In addition to recovering old usable tools from thrift stores (and learning to use them), here's my current re-using list. (I post these hoping that someone in need of a good, recycling-based business idea will run across them!)
- Clothing fabric. Americans throw away an average of 68 lbs of clothing a year. We clothe entire nations in our cast-offs, while buying new ourselves. I was at an event where there were these wonderful, classic patterned quilts. The friend I was with asked about them, they're made in a factory from new materials. There's just something wrong about making a classic quilt from new materials instead of re-using the ones you have...
- Newsprint - Okay, yes. It can be composted ground up into pulp. But what about another use before that? What about turning them into take out containers? (Maybe with a food-based wax coating...)
- Greeting cards. I am experimenting with making wire-bound journals from these, preferably with recycled wire.
- I need a plastic container swap. My local recycling company doesn't take #5 plastic and I have a small box of lidless containers and container-less lids. Seems like someone could collect 'em, match em up, run 'em through a sanitizing dishwasher and then sell them... as used of course.
- This is more of a reducing thing than a reusing thing, but supporting local dairies that still deliver milk in re-usable glass containers. The market for plastic recycled milk jugs is incredibly, depressingly small.
- On a similar tangent, EcoDragon, which used to make woven hemp shoes without glue, seems to have disappeared. If the plans were available somewhere, it seems like there are fibers that could be recycled into woven shoes.
- CDs and cases. No ideas here, but they're ubiquitous and durable. Seems like something could be done with them... Hey... how about a purse lined with a t-shirt to keep things from falling out? They can be broken, what about cutting or drilling them?
Feel free to continue the brainstorm in comments. (Note: Brainstorming is tossing out ideas sparked by previous thoughts, not the evaluation of ideas. You can do that when you're writing your business plan. ;-) )
I've gotten both of my favorite shopping bags at my local natural foods store (Vitamin Cottage) but they're available on-line too. Not as cheap as re-using plastic or using up canvas bags, but these bags have their benefits too:
The Chico Bag: Made by a company in Chico, CA, these bags are woven nylon and tuck into remarkably small places. They have their own pocket which makes them smaller than a fist and still squeezable. I can keep one of these in my shoulder bag for those impulse purchases at the book store, garage sales, and sidewalk sales. These are $5 each at their on-line shop.
1BagAtATime: These bags combine the best features of the paper bag and the plastic bag. They are square-bottomed, stand up on their own, and have handles. I carried two large bottles of laundry soap in one of these and it was comfortable in my hand. These are $2 each, with a minimum order of 10, at their on-line shop.
I've gotten both of these bags with the logo of the grocery store printed on them, so they have some way to arrange custom printing for stores and organizations.
I've started a war on plastic bottles. Basically my strategy is to re-fill every plastic bottle in my life with the same product that originally came in it. However, there are very few manufacturers, even of green products, that make this easy. Whole Foods does get the bulk bottles of Dr. Bronner's soaps and offers refilling stations in their stores, but there aren't any Burt's Bees or Natural Organics or Zum refills available.
So my latest idea is to brew my own.
I'm looking at taking the Baby/Mild version of liquid Dr. Bronner's because it is unscented, biodegradable and available in large quantities. I'm thinking a gallon might do us fine for a year.
Next, I want to add fragrance oils to match the soaps we're using. That means lavender in the kitchen, frankincense and myrrh in the powder room, and grapefruit and ginger in the bathroom.
The dirt scent is interesting too... maybe I'll take that camping when my almond soap runs out...
Hmm... Nintendo is making rechargeable controllers to replace the ones that come with the Wii.
Or...
.... rechargeable batteries ....
...*in* ....
... the standard controller!
.... Brilliant!
;-)
Tried this last night. It works just fine to power both the rumble pack and the built-in speaker. I had a fine time bowling and playing golf with a friend of mine for an hour or so and the battery level still shows full.
I'm sold on these batteries. Have I said that already? What I don't get is why companies go to such an effort to hide them. At Home Depot, they're on one side of one of the register endcaps. That's in contrast to at least a dozen displays of the consumable kind.
At Circuit City, batteries are on a kiosk tree, and the rechargeable ones are all hidden on the side that faces the wall. And then access is blocked on one side by a sign. It's a really clear sign that these companies make a bunch of money off battery purchases and they're not interested in promoting alternatives.
Okay, this is related to smaller living in an extended way... I'm both tall and plus-sized. This makes finding clothes to sweat in a bit of a pain. Last year at a customer survey section with REI, I complained about their lack of extended sizes. Looks like maybe they heard that from more than just me. They now have a section on their website devoted to extended women's sizes! You cannot believe how happy I am to imagine that there might be zip-off cargo pants in my size!
Once upon a time, a long time ago, my dad brought home a battery charger. This was when batteries were transitioning from carbon to alkaline. And I remember being disappointed in how sorry the charge was from a rechargeable.
But I've been thinking of all the ways that re-chargeable are part of my life today... my cell phone, my cordless phone, my laptop at work, my iPod ... all things that use rechargeable batteries that I don't think twice about.
So, what about those rechargeable AAs (flashlight, camera) and AAAs (led headlamp, calculator)? Now that I have gone through my ultra-mega box of AAs from Costco, I picked up an Energizer compact charger
from Office Depot ($21+tax).
I put the AAs on to charge last night. They charged overnight and went in my camera this morning. I'm shooting RAW format at 7.1 megapixels and my camera sucks batteries dry. It will be interesting to see how many shots I get and how long these last. The camera behaved like a champ for the 6 shots I took this morning, so I'm pleased so far.
Welcome
NotSoBigLiving is the story of a woman inspired by Sarah Susanka, Bill McKibben, Airstreams, Tumbleweed houses, Mennonites, Jimmy Carter, hippies, survivalists, Anasazi, Pema Chodron and Joko Beck, Scott Peck, Buckminster Fuller, and Al Gore to see what she can do to reduce her carbon footprint in her mid-80's suburban townhome. Strategies include roommates, alternative travel, organic eating, planting a victory garden, mindfulness, and a belly full of laughter.
meter in the mail on Monday and finally had a chance to test it out tonight. I took pictures of four lighting combinations in my bedroom.
