My county has a great recycling program. They recycle almost everything and you don’t have to sort it either! One of my goals this year is to reduce our household waste and recycle more. There are a few ways I hope to accomplish this goal.
Last week my husband headed to the county dump and picked up our free recycling bins. We now have four bins and one trash can. I had planned on getting another trash can this week to make a compost bin, but my two trips to the hospital delayed those plans.
My four recycling bins.
We have a garbage can inside the kitchen that we usually fill every day. My goal is to turn this bin into our indoor recycling bin, and reduce our waste to a small bucket under the sink. I would like to decrease our use of paper plates, napkins and paper towels as well. I have some fabric that I plan to use to make simple napkins, I already have tons of towels for rags, and the paper plate thing might have to be put on hold as I am now on modified bed rest until further notice. If my kids and husband are taking over most of the from scratch cooking the least I can do is go easy on them with dishes!
As for now, I need to set up my kitchen so this plan will work. The area under my kitchen sink is nasty (I’ll spare you a picture!) but it needs to be cleaned out so I can make room for clean rags, dirty rags, and a small garbage bin. If I could reduce my garbage to one bag every two days that would be an improvement! I want to make these changes slowly so that they will stick! I also want to spend as little money as possible implementing these changes.
Goals this week:
- Make cloth napkins
- Purchase garbage can and make compost bin
- Cut up larger rags
- Clean out under the sink to create system
- Find a small garbage pail for under the sink
Next week I hope to share my new system with you and let you know if it is working for our family! For more “green” ideas visit Laura’s blog and join her “litte Green Project.”
If you have any tips on how to make this transition smoother for my family leave me a comment If something worked for you or if it didn’t, I would love to know!
MNKristy says
I like your goals! We switched to cloth napkins last year but the paper plate thing is much harder. Things like pizza and sandwiches just go so much better on paper plates. But I may try to reduce in some of those other areas as well. And I want a composting bin also. How do you do it with a garbage can?
Amanda from Faith, Food and Family says
I’m sorry to hear you’re on bedrest. I know that would be annoying but then again maybe it will give you some needed rest and relaxation.
This is an awesome post! We try to be very careful on paper towel use. I pretty much never buy paper plates though it is nice to use them every now and then.
The cloth napkins are a great idea also. It’s good to be more aware of the amount of grabage we all produce. You know sometimes it can be hard to remember than when we just get to toss the trash out and it “magically” disappears on the trash truck.
God bless,
Amanda
Angel says
We don’t have a recycling program here but we do have a center. My oldest 10 collects cans & gets to keep the money. We do compost though so can I give u a tip? Put the other garbage can (we use a 55gal drum) up on a stand of some kind so you can spin it. We go out there often and spin it to help. The drum has a lid that stays on so that helps to. We got ours for free so I’m sure you could ask around to see if anyone can get you one. Just a thought.
jolyn says
We also don’t have to sort our recycling in Ohio so that really helps. After living in Europe where everything is sorted as naseum that is really nice.
I don’t have any real tips, but I will be curious how it goes for you to use rags vs. paper towels. I, too, have a lot of rags. But there are just so many messes that I want to clean up and never have to touch again and am loathe to use rags that have to be rinsed, etc. I know, I am lazy.
I hope you are resting nicely. I am sure everyone is pitching in as best they can in your household to prepare for a healthy arrival of the newest family member!
Judy says
I hope everything is okay with you and baby. I will be praying for all of you. I know it can be difficult to be laid up. Hang in there.
Laura@HeavenlyHomemakers says
Ooh, I want to make my own cloth napkins!!! Although my boys seem to think that their sleeves count as cloth napkins…
Traci Best says
Last summer I made an effort to go paperless. Our family of five can uses SO many paper napkins and papertowels!
I picked up two packs of white wash clothes at Target. These can be bleached when they get to looking dingy. I use these in the kitchen for dishrags and for things I would normally use paper towels for. Each pack had 12 in it so we have 24 clothes and I keep them in a little basket near where my old paper towel dispenser used to be.
Then we went to our nearby fabric store and I purchased some thin flannel in a couple different designs. (It is very thin, not heavy at all) and I cut those into squares ran a zig-zag edge around each of them. It didn’t take very long at all. We have been using these since about August and they are still holding up well. I expect we’ll get several years out of them before they get to looking really bad. Again I picked a fabric that could be bleached. That makes a big difference.
I still keep a roll of papertowels around (hidden) in case an extra yucky job comes up…like when the dog has an accident or has an upset tummy.
Becky says
I’ll be praying for you on bedrest. 🙁
I was on bedrest last year during pregnancy from week 27 – 32, when the baby came and then spent several weeks in the NICU . . . It was difficult enough w one toddler! I can’t imagine w six children! I’m glad the older ones are pitching in to help!
Hang in there!!!!!
Wendi says
We’re slowly switching to cloth napkins and towels here too. Last year I purchased some inexpensive washcloths (in cute colors) to use as napkins. I keep them folded in a basket in our kitchen. I try to use them as much as possible – and I’ve only had to buy 2 packs of napkins in the past 9 months 🙂
We also have some microfiber cleaning towels – I just need to remember to use them (it’s habit to reach for the paper towels!)
Tasha says
Sorry to hear about the bedrest and hospital trips!
Upstatemomof3 says
Good luck!!! I feel so good about myself when my recycling bin has more in it than my garbage. I try as hard as I can to recycle everything. Hubby is notorious about forgetting to recycle. I am always getting on him about it . 🙂
momstheword says
Toni, only you could be on bedrest and yet still have a bunch of goals that you want to accomplish that week (you sound like me, lol!).
I was on bedrest with my first and my second. My 2nd one kept trying to come early and join the party. I laughed at my my doctor when he suggested I lie in bed and get comfortable for awhile. Yeah, right….you try getting comfortable with that big ole’ tummy!
I’ll be praying for you and hope that you are able to adjust quickly to your downtime!
Ashley says
I hope you are feeling better and that the baby is ok!
We are starting out our new home (we’re in the middle of a PCS) without any paper products. I am so excited about it! i am also refusing to buy cleaning products other than vinegar and baking soda.
Instead of making napkins (I don’t have a sewing machine) I am purchasing the big bundles of washcloths at Target when they go on sale.
I am devoting a drawer to just napkins/towels and keeping a small wastebasket under the sink for dirty ones. I will just wash them with our towels so I am not adding any extra laundry to our routine (the cloth diapers are enough, lol).
Can’t wait to hear how your switch goes!
Shelly says
I love your goals! We’re lucky in that our city has a great recycling program. We try to stay away from disposable products as much as possible (cloth napkins, cloth diapers, and cloth paper towels are big items in our house). I’d really like to get a compost bin going this year!
Serena says
Well, if you weren’t on bedrest, I’d say quit paper cold-turkey, but I think you’re in a place where paper plates and towels are completely justified!
I love #7 Traci Best’s comment above–I keep one roll of paper towels on hand, also. My husband is a paper-towel fiend, so I have to keep an eye on ’em. It might help if I had more cloth napkins, though. I have many rags and even more tea/dish towels, but only a few cloth napkins.
I have a separate hamper (actually a plastic dishpan) for kitchen towels and rags. I throw them in there until there’s enough for a load. It does get a bit smelly…but it’s not noticeable until I empty out the dishpan.
And then I have another separate hamper (small laundry basket) for floor rags, which I let sit until there’s enough for a load, too. Then there’s the diaper wet-bag, and the actual clothes hamper! I have a very small space for laundry, but it works, and I’ve found that having cloth everything is not much more work at all. Even though it adds a bit to the laundry, it’s EASY laundry. I have a nice basket that I throw my rags into, so it’s not like I have to fold them!
I do use paper towels in the bathroom, though. I refuse to use cloth on the toilet.
Daniela says
Our county also allows us to recycle just about everything, and I already compost, so I have very little of garbage. It is just the two of us (most of the time) so it takes me about 1 1/2 to fill one bag and sometimes longer.
I love composting, even though I do find it little more difficult in the city, but it is still possible. There a few important factors you have to consider before you start.
1. You have to pick a sunny spot for your bin. In order for the compost to work, it has to have LOTS of sun.
2. Your bin needs to have a lid, drain holes, and air holes. And it will leak out all the ‘yuk’ so make sure it is not sitting on a nice wooden deck.
3. The compost has to be turned or mixed often.
Once I moved to a city, I decided to actually purchase a compost bin that was going to work well without attracting critters and not be too smelly for the neighbors. Also I wanted to make sure if we had to move, it could come with us. I bought the Tumbleweed Compost at this site: http://www.cleanairgardening.com/ and I love it.
Remember: what came from the ground – can go back into the ground. I do compost almost anything (even meat scraps) but keep the bones out. Instead of a compost starter, I use old dirt from house plants. Your compost needs both greens (most food scraps and grass clippings) and browns (leaves and paper).
The kind of bin you will use and where you have it, will make the difference in how well your compost will work.
Hope it works for you. I love composting!
Daniela says
Sorry – that was suppose to say 1 1/2 WEEKS to fill a garbage bag 🙂
Tiffany says
Hi! I have been following your blog and my family knows when I say “well, I saw this online and…” that most of the time I mean you! (My Mom’s even reading your blog now!). You have some great stuff on here!
I was on modified bedrest with #2, and even more loose “just take it easy just in case” with #3! I’m praying for you and the baby! It is hard, but “laying around all day” can be done.. and I’m sure your older kids will help!
We recently got rid of paper napkins completely and paper towels mostly.. I do more laundry of my kitchen towels and dish rags, but it is worth it! For napkins we use FINGERTIP TOWELS.. the kind my Grandma used to have to dry our hands in the bathroom.. with the little fringe on the end, BUT I bought mine on ebay from a towel seller who seemed to also market them to golfers.. Our kitchen table is wood top with black painted legs, so I got black… no showing spaghetti sauce! 12 for $12 including shipping! They are GREAT!!! nice and absorbent. show no dirt, and I usually wait until they’re all dirty (2 maybe 3 dinners) and then wash them all. I copied the fingertip towel idea from a BBQ restaurant in Texas we went to on a cross-country PCS. It has been a couple months with them, and we love it! instead of folding, we fold in half lengthwise and roll them up.
THANKS for all your great blog ideas!
Sherry says
I’m so sorry you are on bedrest. 🙁 Ugh! I will be praying for you. We only break out paper towels for things like raw meat messes. For our recycling bin, we have to seperate everything so I do this once a week and get the kids to help out. 😀