I can't believe it, but I am considering joining Freecycle again. I know lots of people love it and think it's great but it was the worst few months of my life (OK, that's an exaggeration, but I REALLY dreaded checking my email, which was awful). People were SOOOOO ungrateful, they would come pick up their stuff then start asking me for everything they see (hello!! My house is not a store!!), people regularly would ask for the most ridiculous things (like cars. I know, if you don't ask, you won't get but who is going to give a new car in running condition away for free and have to drive it three hours away, no less??) and there were constant debates over the yardsalers (basically, people would sign up and ask for every single item, regardless of what it was for the sale of selling it. That is NOT in the spirit of Freecycle, IMO).
I have been going through my house, going through the decluttering part of simplification and it's staggering how much we have to get rid of. I know the Salvation Army never seemed that impressed when we'd show up with 10 garbage bags of stuff in the past and they're in a smaller location now and they have no parking so we'd have to trudge this stuff all over creation to get it there. Sigh.
The kids toys have been way easier than I thought. I did get the kids involved a bit. They had a garbage bag of playfood. They could not play with it as there was too much stuff. The kids and I went through it and kept a small little bag, literally a 10th of what they had, and a tea party set. Voila! They started playing with it again. I started going through their Little People (of which they had tons). DS actually offered to give up one of his houses! What a sweetheart. I told him we would wait as we're going to move the Little People back to his room where they would have room to play with it again. (We are getting rid of some though)
That's the biggest problem we have; no room! We moved some of the kids toys into a section of the living room but there is no room to play. We have wood in DS's room right now to finish building his bunk bed (we lost the instructions years ago as we have only been using part of it until DS was old enough to use a bunk bed). Clothes are all over his room as that is my sorting area. It's all a big mess. This is why I need to declutter, so we can LIVE again! So the kids can play again. So I can get stuff done again!!
I will go through my items and make a list for freecycle. I will just ignore the people who take away from the spirit of Freecycle and give to those who have a true need. I bagged up nearly 10 bags worth so far plus have a lot of big ticket items to give away too. I find I am seeing things with new eyes. I can see there will be light at the end of the tunnel. It's going to be slow going getting there and will involve learning new habits and a new way of living, but I can see that there will be happiness there.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
Small Things DO Make A DIfference
Sometimes with the drudgery of trying to keep things simple and taking extra effort in lots of small ways to save and conserve, you sometimes wonder if it's making a difference in the grand scheme of things. You know since there are so many people who don't care gobbling up the world's resources without a second thought.
With only a couple of simple changes, our power bill from February to April has gone down nearly $30 (new bill: $86 for 2 months). That's $180, which is more than 4 months of electricity use we conserved in two months.
"With weekly use of just one reusable bag at the grocery store, each person can divert approximately 100 plastic bags from ending up in landfill sites each year". Click on that for one of the many bags we use for shopping. Cloth bags are great as they hold so much. They're also easier to lug around, sturdier and it's great knowing one small thing can make such a huge change.
"If every household in Canada replaced 1 roll of virgin toilet paper with 1 roll of recycled toilet paper we could save thousands of trees for more highly valued uses." Even though we use mostly cloth (except DH ;) ), after the toilet paper we do have in our storage is used up, I am going to switch to this. It's generally not any more expensive than the other ones. Now I don't agree with what they say about it may take more energy to use reusable since we wash everything in cold water. I don't care what they say, cold can wash clothes clean without special formulas. Our homemade laundry detergent is super effective, super simple and cheap to make. I'll post the recipe later.
Use compact fluorescent bulbs wherever possible in your home. They use 75% less electricity than traditional bulbs and last years longer. One compact fluorescent bulb can save you three times its cost in electricity. We have been using them for more than 2 years now and it really does make a difference. We have also switched to all LED nightlights. They cost pennies a year to run. The one we have in our family bedroom is sensitive to light so when it's dark, it comes on but at night, it doesn't. I believe the label said it costs less than a dollar a year to leave it plugged in all the time.
Cloth diapers make a huge difference. If you take all the disposable diapers a baby would use in a week, put it all in a bag and leave it in your kitchen, how pleasant would that be? Imagine that, every week your child is in diapers, sitting in a landfill somewhere, not able to decompose in plastic garbage bags buried in the earth, full of human waste, which is technically illegal to put in most landfill sites, multiplied by each person alive, as that's how many diapers there would be if no one used alternatives. Considering some kids don't potty train until they are 3-4 years old (I know, many train earlier), that is a LOT of waste. For some REALLY good facts on the toll disposable diapers have, Check Out This Website: Real Diaper Association. I like that site so much, I will add it to my links here :)
Another is reusable containers. Where I live, it is estimated that anywhere from 25-35% of all garbage on the side of the road are Tim Horton's coffee cups, which are made from non-recyclable, non compostable materials. Walking down any street in town, you can see how bad this situation is. Now, we have three Tims in our tiny little town, and they are always packed to the gills. They actually had to rebuild one so the drive-thru traffic would no longer interfere with one of the main streets in town (it still often does though). So we have hundreds and hundreds of people hourly getting coffee from just one chain in these cups that will never break down. It's almost mind boggling how much waste that would add up to over time. They offer alternatives for reusable containers but few take them up on it. I think there should be greater incentive for that or they should at least switch to compostable cups (other places have done that). Fortunately it's not an issue for me since I don't even go to Tims, I just have to wallow in it's filth. An article from a few years ago (they didn't solve the problem and it's worse now). Here's a blog which gives a great visual impact of the cup problem.
Wow, those are just a few of the many, many things that may be small changes but make a huge difference.
With only a couple of simple changes, our power bill from February to April has gone down nearly $30 (new bill: $86 for 2 months). That's $180, which is more than 4 months of electricity use we conserved in two months.
"With weekly use of just one reusable bag at the grocery store, each person can divert approximately 100 plastic bags from ending up in landfill sites each year". Click on that for one of the many bags we use for shopping. Cloth bags are great as they hold so much. They're also easier to lug around, sturdier and it's great knowing one small thing can make such a huge change.
"If every household in Canada replaced 1 roll of virgin toilet paper with 1 roll of recycled toilet paper we could save thousands of trees for more highly valued uses." Even though we use mostly cloth (except DH ;) ), after the toilet paper we do have in our storage is used up, I am going to switch to this. It's generally not any more expensive than the other ones. Now I don't agree with what they say about it may take more energy to use reusable since we wash everything in cold water. I don't care what they say, cold can wash clothes clean without special formulas. Our homemade laundry detergent is super effective, super simple and cheap to make. I'll post the recipe later.
Use compact fluorescent bulbs wherever possible in your home. They use 75% less electricity than traditional bulbs and last years longer. One compact fluorescent bulb can save you three times its cost in electricity. We have been using them for more than 2 years now and it really does make a difference. We have also switched to all LED nightlights. They cost pennies a year to run. The one we have in our family bedroom is sensitive to light so when it's dark, it comes on but at night, it doesn't. I believe the label said it costs less than a dollar a year to leave it plugged in all the time.
Cloth diapers make a huge difference. If you take all the disposable diapers a baby would use in a week, put it all in a bag and leave it in your kitchen, how pleasant would that be? Imagine that, every week your child is in diapers, sitting in a landfill somewhere, not able to decompose in plastic garbage bags buried in the earth, full of human waste, which is technically illegal to put in most landfill sites, multiplied by each person alive, as that's how many diapers there would be if no one used alternatives. Considering some kids don't potty train until they are 3-4 years old (I know, many train earlier), that is a LOT of waste. For some REALLY good facts on the toll disposable diapers have, Check Out This Website: Real Diaper Association. I like that site so much, I will add it to my links here :)
Another is reusable containers. Where I live, it is estimated that anywhere from 25-35% of all garbage on the side of the road are Tim Horton's coffee cups, which are made from non-recyclable, non compostable materials. Walking down any street in town, you can see how bad this situation is. Now, we have three Tims in our tiny little town, and they are always packed to the gills. They actually had to rebuild one so the drive-thru traffic would no longer interfere with one of the main streets in town (it still often does though). So we have hundreds and hundreds of people hourly getting coffee from just one chain in these cups that will never break down. It's almost mind boggling how much waste that would add up to over time. They offer alternatives for reusable containers but few take them up on it. I think there should be greater incentive for that or they should at least switch to compostable cups (other places have done that). Fortunately it's not an issue for me since I don't even go to Tims, I just have to wallow in it's filth. An article from a few years ago (they didn't solve the problem and it's worse now). Here's a blog which gives a great visual impact of the cup problem.
Wow, those are just a few of the many, many things that may be small changes but make a huge difference.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Frenchy Shopping & The Compact
I may mention this here time to time that I/we've gone Frenchy shopping. What this means is we've gone to one of the many second hand stores in our area :). Guy's is the chain, but there are lots of them in thetown where I live.
I have come to realize that I cannot abide by the no spending rule I wanted to uphold. I will do reduced spending, which is more realistic. I will do smarter shopping.
Why am I mentioning all this? Well, mom took the kids and I Frenchy shopping yesterday. I wasn't going to buy anything but it was hard. I bought some scrapbooking supplies, books (a bunch of great ones I've had my eye on), a scarf for me (handpainted silk, lovely!), an interlocking squares mat and Mr. Potatohead for the kids. I didn't touch the clothes knowing how much we had just gotten rid of. I'm not going to feel bad. While mom was doing her retail shopping, I brought the kids to the playground. I really could have done without getting the kids a toy but I thought the compromise of one toy was better than the dozens they were bringing to me while we were there.
I have been reading a lot lately about The Compact. I'm surprised I haven't mentioned it lately as I find it so facinating and it gave me the inspiration to go ahead and simplify my life, even though I don't feel ready to commit yet. I first heard about it on the Mothering message boards.
Links:
Basically:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#1 Don't buy new products of any kind (from stores, web sites, etc.)
#2 Borrow, barter, or buy used.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I couldn't find the exceptions on the blog but I may not of looked hard enough. I think some of the exeptions would probably include items that fall under the category of health and safety, food, possibly crafts and things needed for livelyhood (example, if you need clothes or footwear for work). I would say some homeschooling items would have to fall in the category of need to buy but some may debate that. I think it is a matter of finding what works for you and doing the best you can to reduce the impact you have on the earth.
I have come to realize that I cannot abide by the no spending rule I wanted to uphold. I will do reduced spending, which is more realistic. I will do smarter shopping.
Why am I mentioning all this? Well, mom took the kids and I Frenchy shopping yesterday. I wasn't going to buy anything but it was hard. I bought some scrapbooking supplies, books (a bunch of great ones I've had my eye on), a scarf for me (handpainted silk, lovely!), an interlocking squares mat and Mr. Potatohead for the kids. I didn't touch the clothes knowing how much we had just gotten rid of. I'm not going to feel bad. While mom was doing her retail shopping, I brought the kids to the playground. I really could have done without getting the kids a toy but I thought the compromise of one toy was better than the dozens they were bringing to me while we were there.
I have been reading a lot lately about The Compact. I'm surprised I haven't mentioned it lately as I find it so facinating and it gave me the inspiration to go ahead and simplify my life, even though I don't feel ready to commit yet. I first heard about it on the Mothering message boards.
Links:
Basically:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- To go beyond recycling in trying to counteract the negative global environmental and socioeconomic impacts of disposable consumer culture and to support local businesses, farms, etc. -- a step that, we hope, inherits the revolutionary impulse of the Mayflower Compact.
- To reduce clutter and waste in our homes (as in trash Compact-er).
- To simplify our lives (as in Calm-pact)
#1 Don't buy new products of any kind (from stores, web sites, etc.)
#2 Borrow, barter, or buy used.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I couldn't find the exceptions on the blog but I may not of looked hard enough. I think some of the exeptions would probably include items that fall under the category of health and safety, food, possibly crafts and things needed for livelyhood (example, if you need clothes or footwear for work). I would say some homeschooling items would have to fall in the category of need to buy but some may debate that. I think it is a matter of finding what works for you and doing the best you can to reduce the impact you have on the earth.
100 Mile Diet
I have been facinated by this since hearing about it. I know we could never abide by it since where we live, nothing is produced. Ok, we could live off seafood and berries, maybe a few other things that may be at a local farmer's market are grown locally, but nothing sustainable. We live in an apartment which makes it hard to grow things (although we are trying our hand at a little this year). I applaud anyone who can make it work.
Link: "Official" Site (you can preorder book here)
100 Mile Diet
There is so much more to food than we know about. I have learned a lot from one of my email homeschooling groups about what our food producers can get away with. It's scary but it really gives you food for thought (ha ha!). It reaffirms why I want to get away from all the processed food. Of course the simple ways I seek to hold to requires that I don't waste what I have. What I buy from now on will be more wholesome and closer to what God created for us to eat.
Link: "Official" Site (you can preorder book here)
100 Mile Diet
There is so much more to food than we know about. I have learned a lot from one of my email homeschooling groups about what our food producers can get away with. It's scary but it really gives you food for thought (ha ha!). It reaffirms why I want to get away from all the processed food. Of course the simple ways I seek to hold to requires that I don't waste what I have. What I buy from now on will be more wholesome and closer to what God created for us to eat.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
A First
For as long as we have been married and had our own place, DH and I have always put out garbage and recyling. This is the first week we never put out a single bag. Yay for us! Our garbage bag was maybe a quarter full, paper was the same and other recyclables was about a third full. I was so pleased. We did, of course, put out compost. We do all week long or there is bit of an, errr, stink problem.
I tried scrubbing the floor with with Dr. Bonners (peppermint) in hot water with a splash of vinegar and a little lemon essential oil. I don't know what I did wrong but it stunk! Even before I added the lemon it smelled bad. I wasn't happy with how it worked at all. I ended up spraying the floor as I scrubbed with my orange lysol/vinegar/water concoction because it didn't work well either. I'll have to figure out what I'm doing wrong.
I did end up doing some grocery shopping this week, but spent way, way less than I usually do. I'm going second hand shopping with mom and the kids, but I don't expect to buy much, if anything. We never do anything together so it was hard to say no. I have my cloth bags ready to go just in case :)
I tried scrubbing the floor with with Dr. Bonners (peppermint) in hot water with a splash of vinegar and a little lemon essential oil. I don't know what I did wrong but it stunk! Even before I added the lemon it smelled bad. I wasn't happy with how it worked at all. I ended up spraying the floor as I scrubbed with my orange lysol/vinegar/water concoction because it didn't work well either. I'll have to figure out what I'm doing wrong.
I did end up doing some grocery shopping this week, but spent way, way less than I usually do. I'm going second hand shopping with mom and the kids, but I don't expect to buy much, if anything. We never do anything together so it was hard to say no. I have my cloth bags ready to go just in case :)
A Carload
Here we have a car load of clothes that are being taken away and donated. There are 6 garbage bags! Including the clothes that I have saved to give to people, this means 8 huge garbage bags of clothes have left my house in the past week. Whoo hoo! The decluttering is underway. Now DH and I have to go through our clothes and pare them down. The kids are given a lot of clothes. Poor mommy doesn't even get to buy them clothes anymore. Now less laundry fo me to do, yay!!
Monday, April 23, 2007
Bathroom BS
Baking soda is marvelous in the bathroom. I have been using it to wash my hair with for the past week and my hair has never been better. As a test, I went 4 days without washing my hair and it did not get greasy at all (a big problem with my hair). It feels thicker (I have thinning hair), it is not falling out by the handfull anymore and is easier to deal with. I'm so excited!
I've also concocted a "pit paste" to use as deodorant. I mix a couple of drops of Burt's Bees baby almond oil (left over from when the kids were babies) with some baking soda, rub into arm pits and it makes a very effective deodorant. It even stands up to working out and hot days with no odor. I love it! The rock deodorant used to crack my sensitive skin so I was wary of using it but I think I am sold on my new pit paste :D
Baking soda can be used for teeth but I am not ready to give up my cinnamon toothpaste. I don't like how baking soda feels in my mouth but I will switch when the toothpaste is gone.
Cloth TP is going great. I have an embarassing confession. I usually go through a roll of regular TP in a day. Two days for a double roll. I go a lot. The good news is our roll of toilet paper has been on the roll for over a week and it is still more than half full. The rest of the family uses it so it's kind of embarassing that I was using so much. I'm so glad I can prevent all that from being flushed down! Now to convert the rest of the family!
I've also concocted a "pit paste" to use as deodorant. I mix a couple of drops of Burt's Bees baby almond oil (left over from when the kids were babies) with some baking soda, rub into arm pits and it makes a very effective deodorant. It even stands up to working out and hot days with no odor. I love it! The rock deodorant used to crack my sensitive skin so I was wary of using it but I think I am sold on my new pit paste :D
Baking soda can be used for teeth but I am not ready to give up my cinnamon toothpaste. I don't like how baking soda feels in my mouth but I will switch when the toothpaste is gone.
Cloth TP is going great. I have an embarassing confession. I usually go through a roll of regular TP in a day. Two days for a double roll. I go a lot. The good news is our roll of toilet paper has been on the roll for over a week and it is still more than half full. The rest of the family uses it so it's kind of embarassing that I was using so much. I'm so glad I can prevent all that from being flushed down! Now to convert the rest of the family!
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