In focusing on being good stewards, I’m thrilled to have Katie from Nourishing Simplicity here sharing 9 Ways to Waste Less
In this day and age modern societies waste so much. Americans generate 250 million tons of garbage every year. The amount of generated waste has nearly tripled since the 1960s.
We have come so far from how our society was just 100 years ago, when most foods came from the farm and there was little to no packaging.As a part of good stewardship we need to do our best to care for the world that God has given us to live in. It is one way of honoring him by caring for our environment. I want to share with you today some tips that my will help you waste less and save money at the same time.
9 Ways to Waste Less
1. Cook From Scratch
When you cook from scratch you are using less packaged products and saving money that comes from buying costly prepared foods. You will notice an improvement in you budget, amount of waste and health. Not to mention that it just tastes better too! Your family will thank you for it.
2. Buy in Bulk
This is a great penny saver. Buying in bulk can mean less packaging and less trips to the market for those items that you forgot a few days before, using less gas. I buy all my grains and legume in bulk, they come in brown paper bags that can recycled or composted. There are many wonderful co-ops that sell products in bulk for an amazing price. I buy all my bulk items from Azure Standard. I get a much better deal on all my items that I buy from them than I do going to the health food store and buying from their bulk bins.
3. Recycle
What you can and can’t recycle really depends on where you live. My parents who live in California have an amazing recycling program in their city. You put everything in one bin and the city picks it up every other week and sorts it all themselves. While my aunt who lives in Missouri has to separate her recycling herself and take it to a recycling center. Or maybe like me, living in Mexico where there is little being done. There is one place that I’ve heard of that recycles soda pop cans. I don’t drink soda or use many canned products so I don’t worry too much about them at this moment. If you do have cans there are fun ways to reuse your cans to make candle holders, candle molds, Christmas decorations and pen holders. All sorts of craft projects that your kids will love.
4. Cloth Diapers
Cloth diapers are a wonderful way to waste less and save a pretty penny. They are also great for your babies bottom as well! The are approximately 3.4 million tons of used diapers being added to landfills yearly, that take years to decompose. Not to mention the amount of harmful chemicals used to make the diapers the are constantly rubbing against your baby’s skin.
You can spend up to $1,600 in two years on disposable diapers for one child. While the initial cost may be more (about $300) to buy cloth diapers they will last you through at least two children. The cloth diapers of today are so much better than the ones our parents used, with safety pens and leaky plastic covers. Now cloth diapers are cute, easy to use, leak resistant and absorbent. bumGenius is a great brand.
5. Reusable Feminine Products
The average woman throws away up to 15, 000 tampons, pads and applicators in her lifetime. Most of which end up in land fills or incinerated. Though a large portion are flushed and pass through the sewage plants and into the oceans. Just like disposable diapers, disposable pads and tampons contain many toxins and chemicals.
One brand of reusable cloth pads that are popular is GladRags. There are many other brands that look great too, they are all fairly expensive, but when you compare the cost of how much you spend on disposables you save in the long run even if the initial cost is more. I have never personally bought them but they sound very good. I bought some a couple years ago from a woman online and then made some of my own. There are also menstrual cups that are very comfortable and allow you to completely do away with tampons, such as the Diva Cup. To read more about the harm from using disposable pads and tampons click here.
6. Composting
Starting a compost pile or bin is a great way to use up most of your food scraps equalling less in your garbage can. Plus you get the added benefit of adding nutrients into the soil for your garden. Don’t have a garden? Ask your neighbors if they would like your compost. Any gardener will say yes to free organic compost. Want to send any my way? 🙂 Holly has some great tips on how to start a worm compost bin.
7. Stock
Saving bones and egg shells to make stock is a great way to add calcium and other important minerals to your diet. When you’re done making your stock add the bones and shells your compost pile/bin.
8. Plastic Shopping Bags
While I prefer to use my cloth or canvas bags for my shopping my friend Britt and her husband Danny have great ideas on reusing plastic shopping bags. They make shoe soles, bags and wallets out of fused plastic shopping bags. Not that either of us encourage using plastic bags but if you or anyone you know has them why not put them to use, instead of throwing them in the garbage.
9. Feed Your Chickens Scraps
I would like to let my chickens roam free allowing them to eat bugs and grass but where I will right now that isn’t possible. Often I give my hens vegetable scraps and grass clippings. They are a wonderful addition to the grains I feed them.
What are ways you like to be a good steward and waste less? I’d love to hear your ideas!
Katie blogs at Nourishing Simplicity. Her first love is Christ and she strives in all things to be conformed into his image. Often called a health freak or hippy the terms fit her desires to live green and use foods the way God created them. You will find Wonderful Recipes and Natural Remedies and cleaning ideas on her site.
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I can vouch for #4-there really are some great reuseables out there, and when parents are done, they can give/sell them too! Also, for #5, you can also find reuseable sea sponges online (in place of tampons) Great list! (btw, I live in a “hippie town” and you, Katie, are no where near “hippyness” lol 😉
Sea sponge, I might try that sometime……
Waving a flag for number 5 – we all need to encourage other women to think natural here. I’m a big fan of the femme cup! Found you on Frugal Days Sustainable Ways blog hop and am your newest follower. 🙂
I love my feminine cup! I cannot even think about going back o the other stuff. I was always so afraid of leaks when I was at work.
Glad you stopped by 🙂
Great ideas! I would love for you to come over to my blog hop and share this and other posts there!
http://countrifiedhicks.blogspot.com/2013/02/mondays-with-countrified-hicks-blog-hop.html
Thanks for the great tips! We’ve done quite a bit of these things and they do help so much. It’s always great to keep encouraging others to watch how many items they use so we can cut back on our garbage. Thanks again for the ideas!
Thanks! I am certainly all for cutting back on garbage!
My mother has just started recycling, at age 89. She has been amazed to find that she has no trash for pick up every week. She only has enough for a plastic grocery bag about every 2 weeks. Eggshells and coffee grounds go in flower beds. Any food scraps go to the birds and cats. It’s a whole new adventure for her. She gets it now about how much we send to the landfil.
That sounds pretty awesome! Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Good for her!