Search Results for: blog tips for recycling magazines

Recycling Coffee Grounds

I’ve written about recycling a lot of things – blue jeans, magazines, but here’s something most people just throw in the trash – coffee grounds. But, before you toss those grounds, think of some of the ways they may be reused. Why would you want to find a use for old coffee grounds? When they break down, they release methane, which is a more powerful gas than CO2. If you need to dry the coffee grounds for later use, spread them out on a cookie sheet and sit near a sunny window to prevent molding. You can use coffee grounds … Continue reading →

Tips for Recycling Magazines

If there is one thing we get in this house, it is a ton of magazines each week. Hardly a day goes by when we don’t get one and most days it is more than one. Considering my love for pop culture, I have to have my weekly People, Entertainment Weekly, Star Magazine, and Enquirer plus I get Ladies Home Journal, Readers Digest and that’s not even taking into consideration the magazines my husband and son get! Call me old fashioned, but I still like my magazines in paper form rather than reading them online. I know it isn’t very … Continue reading →

Cleaning Out the Car

You know that things are bad in your car when a ten-year-old complains that it is gross. We have had a couple of strange weeks, so my normal policy of having everyone grab at least three things that don’t belong each time they leave the car just wasn’t working. I hit the last straw yesterday when two things occurred: my daughter pulled out an old and yellowed cheese stick from behind a seat, and the carpooling kids didn’t want to put on their seat belts because they were afraid of all of the crumbs. “They are huge crumbs. It isn’t … Continue reading →

Reducing Paper Clutter

Today I have some tips for dealing with paper clutter. I don’t know about you but it seems that the more paper I get rid of the more there is! The first thing I did was take steps to eliminate the amount of paper I receive. You can register on the Direct Marketing Association website, dmachoice.org and the Consumer Credit Reporting Industry’s website, optoutprescreen.com to remove your name from lists for mailing and credit card offers. Then call you card issuers and ask them not to send you things like balance transfer checks, you can request them if you need … Continue reading →

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I’m a bit of a recycling nerd. I like to feel like I’m doing my part, I haven’t quite figured out how to reduce the amount of trash we generate so I’m trying to recycle and reuse as much of it as possible. Sometimes this simply means looking at things in a different way. There are many things we toss every day that can help us keep our homes a little tidier. The first one being paper towel and toilet paper tubes. How many of these does your family go through in a week? Start saving them, they have many … Continue reading →

To Recycle or Not Recycle, That is the Question

I am all for recycling but if you are like me, sometimes you are just not sure what can or can’t be recycled. The other day, my husband put an empty vegetable can in the recycle bin. I told him I never do that, and then I wondered what my reasoning behind that was. I realized I didn’t have any – I just always put plastic stuff (and the occasional paper bag) in the recycle bin. How do you know what can be recycled and what can’t? One easy way is to look at the label. There is a standard … Continue reading →

The Little Story of a Green Wedding

Andrea Parris and Peter Geyer wanted to get married, but like many couples, they needed money. Oh, they weren’t planning on a $50,000 extravagant wedding, but they did need a reasonable $3,800 to make Andrea’s dream wedding come true. The problem was that Andrea lost her marketing writer job right after the couple had purchased a new home in Spokane, Wash. Worried that she would never be able to afford her wedding, Andrea woke up one night with a great idea – aluminum cans. She woke Peter at 1 a.m. and told him of her plans. She wanted to collect … Continue reading →

How to Easily Recycle

One obstacle to recycling may be actually finding the time and remembering to do it. But recycling is worth the little bit of extra effort, because it can reduce your garbage and leave you making a smaller imprint on the earth. Here are some tips on how to make it easier to recycle. One snafu that I keep running into is remembering to put the recycling out for pick up. Our company comes twice a month to gather our recycling. One of my neighbors is much better at remembering, so I ask him to remind me the day before. Circling … Continue reading →

Dealing with School Fundraisers

If you have school-aged children (or even children in pre-school), be prepared for an onslaught of fundraisers coming in to your home this year. From $15 rolls of wrapping paper to $25 tubs of cookie dough, the items for sale are not cheap. And the fundraising companies and schools are making it harder than ever to opt out or get away without paying a small fortune during the year. With diligent use of our resources, we can buy an entire week’s worth of groceries for the cost of one overpriced frozen dinner option. We have a policy at home that … Continue reading →

Reducing Your Trash 2

Here are even more ideas to help you reduce the amount of trash that comes out of your home. You’ll save the environment, and you may even same some money, too. If you missed the earlier article on reducing your trash, called, aptly, Reducing Your Trash, click here. And now, let’s continue with tips for reducing your trash. Buy concentrated products that need to be diluted before use, such as cleaners, laundry detergents, frozen juice, fruit drinks and more. This will save on packaging, since you will be bringing less into your home. Reduce the amount of catalogues and junk … Continue reading →