Thursday, February 01, 2007

Wasting Less

I do not consider myself to be a wasteful person. However, I'm realizing more and more how I can be even better at wasting less. Here are some examples of what I'm thinking of:

~ Don't finish all the water in a glass? I'm saving it in my watering can for the next time I go around and water plants instead of dumping it out.

~ Get junk mail from the same place regularly or something you never read? I bought some pre-stamped postcards that I can just address to the company and ask to be removed from their mailing list. I figure it is wasteful to just throw all this mail away when I could prevent them from sending it.

~ Finished a box of cereal? My Mom taught me this: Carefully unfold the waxed paper from inside, wash and re-use.

~ Wash out ziplocs and re-use. I've even been known to wash out tortilla bags since they are zip top bags.

These are just the ones I've been thinking of lately. I want to be a good steward of what God has given me. Any other ideas I should think about enforcing?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good ideas! I am realizing more and more just how wasteful I can be in the littlest things. You are not alone with re-using tortilla bags- if making burritos or chimichangas, I will put the extras in the empty tortilla bag to freeze.

Anonymous said...

I love your blog Monica, and I love your ideas. I love that you want to be a good steward of what God has provided, I realllllllly do love that, and I could be so much better at it, BUT,(and this is a big but, so brace yourself) I have come to the point in some of these areas, that God has provided some of these time savers for me. In the complicated life that I have (that he has also given me) I can just use these time saving devices and be thankful, and let them make my life simpler. Sooo, the left water goes down the drain, and the unused mags go in the trash right with the ziplocks, tortilla bags, and everything else that was made to be disposable. love, and the utmost admiration, amy a
p.s. am I still invited???

Anonymous said...

I have been feeling the same about incoming paper and wanted to reduce catalogs. This past week I emailed the companies and have received responses from almost all of them thus far. Even cheaper than a postcard. Just a thought.

I also use extra water as you do and wash out freezer baggies (they get expensive!) I do, however, throw out ones that had meat in them.

I am very frugal in nature due to necessity my entire life so I try and think about using things to their greatest potential. I am also trying to limit what comes into the home, as this helps not to be wasteful quite a bit! I am really trying on just purchasing needs as much as possible.

The less I have to put on my "to buy" list, the better!

Thanks for the post - I always love reading about frugality/simplicity.

Monica Wilkinson said...

Thanks for your thoughts, ladies!

Amy, I appreciate your perspective also and have found this to be true in other areas. I used to always make homemade pie crust and now sometimes buy them, etc... You are absolutely right to see those gifts as blessings that God has given us and as my family gets larger - I may change my thinking on this.

You are ABSOLUTELY still invited - can you make it? :)

Milehimama @ Mama Says said...

I tear the junk mail in half and mail it back to the company in THEIR prepaid envelope. That usually solves the problem.
We save jars and containers. I recycle them in all manner of ways, from holding playdoh that we make, to bug catching jars/science lesson, to holding bacon grease or my shortening for greasing pans. I save the short yeast jars and put extra home remedy oils I make in there (garlic oil or eucalyptus, my FIL has a tree).
And never underestimate the power of a baby wipe container as an organizational device!
Mama Says

My name is Michelle. said...

I love frugal tips too! I freeze my bread end pieces and when I have enough, make breadcrumbs. I try to always swish out the bottom of jars to get the last of the food. I make my own laundry detergent for pennies (recipe on my blog).

Anonymous said...

Monika, this is a cut'n'paste' job from my myspace www.myspace.com/fionaflowers

Things I'm doing to be more thrifty, not because I need to be but because I want to be.
Washing laundry with as little soap I can use, and still have clean smelling clothes.
Drying laundry for as short a time as possible.
Buying a clothes line for 25 dollars. I estimate it will pay for itself in roughly 45 loads.
Handwashing ALL dishes.
Opening the windows on pleasant days (such as today).
Using oil lamps at night.
Washing the three youngest boys at once, in the shower.
Starting a fire on cold nights to warm up the living room/kitchen area.
Foraging own yard to get kindling for fire.
Use newspaper for firestarters.
Using cloth diapers during the day (Jack doesn't sleep well in cloth at night).
Planting a garden. 1$ for pumpkin seeds will yeild 3 dollars if I ONLY get one pumpkin. Same goes for the watermellon seeds.
1.25 for spinach seeds will yeild 2 dollars if I ONLY get one "bag" of spinach out of it. I did not factor in water.
Recycling milk jugs to make an irrigation system in my garden.
Recycling cereal bags to hold dry leftovers.
Using strawberrie plastic containers to hold candy.
Shopping Big lots for damaged goods. Bought 2 boxes of Captain Crunch for 1.25 each, easy a 2$ savings, because the boxes had water damage. The cereal itlself was in great shape. Bought one box LIFE cereal for 1.00 because it's "best if used by date" was 4 days ago. Taste as good as new.
Shop the farmers market just before noon. The farmers are ready to go home and eager to not have to pack everything back. Bought 1.5 lb potatos and 4 lbs bananas for 2.50 total.
Make friends with Beverly Haynes, 2 loaves of bread and dinner rolls every two weeks in addition to oatmeal and whole wheat flower. Savings untold in both money and health.
Shop dollar tree for Kids soap, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes. Dog snacks and cleaning supplies and organic blue corn chips can also be found at the dollar tree every few weeks. Stock up on corn chips YUMMY.
Make casserole for side dish of leftover smashed potatos(ones from the market) corn scraped off the cob and eggs(given by Geri) and cheese. KIDS LOVE IT!
Give leftover chicken and eggs to Bingo and Valentine instead of throwing away.
Don't eat out, it's a waste and quickly regretted.
Make atleast 2 Christmas presents (start in April to ensure it gets done in time).


And final words from Abraham Lincoln
"You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn."

ps, washing "disposable" diaper wipes leaves you with a perfectly good "hanky" for your kids to hold on to when their noses are runny.

xoxo,
paige