Newsletter chitchat - October 1, 2024

[Cassel]

There are many ways to be "environmentally friendly". Some things can be done at the community level like recycling, repurposing, and such, but there are other things that we can do, as individuals. Every region in the world likely has some differences in what is available, what is common, and what is not.

What about your area? Your community? Your own household?

Let's share ideas.

[Michele]

Recycle, recycle, recycle! And make sure you clean out your cans and plastics before putting them in the bins. 

Purchase refills instead of brand-new products. For instance, if you use liquid hand soap, don't buy a new dispenser every time you run out of soap. You can do the same thing with many common products.

[Ann Seeber]

I tore up all my late husband's undershirts to use for rags instead of paper towels. Especially helpful for cat barf! 😁 Easy to throw in the wash every week. 

[Ann Seeber]

I just found this on Semafor:

[Ellen Griffin]

Thanks for sharing the paperless towels idea, I mayn just do that as well.....there are towels put out in Walmart, sold in Meijer (USA) that are about 8-12 layers of paper, they are WONDERFUL, they come from Sweden I believe, anyway....they do great in the washing machine, they can be whitened with a bleach product, and used over and over and over:-) I tried them and don't want to be without them. I have one with a state on it, the others flowers and checks, I do have a total of 4, which yesterday came in handy:-) 3 got to be washed in the laundry together:-) LOL so again, thanks for the idea and YAY to your hubby for doing that!!!!

Ellen USA

[Michele]

4 hours ago, Ann Seeber said:

I tore up all my late husband's undershirts to use for rags instead of paper towels. Especially helpful for cat barf! 😁 Easy to throw in the wash every week. 

We always did that when I was a kid. It's difficult for me to toss out old shirts now. 😄

[Ellen Griffin]

That's funny I do that with my husbands because they are great for really yukky jobs, like grease and oil too.....

[Rene Marker]

Mom did the same with dad's worn t-shirts. Most were stained because he worked construction so when the holes got too big, they became rags.

I have in my stack of rags, washcloths that no longer have towels to go with them. I have flat sheets that no longer have fitted mates that I will put in the dog crate or even cover my bedspread (dog sleeps on the bed). My former employer supplied several small hospitals with linen items like bedsheets and blankets. They were taken out of inventory when they got ragged edges. I grabbed a bunch of them for my first 2 dogs.  I still have them and again use them in the dog crates. I also have several old blankets in the pile of stuff to use for the dog. If they get ruined, they then get tossed.

My city has had a recycling program since the 1980's. We have bins provided by the city that we can put some plastics and cardboard/paper in to sit out for pickup on garbage day. Years ago they also collected aluminum and tin cans curbside but no longer do that. However, there are big bins located in town where people can drop those items off. Dad actually made a can crusher that he put on the wall in the garage to crush the beer and pop cans before putting them in the bin. It is still on the wall but I no longer drink out of cans so it doesn't get used.

[Daniel Hess]

Much to Tyson's "horror", we recycle his treats in that we cut them into smaller chunks and pieces LOL.  At the prices that "duck jerky" is going for, it makes sense and lets the bag go ALOT further.  I guess you could say, less of those plastic bags going out with the trash as well. 

[Corrie Kinkel]

So nice to read how you all do a lot of things in the same manner. Where I live we have a village system for most of the garbage. I have 3 big separate bins;  one for garden and kitchen waste that can be composted, one for paper and cardboard and one for rest. There is a pickup scheme when you have to put them a the street curb. Furthermore glass bottles and jars without a deposit have to be taken to big bins that are located in different locations. Plastic packaging, milk and drinks containers/bottles, tin and aluminium cans go all together in a big bag that goes to the same locations but in different bins. All the glass and plastic bottles with a deposit can be disposed of in the supermarkets; since a year all the little drink bottles and tins can be brought there as well and you get your deposit back. Old textile that can't be used for anything else can be disposed of at the same locations where the big bins are. For the rest of textiles there are places where you can bring it and what still is good enough goes into second hand shops for people that can't afford to buy in the regular shops. Of curse we use old towels etc. for dirty jobs and when those are in rags and very filthy they are thrown away. In our old house we had a compost bin and used what came out of it in our garden, but in this house we don't have a garden and on our small patio is no space for a compost bin which wouldn't work anyway because we don't have enough to fill it with.

[cindy harris]

paperless towels😀

[Art Kuiper]

Quite a while ago we bought a single serve coffee machine. There are only two of us so making a carafe of coffee was a big waste. However then coffee machines use coffee pods that are not really environmentally friendly. They are just coffee in a small plastic packages. So I got reusable coffee pods and fill them with coffee. There is nothing to throw away except used coffee grounds and they go in the compost.

The second machine is a soda drink making machine. Now we no longer buy soft drinks in cans; less waste in recycling.

I like the reusable paper towels ideas. Cool to see you husband at the serger.

[Ann Seeber]

6 hours ago, Art Kuiper said:

There are only two of us so making a carafe of coffee was a big waste

There's only one of me and I make a seven-cup pot of Folgers every morning. Trust me, there's no waste involved! 😁 😉

[Michele]

11 hours ago, Daniel Hess said:

Much to Tyson's "horror", we recycle his treats in that we cut them into smaller chunks and pieces LOL.  At the prices that "duck jerky" is going for, it makes sense and lets the bag go ALOT further.  I guess you could say, less of those plastic bags going out with the trash as well. 

Tyson is gorgeous!

 

[Anne Lamp]

I have several of the KONG Classic Stuffable Dog Toys.  I use some of Foxy's dry dog food and mix it with a little bit of leftover (usually) meat and a little water mixed together to stuff them with.  I put them in the freezer and get one out every morning that I go to work and give her one.  Freezing them makes it take longer for her to get all the goodies out.  I started this when she was young and we were working a lot to keep her from being upset when we were leaving.  Boy do I get a dirty look and told off if I almost forget to give her one.  I guess that wouldn't work for a very big dog, but she is only about 15 lbs and not an aggressive chewer.

Edited October 3 by Anne Lamp