This is often what happens when we start a new activity like music, or hiking, or gardening, or reducing our disposables:
Me: I'M REALLY INTO THIS!
Me: Look at all the ACCESSORIES I can buy to support this!
Me: I want to buy all these THINGS! And I'll definitely use them!
2 months later...
Me: Look at that THING (climbing shoes/collapsible cup/10 essential oils) I got; I never use it and spent all that money!
Me: And anyway, this thing I already have in my house works just as well, only I didn't know it then.
I suffer from beginner's enthusiasm. I had to forcibly restrain myself so I wouldn't buy a collapsible cup, a reusable bamboo knife-fork-spoon set that comes with a handy baggie, reusable sandwich bags, reusable cloth napkins, the list goes on...
Tip: How to Move Forward
(avoiding auto-consumer mode)
1. Make a wishlist of all the helpful reusable things you want to buy.
2. WAIT! 2 months before buying any. Meanwhile, try to find alternatives in your house. (You probably will!)
A bit stumped? Check out these great DIY ideas!
Some easy examples:
1. Instead of new bamboo utensils + carrying case, just get the case, and put your own utensils inside.
2. Instead of buying stylish new linen bags, just use the cloth bags you have already.
3. Instead of buying a collapsible cup, just attach a carabiner to a metal water bottle.
4. Instead of buying a new reusable zippered carrying case for utensils, just use an old, small make-up bag you/your female relation probably have.
Some examples for crafty people:
1. Instead of new cloth bags with trendy designs, make a t-shirt bag!
2. Instead of buying a Topsy Turvy planter for your tomato/parsley, make your own upside-down planter with a soda bottle!
3. Instead of buying a ribbon for gifts, UPcycle a plastic bag! (Attach it with glue, not tape, and add a card suggesting your friend reuse it!)
Showing posts with label Tip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tip. Show all posts
Friday, May 6, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Tip #2: Do the Trash Can Test
The Trash Can Test is the quickest way to judge your use of disposables.
Go look in your trash can. If it's not too nasty, root around and observe:
How many things in my trash can will rot?
Chances are, there are plenty of things in there that won't rot -- at least not for thousands of years! These are the disposables that you use day in and day out, probably without even realizing how much you use.
The usual suspects are: juice boxes, straws, plastic wrap for food, yogurt cups, take-out food containers, etc. These things cannot be recycled and become TRASH.
How to Reduce Your Waste:
1. Do the trash can test every couple of days and note down somewhere the unrottable items you see most often.
2. Stop and think twice before buying those items. Is there a non-plastic alternative?
MY TRASH CAN TEST
Right now my trash can contains:
-scrap paper*
-pamphlet*
-napkins*
-banana peel*
-wax paper (wrapping)
-plastic wrap (came with bar soap)
*these can be composted! (I've chosen not to, which I'll write about later as a Problem Area)
REUSING - Stuff my trash can would have had:
-empty plastic container for grated cheese (I washed it & will use it for storage)
-empty paper box for medicine (recycle!)
-empty plastic container for kimchi (washed & used for food storage)
Notes to Self: Next time, try to find a brand of kimchi that uses glass jars. Buy soap that comes in a paper box or, better, bulk soap with no packaging.
Go look in your trash can. If it's not too nasty, root around and observe:
How many things in my trash can will rot?
Chances are, there are plenty of things in there that won't rot -- at least not for thousands of years! These are the disposables that you use day in and day out, probably without even realizing how much you use.
The usual suspects are: juice boxes, straws, plastic wrap for food, yogurt cups, take-out food containers, etc. These things cannot be recycled and become TRASH.
How to Reduce Your Waste:
1. Do the trash can test every couple of days and note down somewhere the unrottable items you see most often.
2. Stop and think twice before buying those items. Is there a non-plastic alternative?
MY TRASH CAN TEST
Right now my trash can contains:
-scrap paper*
-pamphlet*
-napkins*
-banana peel*
-wax paper (wrapping)
-plastic wrap (came with bar soap)
*these can be composted! (I've chosen not to, which I'll write about later as a Problem Area)
REUSING - Stuff my trash can would have had:
-empty plastic container for grated cheese (I washed it & will use it for storage)
-empty paper box for medicine (recycle!)
-empty plastic container for kimchi (washed & used for food storage)
Notes to Self: Next time, try to find a brand of kimchi that uses glass jars. Buy soap that comes in a paper box or, better, bulk soap with no packaging.
Tip #1: Repurposing Everday Items
There are things in your home that are much more useful than you or I ever imagined!
So here's a funny little question a great professor asked me once: How many things can you do with a brick?
First, you'll probably say that you can build something with it, like a house. Or, you can smash something with it, like a window. But what else? For starters, you can use it as a step. You could also use it as a make-shift hammer. Or, use it as a weight when you make cheese, corned beef, or sauerkraut. You can put it in the tank of your toilet so it displaces water and reduces how much you use to flush. If you have many bricks, you can make an herb spiral. What else can you do with a brick?
I think you're getting the gist here: We look at items everyday, we give them names, but often we restrict their functions to the ones that are most ordinary.
When it comes to living a sustainable life, we have to go MacGuyver! We have to look at our possessions with greedy eyes, rubbing our hands eagerly as we wonder how many functions we can squeeze out of every item we see.
REPURPOSED ITEM #1: THE BACKPACK
Repurpose: Carrying other items, like groceries
Replaces: getting new plastic bags, forgetting your reusable bag
Let's start basic, people. You have a backpack, or a messenger bag, or this kind of thing. You probably put books in it, maybe an emergency banana snack once in a while. Or maybe you have one, but you graduated and it's collecting dust in some closet.
Get the backpack out and look at it. Open it up. There's so much SPACE in there! And when you put things in, they're heavy, but you can carry it on your back! SO much better than trudging down streets with an awkward shopping bag in each hand. You'll have your hands free for your hands-free!
Next time you go to buy groceries, or school supplies, or office stuff, or computer parts, PUT IT IN YOUR BACKPACK!
You can also put OTHER BAGS folded up inside your backpack, and have even more carrying capacity!
Try it today. The backpack.
So here's a funny little question a great professor asked me once: How many things can you do with a brick?
First, you'll probably say that you can build something with it, like a house. Or, you can smash something with it, like a window. But what else? For starters, you can use it as a step. You could also use it as a make-shift hammer. Or, use it as a weight when you make cheese, corned beef, or sauerkraut. You can put it in the tank of your toilet so it displaces water and reduces how much you use to flush. If you have many bricks, you can make an herb spiral. What else can you do with a brick?
I think you're getting the gist here: We look at items everyday, we give them names, but often we restrict their functions to the ones that are most ordinary.
When it comes to living a sustainable life, we have to go MacGuyver! We have to look at our possessions with greedy eyes, rubbing our hands eagerly as we wonder how many functions we can squeeze out of every item we see.
REPURPOSED ITEM #1: THE BACKPACK
Repurpose: Carrying other items, like groceries
Replaces: getting new plastic bags, forgetting your reusable bag
Let's start basic, people. You have a backpack, or a messenger bag, or this kind of thing. You probably put books in it, maybe an emergency banana snack once in a while. Or maybe you have one, but you graduated and it's collecting dust in some closet.
Get the backpack out and look at it. Open it up. There's so much SPACE in there! And when you put things in, they're heavy, but you can carry it on your back! SO much better than trudging down streets with an awkward shopping bag in each hand. You'll have your hands free for your hands-free!
Next time you go to buy groceries, or school supplies, or office stuff, or computer parts, PUT IT IN YOUR BACKPACK!
You can also put OTHER BAGS folded up inside your backpack, and have even more carrying capacity!
Try it today. The backpack.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)