In part one of this series, I described several different ways to reduce waste while also being “green”.
As a big fan of the environment, and an equally big fan of money, I’m always trying to find little efficiencies in my daily life which will make a difference to my bottom line.
Repurpose old clothes
My boyfriend is in trades, so he re purposes all of his old t-shirts into work shirts, which promptly get tears, paint stains, or just generally ratty.
I go one step further with this by repurposing the repurposed shirt – if his shirt has just a hole in it, we’ll cut it up as rags for cleaning our cars with. The cotton is nice and soft for both the interior and exterior walls.
Cotton shirts actually make great window scrubbers. The softness of the fibers leave no streaks.
Turn off the heat in the winter while cooking
I don’t know about you, but if I’m cooking, even on the coldest of days, it gets damn hot in my apartment.
This might be advantageous for me, since I do live in a small apartment, but the oven acts as a heater in my experience. Lots of the time I’ll have the heat on, and then I start cooking and I’ll have to open the window so I don’t melt.
Heating is one of the biggest expenses for many households, and this could help for a couple of hours in the evenings that you cook.
Ditch the paper towel!
I’ve never used paper towel. My mom never bought it growing up, as it wasn’t really in our budget. For things that absolutely require paper towel, such as bacon – lol – we used napkins that we would have left over from birthday parties, which worked just as well and one small napkin package would last us for a whole year.
I kept up with that, mainly because I never saw the point. It drives me crazy when I see people use paper towel every time they wipe down their counters. It’s so wasteful.
Rags work just as well, if not better, and they’re free after the initial cost of buying them. Or, just re purpose something old!
Going green and being environmentally friendly doesn’t have to mean only wearing hemp and eating barley. Watching out for the environment can also give you cash benefits, as well as be better for your health.
Being conscious of the waste you generate, and trying to reduce, reuse, and recycle is a lot easier than it sounds.
Go Green!
Thank you for the reminder. My mom reused everything thing as well growing up and still does. She hates wasting. I need to do better with being more ‘Green’ as all of us should. I also hate wasting but it’s convenient…I will try harder.
WOW! This is great! Thanks! 🙂