Reduce, Restore, Resuse, Recycle

I guess maybe it comes with age...wanting to do something good for the earth. Maybe I have this feeling because I love working in my yard...maybe because I hate to waste things...maybe because I see how Michael can take just about anything and make it into something....Friday is Library day at school. Michael said he brought home a craft book this week. I took the book out of his backpack and figured out what his next project was going to be. I have already email friends and family members asking for empty egg cartons...can you tell what he has plans for?
Today was recycling day at our house. Last summer I decided that we needed to recycle but I was not going to pay someone to do it for me. So off we went to Wally World to pick up some bins. We now are the very proud family owners of four recycle bins...one for aluminium, one for plastics, one for paper and one for glass.


Here's my take on it all...Reduce...get rid of the stuff you haven't used in forever. Give it away or maybe better yet have a yard sale and then donate the money to something you find worthy. I have reduced our electric bill by $65.00...you read it right...just by changing light bulbs, locking all the windows, not using the dryer, except for towels...everyone groans here with that one...turning the thermostat down and adding another layer of clothing...and turning off lights if no one is in the room. Reuse...You might think I crazy but I rinse out plastic baggies and reuse them a million times. I take a ceramic mug to preschool for my coffee and tea. I take the coffee grounds and the tea leaves and put them in our compost pile...along with everything else except meat...This might sound gross to some but we use only one towel per person per week...that is if it has only been used to dry off a clean body after an bath or shower. Recycle ...you can see that we are in this as a family.
Michael loves going to the recycle bins. As you can see he dressed for the occasion...he wore Bumblebee Transformer pajamas and his boots to complete his ensemble. He loves it. He goes through all the stuff and we end up bringing some of it back home because he needs it to build something. Today we ended up bringing back 5 plastic bottles (they were ours to begin with...don't get grossed out) so he could make more pirate ships. Seems he is trying to build an entire fleet of ships. Sarah on the other hand thinks everything is completely gross! She hates it! Restore...I'm not so good with this one. But I do have some summer projects lined up to restore some furniture so I guess that counts.

So think about it...what is one thing that you can do?

Comments

The Oakes said…
i can reuse any of that money that you just saved on your electric bill.....and by the way i can't wait to hear anonymous' comment on the lowering of the thermostat!
The Oakes said…
by the way trevor called your driveway in comparison to ours.......a death trap
Katie R said…
random comment/ question..... I am trying to collect license plates from all 50 states. I know you guys have lived a few places (and I don't know anyone else from West Virginia) so I wondered if you had any old license plates to contribute to my project... Hope you had a great weekend.
Jan AKA Wammy said…
Katie,
First of all, what is your project? Where are you and how did you find me?

ItsaHoot24@aol.com
The Oakes said…
mom katie is my friend that i have never met from here. she is the one that went to school there, married someone from ky, you know.
Anonymous said…
You are doing a great job and saving money too.

Please share your restoration projects. I love old pieces of furniture that have been repaired and restored.
Anonymous said…
ok it is anonymous and I am sorry but the thermostat thing is not worth 65 dollars. I am sure that that is not saving that much money, instead of turning it down why don't you save money by showering together(Mark and Jan) and turn up the heat!!!!! Or just shower every other day (it makes your hair look good.) Glad that you are turning the whole family into Hippies so that I am not the only one that gets made fun of.
Looks good all that money saving stuff. I'm not sure it is worth the huge effort it takes either. Sooooo, sorry I didn't call you while in town this weekend. My head has been on a different planet and I have been a little stressed as you might imagine. I will have to come up there again soon.

Teresa
The Oakes said…
wow i like the showering together idea that anonymous shared. i would love to hear any other ideas from him or her!
MoeyMichele said…
Hi Wammy! You commented on my blog. I updated, and everything is fine. Thank you for asking!
Katie R said…
love the showering together idea. being a newlywed has perks! I am trying to recycle in vegas, but the only options are really for homeowners. Otherwise I have to drop them off over an hour from my apartment. I currently have a porch full of plastic and glass bottles and cans because I am trying to be earth friendly.
I also am using cloth tote bags instead of getting new plastic bags from the store. (except sometimes I forget them in my trunk and I get annoyed with myself). I am also good about always having a trashbag to keep stuff to donate in, I drop it off when I shop at goodwill or when it fills up.....
I struggle with the thermostat... we argued because he wanted the air conditioning on Friday!!! (it was warm) I always swore I wouldn't be the thermostat Nazi that my father was! After telling us to layer on sweaters and blankets (which we already had on)kidding, he used to tell us if we were cold to take off all our clothes and run around outside naked, it would feel warmer when we came back in. Thanks Dad.
Anonymous said…
At scool we are doing a recyceling program for paper and I go around every morning and collect the stuff. I love what your doing for the enviroment. you guys do lots of cool things and go cool places. tell Micheal nice P.J.s:)

Big Nate

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