Comments on: Re-thinking Recyling

By: lissa

lissa — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:05:50 +0000

I wish I have some idea for recycling, I do try not to use plastic when possible and recycling junk mail, using those new light bulbs that suppose to save energy and good for the environment, using less paper by not printing out files to read and instead read them as digital file, that's all I can think of at the moment good luck with cans for comments or is that comments for cans? lissas last blog post..Vulnerable

By: Thorne

Thorne — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:37:24 +0000

How about going to Freecycle and looking up your local chapter and signing up?? Who knows, that old exercise bike you put in the garage when you got your new stairmaster might be just what someone else needs... clothes, furniture, just about anything you can think of. The idea is to offer for FREE, something you no longer use/need for someone who does need it. Saves a whole lotta space in the land fills! Thornes last blog post..Only The Good Friday #6

By: Jennymcb

Jennymcb — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 02:14:47 +0000

I use the plastic bags from the grocery store for my bathroom rubbish cans and for the kitty litter. (Now if I didn't live near a marsh, my kitties would be outside and I wouldn't have to use as much kitty litter, but around here, an indoor cat lives much longer..) Okay, back to recycling, we cook enough to have at least one of us bring leftovers to work. We make our own coffee every morning and the grinds with the filter paper get put in the compost bucket with all our "green" waste. For a Christmas swap tomorrow, I knitted a cotton shopping bag and will include 3 bars of organic soap, an organic candle with a great scent and 4 instant lottery tickets, all "green", right? We rarely buy processed food, not organic here, but we don't rely on "instant" suppers here. ( Please don't make my cans, peas...that would be too sad. LOL) Great idea! Jennymcbs last blog post..To Market, to market- not me on Black Friday!!

By: Jamie

Jamie — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:25:10 +0000

Join a buying group or go to a farmers market for produce. The shorter the distance something goes to get to you, the more environmentally friendly it is. Become proactive with suppliers. Let them know you don't like excessive packaging. If you must use Paper Towels or Coffee Filters, don't use white ones that are bleached. Get the brown and recycled variety. Jamies last blog post..Tell Me A Story

By: Jamie

Jamie — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:22:01 +0000

The Japanese have made an art out of packaging. Even the lunch boxes are tied with cloth and beautiful knots. You might as well learn a new craft while being kind to the earth

http://www.squidoo.com/gift-wrap

Jamies last blog post..Tell Me A Story

By: Marcia

Marcia — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:29:15 +0000

We used cloth bags for groceries, and when we do leave them at home and have to revert to plastic, as long as there are no holes in them we use them for trash to “save a trash bag”. And what we COULD do, is just buy another recyclable bag instead and when we have too many donate them to someone who hasn’t got the money to even buy a recycled bag… I also use plastic bags that veggies come in as trash bags. My neighbor used the bags his newspapers came in for his trash bags.

As for paper towels, guilty, but we use the choose a size and use a whole, whole lot fewer.

But I’m going to use Deborah S-A’s idea in the comment above and buy wash cloths to use for napkins, I’ve been tearing a paper towel in half to use less paper….

And though the surprise is removed, we don’t give each other gifts per se, we just go out and shop for each other together, no wrapping paper.

Marcias last blog post..Cans For Comments

By: karina

karina — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:39:51 +0000

I’m so newly green that I’m still in the pastel stage, so some of your commenter’s suggestions are a little overwhelming. But others I love, such as Thorne’s giftwrap in pretty old fabrics…I might do that this year!

For the newbie greens, I suggest gift bags, instead of gift wrap. Most people don’t throw out gift bags, they reuse them for regifting. I know we do in my family, we’ve had some gift bags reappear for years now. Lol

I also agree w keeping the cloth shopping bags in the car, I do that.