5 Small Ways you can help the planet

Nobody can save the earth on their own.  It really takes a group effort.

Below are the some easy at home tips that we use at our house, that help us to feel like we are part of the solution and less of a part of the problem.

1.  Reduce your Use of Paper Products.

I belong to a couple of online cooking groups (one one to help with my Ninja Problem) and I cannot get over how many people serve dinner every night on paper plates.  We don't even eat off of paper when we have take out.  Also, every time I have to buy them for something I am blown away buy how much they cost.  By limiting their use you can also save a ton of money.

The same goes for paper towels, now, we do have paper towels at our house, but we have been working on the same 6 pack since before the pandemic started in March.  What we use instead are dishtowels.  I have probably have every  dishtowel that I have bought as an adult and we use those as placements, napkins to wipe up spills, dry our hands, and dry dishes.  I keep a clothes basket in my kitchen and do a load every week, like I would anyway, but now I have a full load.

Paper Napkins.  We have them, we typically only use them when we have guests, we use cloth napkins at home, they go in with the towels, it works out great.

2.  Start Recycling, or get better at it.

Alot of us are already recycling and that is great.  I would suggest every now and then checking your waste management companies website to see what they are accepting to make sure you are compliant and that you are recycling all that you can.

If your waste company does not offer curbside recycling, check with your city or county to see if there is a drop off.  Our waste company does not pick up styrofoam, so we have a box in our garage where we collect it and then once every 6 months are so (we never have very much) to the county and recycle it.

We also added compost to our routine this year, we are lucky that our waste company picks it up, and it really reduces the amount of trash that we throw out each week.  It's just one more can that needs to go out each week.  We compost everything from coffee grounds and filters, to pizza boxes.

3.  Start Using Recycled Bags

My biggest issue with curbside grocery pick up is the bags.  First of all they use a ton of them, and there is no option to use your own bags.  Since, we really like all the other benefits of grocery pickup we have learned to live with the bags, we just collect them and then recycle the at the store once a month or store.  

When we actually go into the grocery store, we use shop and scan, where we scan our groceries as we shop and put them right into the recycle bags.  We are starting to use this option more and more.

They can be easily made by using a old shirt or there are plenty available for purchase at the store.

4.  Use reusable Coffee Cups and Water Bottles.

I make my coffee at home every morning.  It saves me money and time. I have a couple of different usable mugs.  I also have several water bottles that I fill up before I leave the house and refill on the go as needed.  This cuts down on paper coffee cups and bottled water bottles.  These can go along with saving the earth and the budget.

5.  Reuse what you can.

Rethink things before you throw something out 

Old shirts and sweats that are not longer nice enough to wear or donate, can be cut into squares and used as dust clothes and to clean the bathroom.

I also use jars to freeze garlic and peppers.

What are some ways that you reuse products at your house?

xo~Cyn