Don’t be wasteful!
Innovative ideas for your “trash” before you pitch it (all of which I currently employ or have employed in the past):
Cereal boxes:Cut out 3.5” x 5” squares, and vio-la! You have a set of unique postcards
Cut off the narrow side panels. Long skinny cardboard rectangles = pretty recycled bookmarks
Fuze beverage bottles:
Remove the wrapper from the glass bottle. Wash glass bottle. Add some water and fresh-cut flowers, place on table or windowsill, and you have produced a very efficient vase. (And, moreover, a much more attractive one than the plastic Coke or milk pint bottles I have seen in some dorm rooms.)
Page-a-day calendar pages:
Instead of throwing out each page when the day is done, turn it over and start a pile on your desk. Instant memos!
Plastic shopping bags:
Wad up as packing material/padding around items shipped in mail parcels
Line smaller garbage cans (no reason to buy Hefty brand when these bags come free and equipped with handles!)
Use as rain-resistant covering for important materials (books, etc.) when carrying items out-of-doors in inclement weather
I'm of mixed feelings about these. My premise is that reuse is only better than big-R Recycling if you were already going to use the new item you get from reusing an old item.
ReplyDeleteI totally do the garbage bag thing with grocery bags, for instance, but I use very few note cards or bookmarks, so I can get away with using more random scraps of paper than planned cut-ups. I also save my calendar pages, 'cause, hey, usually there was something interesting on them.
i love your reusing ideas...but don't even get me started on environmental stuff. I could talk for hours about living green.
ReplyDeleteI got your letter and hopefully will send a reply on Saturday when we get back to the states.