Sunday, April 22, 2012

EARTH DAY 2012


NOTE; THIS IS A RE POST FROM 2009
The amount of rubbish we create is constantly increasing because increasing wealth means buying more products, Increasing population means more people on the planet to create waste. New packaging and technological products contain materials that are not biodegradable.


 
Yesterday my blogging brain waves were triggered by the container we keep the gum in. The trigger said, HEY do your blog on Recycling.
You KNOW what came Next! As I opened and shut drawers and cabinets, pulling things out and snapping away, my husband said ?What are you DOING?" and as I continued the hunt, I mumbled "blog on recycling".
Our gum, tea bags, cough drops reside in plastic containers that deli lunch meat comes in. I keep them and use them for, small left overs, beets and squash. Why buy expensive plastic containers when almost every thing we buy these days comes in some kind of container.
Our cabinets and garage are full of Plastic Coffee Cans, which contain Sugar, Grits, Flour, DVD's and CD's and in the garage, clothes pins, screws, JUNK,

Small things like paper clips fit in a recycled lunch meat box and fits in the drawer
My drawer organizers are business card boxes, I use the top and the bottom, sit them in the drawer and the bigs ones hold tape and larger items, the small ones hold really small items, one box does double duty. I also use cheese boxes because they are strong. I have one business card box that holds OTHER peoples business cards.


The dog cookie jar is a pickled beet jar and the Cool Aid containers....we drop our change in a recycle vase on top of the chest of drawers, and then store in the cool aid jars. You say you don't drink cool aid? neither do we, but we have friends that do. this started when my husband was wade fishing and asked Lynn for a couple of these jars to tie string on and hang on his belt to keep his flies and other fishing gear in, tied to his waist they float. She kept giving them to him and theywere so nice and cute, i started looking for other ways to use them.




44 pounds of dog food, fits nicely in three 5 gallon buckets that the pool chemicals come in. We use these bucketsfor planters in my husbands bucket garden. at this time we have 3 trees and 2 pineapples growing in buckets. we use them for mopping the floors, washing the cars, watering plants.

PLANET EARTH NOW HAS 7 BILLION PEOPLE ON IT. THINK WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF EVERYONE THROUGH THESE THINGS IN THE POST IN THE TRASH, 7 BILLION JARS OR BOTTLES OR CANS
Our world is in danger of becoming completely buried under a sea of plastic. Give me your ideas for recycling.........maybe I may have missed something. If you don't recycle, consider it.

ALSO: think of all the MONEY I have saved reusing things I have already spent money on........

27 comments:

EG CameraGirl said...

We live in such a throw-away society! Yes, recycle would help the planet a lot.

Ruth Hiebert said...

Great ideas. I try to recycle as much as possible.

Catherine said...

Some really great ideas here Sandra!

Happy Earth Day!
xo Catherine

Amy Burzese said...

I'm trying to get rid of plastic too. Jars even for some things in the freezer. We need to start taking reusable bags to the grocery store. It's such a waste and those bags are everywhere you look.

Your header is beautiful!

crafty cat corner said...

My thought is that if the manufacturer's didn't pack everything in plastic in the first place we wouldn't have it to recycle.

When I was young we used paper carrier bags, everything came in tins or cardboard packets. Meat was wrapped in paper as was fish etc. Biscuits were sold loose by the pound, bacon was cut as you wanted it, I could go on.,.,
Scrap food was fed to the pigs and collected weekly.

Silver foil was used to help the buy guide dogs.

Most fabric was natural and went to the rag man.

I don't believe its our fault, we have no choice but to buy items in these non recyclable containers.

I also don't believe the those in charge are truly worried about recycling or they would be doing a lot more to change things.
They simply like to make us little ants at the bottom of the heap feel guilty and take all of the responsibility.
There.....had my rant.
Briony
x

photowannabe said...

I try to recycle too. All those plastic containers that goodies come in are perfect for holding other things.
I say bravo to you for the passionate way you recycle.

Ginny Hartzler said...

First, to your other post below, the last one, really??? I KNOW you must have taken lots more pictures!!! It might be my favorite of the series. I love the first picture, and the granny taking pictures, wonder why she is snapping when she is one of the actresses? I love the old and new side by side that you show!! Never heard of a Lotus, who makes them and where? Another favorite is that thing on the man's hip, is it a small bible? Don't know how you got such a clear shot of that. Now about this post, I do partly remember it, I have seen the pool buckets and the cute Kool-Aid jars, they are adorable and enough to make me buy one just for the bottle! You are being green, recycling, but still things are pretty!!!

Unknown said...

Wow I love your header !!!!!!
Great Post. Have you seen the news reports about the debris field in the Pacific Ocean, coming from the Japanese Tsunami. It is headed for the west coast of the U.S.A.

theconstantwalker said...

Wonderful to see you doing your bit Sandra... Polythene was first discovered in my little town in 1934.
The plastic bag is our fault.

Deb said...

Awesome post Sandra

DawnTreader said...

I reuse some kinds of packages like that too for sorting and freezing things in, and the rest go to recycling. We have public recycling containers for paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and tins in every neighbourhood; there is one such recycling station close to the nearest small store where I live.

Marie said...

Your header is Beautiful!!!Fabulous ideas Sandra! I don't like throwing containers away. We use them everywhere in the house, garage and outside. Every little bit helps. :)

BlueShell said...

I do recycle! I use yogurt glass recipients to save coins, or sugar, or ... many other things.
And you are correct: the planet is in danger! Not one country...But the planet! This problem concerns to each one of us!

GREAT POST!

Hugs

BShell

Val said...

This was a great post. I try and do as much recycling as possible. We used the cloth grocery bags...did you know target gives you .05 cents per bag!! don't buy bottled water either, we use the canteens. We need to do whatever we can to help Mother Earth...
Oh and that junk floating around in the Pacific is HUGE!!!

RoeH said...

I'm all for it. Even though I'm sitting here drinking a bottle of water. :(

jp@A Green Ridge said...

LOL! Sandra, I use my business card tops & bottoms too!!!! We do have a lot of the same learnings!...:)JP

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

All very good ideas- we reuse all sorts of plastics, from cat food buckets to coffee containers.

barbara l. hale said...

Terrific blog! I have been making every effort to cut down on buying and using plastic. Recycling is second nature to us in our house but I know we can do more. Earth Day every day!

S. Etole said...

I've been recycling here for awhile too. Lots of good ideas you have shared.

Leontien said...

I am still amazed by the American mentality sometimes, you have Earth Day but i have not seen one person here that i know (in rural Indiana) that recycles even their cans or paper or plastic. In the Netherlands we were doing this already 3 years before...? In Europe we think America is the front runner in a lot of things but since we moved here it am not always sure that that is the case.

BUT every little bit helps and i think you did a great job!!!

Big HUGE hugs
Leontien

Chatty Crone said...

You make some great points here. Gosh you are sure organized - I thought I was, but ....I do try but have to admit I am not this good. sandie

Angela said...

Great post Sandra! I wish we had recycling close to where I live but they don't. When I lived in Maryland in an apartment complex I did recycle everything that you could recycle.

I will say that I have a bunch of the reusable shopping bags that I shop with so I don't bring home a hundred plastic bags! I love using them too.

I try to reuse as much as I can. I used to reuse empty pill bottles until they changed the shape of them.

Betty Manousos said...

great post! you're sure super organized. i am not this good on organizing things, i'm afraid.

thanks for the very good ideas you're sharing with us.

xx

Rose said...

The one thing I always think about is when I am canning, I think if every one canned, all there would be to throw away is the little dome lid...and my mom always saved the plastic bags stuff came in such as bread, and used them as freezer bags.

Ann said...

I try to reuse as much as I can. Those kool-aide containers are great for sorting craft supplies and the deli containers I save for leftovers. It's unbelievable how much disposable things there are these days.

LC said...

Liked your ideas then and definitely worth a repeat.

Cranberry Morning said...

Sandra, that's a great post! I also think that when this country falls off 'the fiscal cliff' and lands at the bottom, we'll be glad we kept the Walmart bags to use for trash bags, rather than just throwing them out, and using items for things other than what they were designed. By the way, doesn't it just kill you all the plastic packaging that surrounds one measily ink cartridge or SD card for the camera!! Even the Iverhart tablets that come from the Vet's office are packed in foil and then in a box, when they could simply be placed in a medicine bottle that could be refilled!