Here at ECOtionally we have an upcoming 1️⃣ week recycling challenge ♻️ (the week of July 7 to July 14 2019). For the time being it’s limited to our local community, However, depending on its success, we will be looking at expanding it in the future (of course there’s loot for the lucky participant whose name is drawn). I’ll be participating along with everyone – after all it’s not right for me to ask people to go beyond what’s normal for them, if I don’t do the same. We can all do better, so I’ll be looking closer at ways I can continue to make a difference as well 💯
Every small steps makes a difference in what makes it way to the landfill and what doesn’t. From the things we choose to buy to the way we choose to dispose of them.
Sometimes we have stuff we already have and just toss them out, and/or hopefully recycle ♻️ them. But the other aspect of the slogan “reduce, reuse, recycle” is REUSE — I’ve been focussing a bit more on how I can personally reuse stuff I already have.
Here are some of those things. Some I’ve been doing forever and others I just implemented – take a look at the pics below.
I reused this glass candle 🕯 jar from Bath and Body Works to burn my new beeswax 🐝 candlesDo these look familiar? I bet we’ve all purchased dozens of these delicious smelling candle for IKEA (see next photo)I reused them and they are now perfect cups for drinking, or making my chia pudding in.I switched from pre-packaged tea to loose leaf tea ☕️. Did you know that pre-packaged tea bags contains small plastic pieces❓ Yep, several tea bag brands use polypropylene, a sealing plastic, to keep the tea bags from falling apartI had this room spray bottle and hand soap bottle. Instead of tossing them in the recycling bin, I opted to reuse them. I refilled the room spray with water and my fave essential oil. I buy the refillable hand soap and just reuse the bottle. 2 more things that I could reuseI choose to reuse the containers they give us for takeout 🥡, if I can. If not, they get recycled. Why not? We can all use an extra container or jar. The one was from Boston Pizza (which I love cause the top says “please recycle ♻️ this container”). And the jar was from a mini jam I bought. Did you know that only 9% of the world’s plastic actually gets recycled!I repurpose old towels by making them into rags or dish cloths. It gives them a second lease at life and it keeps them from heading to the landfill. When my kids were younger, I’d repurpose their old clothes into rags – I even made them Nike dishcloths in an attempt to get them to clean more 😂. Did you know – The U.S. alone sends about 21 billion pounds of textile waste to landfills every year? And sadly, only 10-15% of donated clothing actually ends up in the secondhand market.
I reuse paper 📝 At work and at home I make sure that I use both sides of the sheet before recycling it. It gets double the life that way (and saves a bit of money 💰). I make my scrap paper into what we Frenchies call a “cahier” and when they’re all used, I recycle ♻️ it.
I reuse my dryer sheets. Recently I was thinking I hated these being tossed and decided I’d try to reuse it. As it stands, I typically use dryer sheets twice. But this 3rd time. I decided to add some off my fave essential oil and use them. Worked wonderfully. Clothes smelled nice and it still kept away the static. I think I’ll keep going with this one. UPDATE: I just purchased an ECOegg Dryer Ball 🙂
Show or tell us some of the things you’re reusing at your home or work. We’d love 💗 to see and perhaps implement
Hello and welcome to my blog!
I never really thought about starting a blog much before recently, I mean … what did I have to say or offer that would have anything of value? I’m not an expert in decorating; I just have an eye for it. I’m not “The Nanny”, but I am the mom of two lovely, beautiful, driven young women. I can speak to topics such as coming up through the lower ranks of the social financial system, being a teen mom, being an empty nester at 42, highlight some trials, tribulations and exaltations and about how I created a life for myself that I am happy with beyond measure. It wasn’t much before a friend of mine said “you should write a book” that I gave some serious consideration to blogging.
My goal, really, is to provide and share some of my experiences, create dialogue and maybe help a few people out along the way.
I welcome your comments, questions and ideas about what you’d like to chat about.
Namaste,
T xo
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2 thoughts on “ECOtionally: How We Reuse Items!”
I am a Chinese junior high student, my school organizes an activity about reuse items every week, but I don’t have time to participate it all the time. My classmates used boxes to make useful things.
I am a Chinese junior high student, my school organizes an activity about reuse items every week, but I don’t have time to participate it all the time. My classmates used boxes to make useful things.
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Excellent work Ken! Keep it up. Thanks for following 🙂
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