looking to buy plastic storage containers and on the other hand was recycling plastic storage containers. That's when I started putting these "throwaway" containers to better use. Instead of recycling them, I'm upcycling them. It takes a little effort (cleaning them, removing stickers) and they are not as sturdy as plastic organizers you buy, but they work fine. Organized using free upcycled containers, problem solved!

Plarn - Plastic Yarn

plarn rug in the making

My Grandma Rose raised 5 kids as a single mom during the Depression. They didn't have much and nothing went to waste. I admire the ethic that was borne of this hardship. My cousin Jackson and I discovered a shared love of our dear Grandma and of crochet. That comes together in the form of plastic yarn, or plarn. His work is tidy and patterned while mine is free formed and a lot less perfect. I'm pretty sure Grandma is smiling down on both. 

Plarn is easy enough to make as shown in this video. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Plarn is quite forgiving, even if the strips are not all the same thickness it works fine.
• If you don't mind a mottled look you can mix various colors and even thicknesses of bags.
• Stick to a simple stitch, because the plarn is thicker it's harder to keep up with fancy stiches.
• Once you tell people you need bags they are more than happy to save them for you, you can even get them directly from Target or your grocery store if you want a uniform look.
• Plarn lends itself to projects that require water proofing such as a soap dish, scrubbie, dog mat for the car, coaster, beach bag, picnic blanket, outdoor rug, and Grandma Rose's ever classic bathmat and kitchen sink rug!

If you are the least bit crafty I challenge you to take up crochet with plarn - get some projects going and then teach someone else how. If we all do our little bit, it makes a difference. 

Plastic Mesh - Reuse

My first posts come off as kind of boring now that I look at them, so I thought I'd share this quick little project to reuse and upcycle plastic mesh from various produce purchases. These were from citrus and potato sacks, plus some strips of plastic bag (the white) and mesh from a packaged turkey (the green). There are several ways you could put these little bits of engineered plastic to good use, such as a gift/bow decoration, or other crafty project, but I decided to make a scrubbie for my kitchen. I lay about 10 of them flat, put a zip tie in the middle and tightened it up as much as I could. Then it was a matter or fluffing and shaping with scissors - kind of like pom poms, remember those? I've used this little scrubbie for over a year now and it works great. I'm still saving mesh and have enough for the replacement when that's needed. What do you think?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

My first exposure to conservation and reduction of single use consumables came through recycling. I remember being thrilled that our neighborhood was being included in a recycling program. I'm still a big recycler, but have come to the conclusion that reducing is most important, followed by reusing, and then recycling, as shown in the handy graphic above, which I got from this wiki that explains the framework in more detail. Here's my take on the basic three: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. 

RECYCLE- limitations

• Can be complicated keeping track of which items can be recycled. For example, did you know that tissue paper and aluminum foil are not recycled?
• May be inconvenient if you have to take it somewhere yourself (as I do) or if you have to sort it first.

Recycle - benefits

• Gets rid of it, just like throwing it away but without the guilt
• Saves energy and conserves resources, for example recycling an aluminum can saves a whopping 95% of the energy resources required to make that same can from virgin resources.

REUSE - benefits 

• It's like getting free stuff! If I buy a glass jar of pasta sauce and then use that glass jar many times in my lunch box, it's like getting a free lunch container with my pasta sauce. 
• Creative - loads of crafty fun in figuring out how to upcycle - check out this pinterest board full of ideas from making plastic yarn (plarn), to making a sandwich box from a gallon milk jug, to creating lanterns from tin cans. 

Reuse - limitations  

• Takes some effort and creativity. Ain't nobody got time for that! (Actually, I do, that's fun for me).
• I can only use so many strawberry clam shells for organizing my craft supplies. 
• When it comes to plastic there's more of it than can be reused, or that's difficult to get another use out of (for example the plastic that's in any kind of electronic you purchase, you just have to hack it out of there and are left with a pile of bits).

REDUCE - benefits

• This is the sweet spot because if you don't have it in the first place, then you don't have to throw it away, recycle it or figure out a way to reuse it. Bingo! 
• Freeing! You spend less, stress less, clean less when you have less - Becoming Minimalist has recently become one of my favorite sites for refreshing ideas on how to do this. A good place to start is with this post on the benefits of having less. 

Reduce - limitations

• You can't always avoid it. Things are overpackaged - especially toys and electronics!!!! But, even unavoidable purchases such as food and toiletries come with too much packaging. Ones that plague me are berries, honey and milk. 
• Things are made to break - there's even a term for it, planned obsolescence. The documentary Zeitgeist explains this vicious cycle. It's often more expensive to repair than purchase a new one, especially in the area of electronics. 

I refuse to be discouraged though - I'm focusing on the benefits and trying to make it as easy as possible to reduce first, then reuse and finally recycle!