plastic bread bags are easy,bake your own bread like us breadflour comes in paper and can be composted.Buy your cereals loose at a healthfood store.All in all it`s better for you and the planet.There is always a way round problems.Hope this gives you food for thought.

Plastic containers make good planters or seed starters depending upon size.It doesn't matter what number they are. Containers can also provide storage, seeds, nails, screws, dried herbs etc. Small amounts of styrofoam can be broken up and used in a potting mix for air circulation and drainage. The plastic bread bags are great for homemade bread or wrapping lunches or veggies in.

some thoughts.

As for using the plastic bread bags, make sure you use it with the printed side out. You don't want the chemicals from the inks to get into your food.

The book "The Complete Tightwad Gazette" has lots of recycling ideas in it (your library might have it). They're scattered around the money saving ideas. The best part of the book for me was getting into thinking of reusing everything possible and buying with as little packaging as possible....cheaper for you and better for the environment.

If you do buy stuff in bulk from shops with big bins, be sure and take precautions with it. Freeze it if you can. For some reason those things get weevily faster than stuff in boxes and bags (which I guess is why they started putting it in boxes and bags...)You are going to generate trash. That is just the way it is. Even after the most careful shopping for less packaging, composting, and sorting, you are going to have some extra stuff. There are things you can do with it (Hey, mix it with concrete and make hypertufa...) but at some point there is just going to be something you have to toss. Just do the best you can.

Great Posts all,
I too have problems with those plastics which my area recycling plant does not allow. On the plus side we have a trash to energy plant here in Town so I don't feel as bad. Before anyone posts about burning and pollution the plant is brand spanking new with all the scrubbers and anti-pollution devices the State Of CT can impose on them.
(c:

Thanks for the Ideas and I hope this thread continues for awhile so I can recycle this plastic LOL
Oh by the way..I feed cereral boxes, toilet paper tubes, envelopes, etc to my wormbin.. so far they seem to like it. Smitty

Arts & crafts!

I teach arts & crafts for our city recreation program & I've also taught art in the public schools here.We use lots of containers,foam trays,cardboard rolls,boxes,jars,cans,etc.Many preschools,Sunday schools, etc. have 'wish' lists they send home to parents Budgets don't often cover much in the way of supplies & freebies are always appreciated.

If you don't have kids of your own,consider donating to local schools or community centers - just make sure stuff is clean & sorting it helps too.

I've even used clean plastic bags to stuff little hand sewn pillows = )

hope this helps....

I visited someone who was experimenting with melting plastic in an old electric skillet and pouring the different colors into molds. It worked most of the time, although some burned pretty quickly. The most successful samples were clear plastic pieces that were melted then poured on to a cookie sheet. When they cooled, they just popped right off. I don't know what you could do with them other than artsy things like holiday ornaments. And then those have to be recycled later, right? -- Marie

Watch out for fumes from melting plastics - they can be toxic.

kathy0987654321 - Thanks for the suggestion of the Tightwad Gazette. What a neat book!!

We live on a farm and must haul our own garbage. Really makes you think about what you buy. I recycle as much paper packaging and paper towels, paper knapkins in our large compost pile. I alternate compost with the paper. It:
1: attracts worms which create perfect soil,
2: Greatly reduces the garbage we must haul,
3. Helps to create more precious compost.

I also recycle paper knapkins and paper towels in the bottoms of my pots for starting seeds. It keeps the soil in and later biodegrades when I plant in the garden.

As for plastics. I am trying to reuse as much plastic as plant containers, seed starters. Milk containers/soda bottles are cut to make "collars" that keep the slugs off the seedlings--this works excellently, bTw.

Plastic bleach containers cut into strips make great garden markers to tell you what is planted where. Use a permanent pen.

Styrofoam is just bad news, but I do try to reuse it as much as possible. Meat trays become trays for drying out saved seed or to catch water from pots. I just try to buy as little styrofoam as possible.

Good luck and keep the ideas coming.

What a great thread - there are some amazing ideas in here! It's key to be very particular about what you buy and how it's packaged - I avoid anything with excessive packaging. If it's in styrofoam, leave it in the store!

Do you know anyone who makes candles? Many plastic food containers, and some coated cardboard ones, make excellent candle molds!

Many re-use ideas at the link to follow ...

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/5002/

Hi akjustsew,
I'm always trying to deal with how to recycle things.......but it always brings me back to the fact that the best thing to do is to learn how to have things without ending up with much afterwards. I read in a "Simple living" book once that recycling just eases the consciences of people who are over-consuming. This is so true! It doesn't make me feel any better to make birdhouses out of bleach bottles, etc., because I know that birdhouse will eventually end up in the earth too. So.....I think the key is to learn to not use much that will end up in the earth (or will require alot of energy and still produce waste and toxins......like recycling does).
As was mentioned above, make your own bread (bread machines are sooooooo easy), and buy in bulk.
The post about using paper napkins in the compost pile is good (provided there is nothing bad in them).....but why use paper napkins at all? I bought a bunch of material and made my own re-usable napkins. Then you don't have to worry about the trash generated from paper napkins.
There's lots of good books out on how to make your own cleaning supplies, etc. Yes, this uses plastic bottles too, but at a much slower rate.
Reduce, reuse, recycle.........I think we forget that "reduce and reuse" are so much more important and effective in reducing trash. Good luck, and it's good to see that you are concerned about this!

I like the way this thread has turned towards how not to use the stuff in the first place from "what can I do with..."

I buy a big bag of white shop towels at Walmart to use instead of paper towels and napkins at our house. I don't sort my laundry as we homesteaders don't have fancy wardrobes to worry about so I leave my washer lid open all day and when it is filled up at days end or whenever, including the shop towels, it all gets washed then hung outside to dry with the rest ofo the laundry. (saves bunches on electricity) A bag of shop towels lasts me at least three-five years of heavy use and are very inexpensive.B.

I too like the direction of this thread. :)

I'm not an expert on this or anything but the couple of times composting junk mail or newpapers has been mentioned makes me concerned. It might be prudent to be very careful about using these items in your compost. The ink they contain (yes, even 'soy ink') almost certainly has various toxins in it, including heavy metals.
If you're determined to compost it anyway, then please don't use it near where you'll be growing edibles.

www.dmaconsumers.org has a service that has been around a long time for opting out of having your info traded by junk mailers... it's not perfect, but if you are getting a lot of it, signing their Mail Preference Service will help. Note that it is still free *if* you register by mail.

Here is a link that might be useful: DMA

This post has made for great reading;lots of good ideas.
I live in a subdivision, and am horrified by the number of trash bags my neighbors set out each week. We compost and recycle, and are also careful about what we buy in the first place.
I have decided to cancel subscriptions any magazines that I can read online, or at the local library. It's greatly reduced the amount I take to the recycler's each month.

I remember seeing once, years ago, how people on Pacific islands (where they really have a trash disposal problem - they have to pay to have everything removed by boat) were using gasoline (or was it kerosene? one of those) to melt down styrofoam and used the resulting goo as an epoxy to repair cracks in polystyrene boat shells. With some fabric, layering it with this stuff, they made their own crude fiberglass. I think I saw this in National Geographic. Like I said, it was ages ago ... but if it works on the small scale for poor fishermen, mightn't something like that work on a larger scale? It might be worth experimenting with ... at the very least, on a home scale, you could maybe use it to make containers for planting. I think it would require some research to find out about vapors, which solvent to use, etc., but it has potential.

On another aspect of the problem, a Japanese firm is selling a product called EcoMelt, which is usable for businesses or homes to dissolve styrofoam and styrene products chemically and reduce them to a gel which can be easily stored and takes up far less space than the foam or packaging product. The gel then can be used to reclaim the styrene to make more styrofoam or plastics, or apparently it can even be used as a clean fuel. The company that sells the solvent buys back the gel. Given the Japanese problems with available space (and fuel costs), this could be a very promising technology for them.

So there are answers to the problem. Whether the answers are economical now or will be economical later remains to be seen. (Wouldn't it be something if one day they started "mining" landfills to get styrofoam and aluminum and waste steel?)

Here is a link that might be useful: Japanese Eco-Melt system

Hello ~
I bought ten acres in a rural are twenty five years ago, & have dealt with many of the issues on this forum. I'd like to add my comments re recyclables:

If you find yourself with a lot of non-recyclable 'garbbage' it's often a sign you are eating things that are *not healthful.* These days, most *aware* non-vegetarians now realize the hazzards of corporate-produced meat ~ & the presence of heavy metals, like mercury, in seafood. So either raise some rabbits (easily done, even in the city!), or chickens for meat--or stop buying meat on styrofoam trays!

Change your grocery shopping habits: take shopping bags along--filled with your own reusable plastic bags, etc. Buy in bulk when possible ~ cheaper &, if you buy organic, much healthier & more *delicious.

Re-think products you buy & use in your homes: Years ago I learned that baking soda & vinegar were safe & inexpensive replacements for nearly all household cleaning products! Chemical cleaners are seldom needed & harmful to you & your environment. Baking soda will scrub a tub or sink, remove odors from the refrig, & makes an excellent substitute for toothpaste ~ & now we've learned that fluoride in toothpaste is carcinogenic, it's best avoided ~ & one more item stays out of a land fill. Nothing cleans & shines windows & glass better than vinegar & water; use wadded newspaper to shine the glass! It can't be beat. Once you begin shopping regularly at bulk/health food stores, you'll learn to take along your own jars & containers: for bulk honey, peanut butter, cooking oil, soy sauce, even shampoo & lotions, etc.

Take stock of your recyclables--& one by one--try to replace items by 'bulk buy' or making at home. Years ago I noticed yogurt tubs comprised the bulk of my plastic recyclables. I've since made yogurt at home with organic milk ~ a process that takes only *minutes & requires nothing more than clean jars, a floating thermometer, & a small picnic cooler. Voila!

Now, must head out to replant the strawberry bed!
Just my 2 cents, LOL--
Cheers!

howdy do...three litre plastic juice bottles...cut the bottom out...and they act as small closhes.. and the put them in the earth the other way (neck wedged into the soil well) and they act as watering and feeding channells straight to the rooots of the plant..this works very well with cubits tomatoes and other regular feeders...also good if you havnt got a lot of water...no evapouration wastage..we use icecream containers cut up to mark seedlings with lables..milk bottles as handldled pourers or scooper..but im aware that these things will last a life time and yes we have to chuck far tooooo many out...rrrrr

The problem I have experienced with buying items in bulk is that they end up going bad and the level of waste seems to increse rather than decrease. I hate to interject a sour note, but it is something to be considered.

My fanily spends a lot of time outside our home, active on environmental committees and other local efforts,and between my husband and my involvements, we might have two nights a week home together and we have two small kids. It makes it hard to live a simple life. Sometimes, paradoxically, when we spend a lot of time working with others to forward sustainability in our communities, it is mor edifficult to practice it at home. I don't have time to bake bread!

Lots of great ideas here! One question, though, on replacing paper napkins/paper towels with cloth: is it worth the water we use to launder them? Those of us who live in wet areas tend to be pretty oblivious to the water problem, but its effects are global... I think I'd rather compost the paper.

This is just a thought, though -- I haven't actually done any research or anything. What do you folks think?

Having lived in arid water-short CA for most of my life, water use to launder cloth is a definite consideration. In such places it's somewhat better I think overall to use paper rather than launder cloth. Not just the water use itself, but also the water pollution that results from water use and ecological damage done to the places the water was taken from. Even in water-plenty areas, you'll still get water pollution from soap and detergent.

Couldn't help but notice that many places had water rationing last summer - New Jersey for one, and some communities here in the western WA rainforest even. As our population grows, water will be more and more in short supply - it's a fixed supply after all, and being reduced by pollution and improper use.

This is off topic, but consider a front-loading washer. Gets your clothes as clean if not cleaner in much less water and with much less detergent than a top loader. The first time you wash a load of clothes you probably won't need to add detergent if they were previously washed in a top loader; there's enough soap left in the fibers to suds up and wash the whole load. I think they come out feeling softer once you rinse them out so thoroughly.

They also tend to have very fast spin cycles, which get your clothes very close to dry by the time you take them out. If you use a dryer, you won't have to use it as long. No more 45-minute washes piling up waiting two hours for a load of towels to dry. The dryer takes as long as a load of laundry does to wash. If you hang your laundry, it's still good because your clothes are lighter to carry outside, and they don't take as long to dry.

The only downside is, front loaders are gentle to your clothes. This is also an upside--your clothes last longer! But if you have a new pair of jeans or a new T-shirt that's still fuzzy, it takes like a dozen washes to break them in as opposed to three or four with a top-loading washer. I only know this because I have lots of cats--any new clothing is a cat hair magnet and can't be worn in public until the fuzz is gone!

Why buy rubbermaid or tupperware. I reuse the large glass mayo bottles and plastic peanut butter bottles for leftovers. They store better in the fridge and you can clearly see what's in them.

I really can't say enough about having animals, like chickens, around to eat the waste that would ordinarily be thrown away.

Our family tradition is to wrap birthday presents (for family) in old comics pages or washed, inside out potato chip bags.

Did I mention before that I tear up cardboard from packaging and compost it? That REALLY cuts down on the garbage we have to haul.

In some supermarkets, there is a bakery that sells bread in paper bags, also a meat counter that will wrap meat in butcher's paper. Buying in bulk doesn't always mean buying alot, just dipping out of a bin or barrel, which is not always cheaper. Cost is definitely a factor, front-loading washers are substantially more than the top-loading type, bread machines are pricey, and time is the most precious of all if you have a family and/or are employed. You do the best you can, and if you're not perfect, you alone are not going to sink the boat, right? Anyway, 'missions' that create chasms of 'us' and 'them' we don't need any more of.