Save Money, Zero Waste, Reuse

TIPS

Here are my Top 10 tips in eight categories to help you lower your waste at home. Each section is a condensed version of a posting on the subject, so please follow title links for more information on each section. For product recommendations, please visit the store or follow the links.

Before you start:

• Arm yourself with a reusable water bottle, a couple grocery totes, a few cloth bags and reusable jars and bottles.
• Get your 4Rs right. Refuse-Reduce-Reuse… Recycle only as a last resort.

KITCHEN

1. Welcome alternatives to disposables (paper towels, garbage liners, wax paper, aluminum sheets, disposable plates, cups, etc....): Swap paper towels for reusable rags, swap sandwich baggies for kitchen towels or stainless containers, drop garbage liners all together (wet waste is mostly compostable anyways).
2. Buy in bulk or at the counter (see Zero Waste Grocery Shopping), bring reusable bags (dry goods), jars (wet items such as meat, deli, fish, cheese, oil, peanut butter) and bottles (liquids: oil, soy sauce, shampoo, conditioner).
3. If you cannot find it in bulk, find a supplier (bring your jar to the ice cream shop, a pillow case to the bakery for your bread, or your bottles to the winery/brewery)... or make it ( mustard, salad dressing, hot sauce, jams, OJ, hummus, cookies, canned tomatoes).
4. Shop the farmer's market: they'll take the egg carton and the berries baskets back for reuse. Your veggies will also most likely be free of plastic and stickers.
5. Learn to love your tap water.
6. Use bulk castile soap as a dish/hand cleaner, baking soda as a scrubber (in a stainless Parmesan dispenser) with acompostable cleaning brush (a wooden one with natural hair). Choose dishwasher detergent in a cardboard box.
7. Turn your trash can into a big compost keeper. Use your tiny compost keeper as a trash can (on the market, the sizes for these seem to be reversed).
8. Reinvent your leftovers before they go bad. Go thru yourrecipe binder/box and only keep the recipes that can be achieved with zero waste in mind.
9. Invest in a pressure cooker (halves the cooking time).
10. YOU CAN ALSO... Reuse single-side printed paper for grocery shopping and errands list, use your lettuce cleaning water to water plants, open your oven after baking in the winter (cool your oven, warm your house)...

BATHROOM

1. Use 100% recycled and unbleached toilet paper individually wrapped in paper (if you have solar you could install an electrical washlet to your toilet sit).
2. Use a solution of baking soda/water/lavender essential oil in a spray bottle or an alum stone or straight baking soda (most effective) as antiperspirant.
3. For shaving, (re)use a safety razor and shaving soap (usually wrapped in paper) or Alep soap (found in middle-eastern stores).
4. Refill your bottles with bulk shampoo and conditioner. If your hair is short, you also have the “no-poo” option: rinse your hair, massage baking soda in, then rinse, with vinegar for shine. Or use a shampoo bar. Instead of hairspray, switch to lemon water in a spray bottle (see Recipes). To go longer between washes, substitute dry shampoo for cornstarch (in bulk).
5. For body/face soap, find a package-free solid soap or bulk liquid castile soap. To exfoliate, switch to bulk baking soda oroatmeal for the face and salt for the body. For a mask, switch to bulk clays (French, Kaolin, Bentonite, etc...), mixed with water or apple cider vinegar.
6. Switch from toothpaste to homemade tooth powder (seeRecipes), in a glass parmesan dispenser. And until we see a wooden compostable toothbrush on the US market, there are no right answers out there yet.
7. Reduce your cosmetics and consider homemade substitutessuch as cocoa powder as bronzer and homemade balm that works on eyes, lips, hair and nails (see Recipes) and in lieu of disposable feminine products, invest in menstrual cup andreusable liners.
8. All you need for your nails is a nail clipper, stainless steel file and the homemade balm for moisture and shine.
9. Forget about Q-tips, they are not good for you anyways. Do your research.
10. YOU CAN ALSO... compost hair and nail clippings, put a brick in your toilet tank, collect water in a bucket while your shower heats and water your plants with it, and use zero waste cleaning: microfiber cloths for mirrors, hydrogen peroxide for mold, baking soda as scrub, a mix of baking soda and vinegar as drain cleaner (see Cleaning and Recipes)...

LAUNDRY AND CLEANING

1. Welcome natural cleaning alternatives: bulk castile soap on floors and sinks, homemade all purpose cleaner (seeRecipes), baking soda for scrubbing jobs, and hydrogen peroxide for mildew.
2. Welcome alternative house cleaning tools: a metal sponge on stainless, a wooden brush for light scrubbing, an old toothbrush for hard to reach places and microfiber cloths for everything else (counters, floor, fridge, etc… for mirrors and windows, just add water… no window cleaner needed).
3. Sweep your floors with a boar bristle broom, wash with a wetmicrofiber mop and a few drops of castile soap.
4. Use worn-out clothing items made into rags on your un-washable messes (wax/auto grease/glue/caulk).
5. Buy bulk dishwasher detergent or in a dishwasher detergent in a recyclable cardboard box and use white vinegar as a rinsing aid.
6. Let houseplants absorb toxins and clean your air. Open a window instead of plugging in an air freshener.
7. Laundry washing once a week saves time and dryer energy costs, use eco-friendly laundry detergent, full loads, andcold water cycles as much as possible. Savon de Marseille, dishwasher detergent, lemon or hydrogen peroxide work great on stains.
8. Dry on a line when possible.
9. Iron fewer things and use a homemade starch in a stainless spray bottle (see Recipes).
10. YOU CAN ALSO... find a sustainable dry cleaner (one that offers a reusable garment bag and non-toxic cleaners), compost dryer lint and dust bunnies...

DINING AND ENTERTAINING

1. Remember to bring extra jars to the grocery store when shopping for company (including take-out).
2. Make finger foods for larger parties and consider serving tap water with lemon slices instead of fizzy water.
3. Use ceramic dishes, cloth dinner napkins and cloth cocktail napkins at all times.
4. Avoid the use of serving platters/dishes: When serving straight onto dinner plates, it simplifies, saves water from extra cleaning, and it allows for a plate presentation.
5. Find creative ways to decorate your table with few napkin folding tricks, discarded leaves/branches from the yard, or just seasonal fruit…
6. Reuse empty votive tins (and the wick base) to make new votive candles for company with bulk beeswax and lead-free wick.
7. Stop buying CD and DVD's – download music and videos online.
8. Bring a jar of a homemade consumable, or your favorite bulk item wrapped in Furoshiki as a hostess gift. Give the gift of anexperience as a birthday present.
9. Educate your friends about your zero waste efforts (so they don't bring waste into your home)
10. YOU CAN ALSO... bring your own container for leftovers when dining out, use rechargeable batteries for those remote controls, try living without TV for a while...

OFFICE

1. Refuse, and therefore help stop the madness of the free-pen / free-pencil give-aways.
2. Use refillable stainless pens and pencils, white board markers and highlighters and donate extra office material (paper, pencils) to your public school's art program.
3. Start your personal junk mail war, cancel your phonedirectories, and sign up for electronic bills and statements.
4. Reuse single-side printed paper for printing or making notepads held by a metal clip, reuse junk mail response envelopes and buy recycled paper products, packaged in paper.
5. Ditch the trash can, strive to use your compost and recyclingbins exclusively.
6. Use, Reuse and Request recyclable paper packing materialwhen shipping (incl. paper tape), print postage and addresses directly on your envelopes, use surface mail, use a return address stamp instead of stickers.
7. Reuse paper clips (available in bulk) instead of staples, or astaple-free stapler.
8. Use your library to read business magazines and books, sell your books or donate them to your library for other people to enjoy.
9. Use memory sticks and external drives instead of CD’s.
10. YOU CAN ALSO... use a power strip on your equipment, recycle your printer cartridges and cell phone, donate your unused computer to Goodwill, make paper with double-side printed paper, take unused packing material to your local shipping center...

CLOSET

1. Stick to minimal wardrobes, shoes and purses.
2. Only shop a couple times a year to avoid compulsive buys.
3. Buy mostly second-hand.
4. When buying new, buy quality with minimal tags (leave the shoe box at the store).
5. Be ruthless on fit, if it fits well, you're most likely to wear it.
6. Bring a reusable bag for your purchases.
7. Donate unworn pieces (the most forgiving rule of thumb deadline being one year).
8. Keep some of your worn-out clothes for rags and label the rest as "rags" for Goodwill to recycle.
9. Learn of few sewing tricks (like shortening a hem).
10. YOU CAN ALSO... take it to the tailor to fit it better so you'll actually wear it, and keep a handkerchief in each one of your purses/bags...

MEDICATION

1. Keep only a minimal supply, so you can see what you have.
2. Ask your pharmacy to reuse your prescription jar. It's illegal for pharmacies to refill them in CA, but your state might allow it..
3. Choose tablets (pain reliever, for example) in a glass or at default a plastic jar (usually a recyclable #2), instead of the tablets individually wrapped in aluminum/plastic and a box.
4. Do not buy jumbo size medication jars, they expire way before you can finish them.
5. Choose metal tubes instead of plastic.
6. Invest in a Neti pot: Great to clear out your sinuses with just water and sea salt.
7. Consider a few natural alternatives: a corn silk tea for prostate relief, a senna leaf tea for constipation relief or an oatmeal bath for skin relief.
8. Clean cuts and scrapes with soap and water, forgo the plastic band-aids and let air-dry.
9. Do not use everyday antibacterial products, they make bad bacteria stronger.
10. YOU CAN ALSO... reconsider your true need for vitamins (as opposed to a healthy varied diet) and use sunscreen moderately...

GARDENING

1. Use drought tolerant and native plants, replace your lawn with short native grasses.
2. Make room for compost, pee in your citrus and compost. Consider a worm compost for liquid fertilize.
3. Return plastic containers to the nursery.
4. Find bulk seeds.
5. Give away plants (also, landscaping rocks, fencing, irrigation piping, etc…) that you do not want anymore. Post them on the free section of Craigslist.
6. Find a bulk garden center, and get your dirt, rocks, compost, etc… in reusable sand bags.
7. Consider investing in an irrigation controller with a rainwater sensor.
8. Install rainwater and gray water catchments (check your city ordinances for the latter).
9. YOU CAN ALSO... Keep a minimal and quality tool selection made of metal and wood (which can be repaired more easily)...

Zero Waste Grocery Shopping Save More Money than you think

Zero Waste Grocery Shopping

While I plan on blogging about mylocal grocery stores and the bulk they carry, here is my general guide on Zero Waste grocery shopping:

- Only shop once a week: If you run all your errands on the same day and with a list (written on single-side printed paper or receipts), it saves on gas and impulse shopping. For maximum fuel efficiency, start with the furthest stop.

- Always have a few shopping baskets in your trunk: I like the straw French market baskets (I have lined them with an old sheet to make them stronger). One is filled with cloth and produce bags. I also have a rigid tote that I keep in a corner of the kitchen to store/carry milk and “wet items” jars to/from the grocery store.

- Use 2 sizes of cloth bags (10 of each should do) to transport grains and small items available in bulk (flour, sugar, beans, cereal, cookies, spices, etc…): You can buy these bags in the bulk section of your store (tucked in a dark corner…). Since I had a specific design idea in mind, I made mine from old sheets, with a fabric tie to eliminate metal ties, with their tare stamped on, and with a washable marker handy to note the item number directly on the fabric. I also use laundry mesh bags for produce (the cashier can read produce item numbers through it).

HOW: If your bags do not have a tare (weight of your empty bag) printed on them, they can be weighed at the customer service counter. In the bulk section, you then fill your bag and write its item number either on a tie (trash!) or directly on your bag (better, zero waste). At home, you'll pour your grains in see-through airtight containers. Don’t forget to put your cloth bags back in your shopping basket and car!

- Bring jars (French Le Parfait are my favorite) for wet items such as meat, fish, cheese, and deli from the counter or honey, peanut butter, pickles, etc from bulk: I like to use 1 liter jars for counter items (for my family of 2 adults and 2 kids, I use about 5 x 1liter jars a week: 2 meat, 1 fish, 1 cheese, 1 deli). Obviously life would be easier if we had succeeded in becoming vegetarians, and even easier if we were vegans (have not tried that yet).
HOW: For bulk items, get your jar weighed for its tare, fill it and write the item number on the available stickers. For counter items, simply ask the counter associate to fill your jar with your chosen, meat/fish/deli/cheese (the price sticker goes onto the jar and can be easily removed later). Some ask if your jar is clean, others ask why you’re doing this. After you've gone to the same store and talked to the same associates for consecutive weeks (same day of the week), they'll stop asking questions (see Difficult trip to WF) and you’ll get through shopping faster. Interesting fact: To this day, the Safeway cheese counter has never questioned my jars.

- Bring a large bread bag to the bakery for your bread order: I made a bag from the same old sheet.
HOW: I order my bread from Whole Foods Bakery as soon as I enter the store, I insist on no bread sleeve, and my baguettes bake while I shop. When I am done shopping, they slide the baguettes into my bag and give me one sleeve (for its barcode) to take to the store cashier with the rest of my groceries (make sure you refuse that sleeve! so they can reuse it and be reminded of the unnecessary packaging, see “what can my grocery store do to reduce packaging”). When I I get home, I binge on warm bread and freeze the rest… 15 baguettes every other week (incl. 2lbs of carbs on my belly)

- Refill liter or gallon size glass bottles with bulk castile soap, shampoo, conditioner, soy, vinegar, maple syrup...: I simply reuse empty 1 liter Whole Foods white vinegar bottles (I have not found white vinegar in bulk yet) for this purpose. I bought the gallon size at Rainbow grocery for olive and cooking oils.
HOW: These bottles also need to be weighed before you fill them with your chosen liquid and stick an item number on them. You won't be bringing these along to the store on a weekly basis. Bulk liquids are harder to find than counter products or grains, but once you find your supply, you’ll figure out your household monthly needs and the capacity of bottles needed. Again, the less you use on an everyday basis, the less you’ll need to refill, the smaller your footprint.

- Buy milk that comes in a glass jar: Depending on where you live you can either get it from a local dairy with delivery service or simply find your nearest Straus vendor. I get mine from Whole foods (your regular grocery store does not want to bother with the hassle of bottle redemption). With a recyclable cap and ring, the bottle can be returned to the store and then to the producer for reuse. I like to leave the cap on, it keeps the rinsing water in and reminds Straus to come up with a non-plastic cap.
HOW: If you buy Straus from your dairy aisle, you'll be charged a $1.50 deposit on your grocery bill. When you've drank all the yummy cream top milk, you rinse the bottle, take it back to your store (or any Straus vendor)'s customer service for a store credit slip.

- Bring your jar or cloth bag to a specialty store for a refill, such as ice-cream, candy, dog food: OK, this one is not easy, and will get you the most turn downs. But business in a jar is still business! And many are open to it

HOW: Choose a small business, Rite Aid will not refill your jar with ice cream (they are bound to too many corporate rules, but, hey, that's for the better: I doubt of its ice cream quality anyways). A small family-owned store will most likely accept. My local gelato joint has done so. For health license reasons, they have to sterilize my jar before filling it, which means that I have to drop it off and pick it up a few hours later. It does not come cheap and one cannot binge on ice cream (PMS) at this price, but the ingredients, seasonal flavors and palate excitement are worth every penny.

- Shop at the farmers market for (1) the egg stand who takes back its empty egg cartons, and (2) the sticker free produce!

- Refill your clean empty wine bottles with your everyday wine at a local winery bottling event: We like the reuse screw top wine bottles for this, no corks wasted. I’ll go into detail later about the 2 wineries I found locally, wine refilling is hard to find.
HOW: Research/contact wineries about refilling your bottles. The one winery that we like most, offers a bottling event 4 times a year. This is how they organize it: You are greeted at a table and fill a form, then move to the cashier counter and pay for the amount of bottles that you brought, then move to bottling: bottle line up, wine filling, corking or screwing, and labeling. We forego the latter, unlabeled wine is a more sustainable wine. It’s also a great way to start people talking about Zero Waste at a dinner party.

- Bring a refillable beer jug to your local brewery: some breweries carry them. We only get beer on occasions, when we’re scheduled to entertain beer drinkers, since it goes flat faster than bottled.
HOW: Look for a local brewery that will provide such service. Call around. If you get turned down, your inquiring will at least get them thinking about it. At my local brewery, I choose my beer from a long menu, the bartender fills the jug from the chosen beer tap and I pay for it, all at the counter.

One item at a time, you can "Zero Waste" your grocery shopping too.

Got milk? ... (in a glass jar only, please)

Save Big at Home

TIPS

Here are my Top 10 tips in eight categories to help you lower your waste at home. Each section is a condensed version of a posting on the subject, so please follow title links for more information on each section. For product recommendations, please visit the store or follow the links.

Before you start:

• Arm yourself with a reusable water bottle, a couple grocery totes, a few cloth bags and reusable jars and bottles.
• Get your 4Rs right. Refuse-Reduce-Reuse… Recycle only as a last resort.

KITCHEN

1. Welcome alternatives to disposables (paper towels, garbage liners, wax paper, aluminum sheets, disposable plates, cups, etc....): Swap paper towels for reusable rags, swap sandwich baggies for kitchen towels or stainless containers, drop garbage liners all together (wet waste is mostly compostable anyways).
2. Buy in bulk or at the counter (see Zero Waste Grocery Shopping), bring reusable bags (dry goods), jars (wet items such as meat, deli, fish, cheese, oil, peanut butter) and bottles (liquids: oil, soy sauce, shampoo, conditioner).
3. If you cannot find it in bulk, find a supplier (bring your jar to the ice cream shop, a pillow case to the bakery for your bread, or your bottles to the winery/brewery)... or make it ( mustard, salad dressing, hot sauce, jams, OJ, hummus, cookies, canned tomatoes).
4. Shop the farmer's market: they'll take the egg carton and the berries baskets back for reuse. Your veggies will also most likely be free of plastic and stickers.
5. Learn to love your tap water.
6. Use bulk castile soap as a dish/hand cleaner, baking soda as a scrubber (in a stainless Parmesan dispenser) with acompostable cleaning brush (a wooden one with natural hair). Choose dishwasher detergent in a cardboard box.
7. Turn your trash can into a big compost keeper. Use your tiny compost keeper as a trash can (on the market, the sizes for these seem to be reversed).
8. Reinvent your leftovers before they go bad. Go thru yourrecipe binder/box and only keep the recipes that can be achieved with zero waste in mind.
9. Invest in a pressure cooker (halves the cooking time).
10. YOU CAN ALSO... Reuse single-side printed paper for grocery shopping and errands list, use your lettuce cleaning water to water plants, open your oven after baking in the winter (cool your oven, warm your house)...

BATHROOM

1. Use 100% recycled and unbleached toilet paper individually wrapped in paper (if you have solar you could install an electrical washlet to your toilet sit).
2. Use a solution of baking soda/water/lavender essential oil in a spray bottle or an alum stone or straight baking soda (most effective) as antiperspirant.
3. For shaving, (re)use a safety razor and shaving soap (usually wrapped in paper) or Alep soap (found in middle-eastern stores).
4. Refill your bottles with bulk shampoo and conditioner. If your hair is short, you also have the “no-poo” option: rinse your hair, massage baking soda in, then rinse, with vinegar for shine. Or use a shampoo bar. Instead of hairspray, switch to lemon water in a spray bottle (see Recipes). To go longer between washes, substitute dry shampoo for cornstarch (in bulk).
5. For body/face soap, find a package-free solid soap or bulk liquid castile soap. To exfoliate, switch to bulk baking soda oroatmeal for the face and salt for the body. For a mask, switch to bulk clays (French, Kaolin, Bentonite, etc...), mixed with water or apple cider vinegar.
6. Switch from toothpaste to homemade tooth powder (seeRecipes), in a glass parmesan dispenser. And until we see a wooden compostable toothbrush on the US market, there are no right answers out there yet.
7. Reduce your cosmetics and consider homemade substitutessuch as cocoa powder as bronzer and homemade balm that works on eyes, lips, hair and nails (see Recipes) and in lieu of disposable feminine products, invest in menstrual cup andreusable liners.
8. All you need for your nails is a nail clipper, stainless steel file and the homemade balm for moisture and shine.
9. Forget about Q-tips, they are not good for you anyways. Do your research.
10. YOU CAN ALSO... compost hair and nail clippings, put a brick in your toilet tank, collect water in a bucket while your shower heats and water your plants with it, and use zero waste cleaning: microfiber cloths for mirrors, hydrogen peroxide for mold, baking soda as scrub, a mix of baking soda and vinegar as drain cleaner (see Cleaning and Recipes)...

LAUNDRY AND CLEANING

1. Welcome natural cleaning alternatives: bulk castile soap on floors and sinks, homemade all purpose cleaner (seeRecipes), baking soda for scrubbing jobs, and hydrogen peroxide for mildew.
2. Welcome alternative house cleaning tools: a metal sponge on stainless, a wooden brush for light scrubbing, an old toothbrush for hard to reach places and microfiber cloths for everything else (counters, floor, fridge, etc… for mirrors and windows, just add water… no window cleaner needed).
3. Sweep your floors with a boar bristle broom, wash with a wetmicrofiber mop and a few drops of castile soap.
4. Use worn-out clothing items made into rags on your un-washable messes (wax/auto grease/glue/caulk).
5. Buy bulk dishwasher detergent or in a dishwasher detergent in a recyclable cardboard box and use white vinegar as a rinsing aid.
6. Let houseplants absorb toxins and clean your air. Open a window instead of plugging in an air freshener.
7. Laundry washing once a week saves time and dryer energy costs, use eco-friendly laundry detergent, full loads, andcold water cycles as much as possible. Savon de Marseille, dishwasher detergent, lemon or hydrogen peroxide work great on stains.
8. Dry on a line when possible.
9. Iron fewer things and use a homemade starch in a stainless spray bottle (see Recipes).
10. YOU CAN ALSO... find a sustainable dry cleaner (one that offers a reusable garment bag and non-toxic cleaners), compost dryer lint and dust bunnies...

DINING AND ENTERTAINING

1. Remember to bring extra jars to the grocery store when shopping for company (including take-out).
2. Make finger foods for larger parties and consider serving tap water with lemon slices instead of fizzy water.
3. Use ceramic dishes, cloth dinner napkins and cloth cocktail napkins at all times.
4. Avoid the use of serving platters/dishes: When serving straight onto dinner plates, it simplifies, saves water from extra cleaning, and it allows for a plate presentation.
5. Find creative ways to decorate your table with few napkin folding tricks, discarded leaves/branches from the yard, or just seasonal fruit…
6. Reuse empty votive tins (and the wick base) to make new votive candles for company with bulk beeswax and lead-free wick.
7. Stop buying CD and DVD's – download music and videos online.
8. Bring a jar of a homemade consumable, or your favorite bulk item wrapped in Furoshiki as a hostess gift. Give the gift of anexperience as a birthday present.
9. Educate your friends about your zero waste efforts (so they don't bring waste into your home)
10. YOU CAN ALSO... bring your own container for leftovers when dining out, use rechargeable batteries for those remote controls, try living without TV for a while...

OFFICE

1. Refuse, and therefore help stop the madness of the free-pen / free-pencil give-aways.
2. Use refillable stainless pens and pencils, white board markers and highlighters and donate extra office material (paper, pencils) to your public school's art program.
3. Start your personal junk mail war, cancel your phonedirectories, and sign up for electronic bills and statements.
4. Reuse single-side printed paper for printing or making notepads held by a metal clip, reuse junk mail response envelopes and buy recycled paper products, packaged in paper.
5. Ditch the trash can, strive to use your compost and recyclingbins exclusively.
6. Use, Reuse and Request recyclable paper packing materialwhen shipping (incl. paper tape), print postage and addresses directly on your envelopes, use surface mail, use a return address stamp instead of stickers.
7. Reuse paper clips (available in bulk) instead of staples, or astaple-free stapler.
8. Use your library to read business magazines and books, sell your books or donate them to your library for other people to enjoy.
9. Use memory sticks and external drives instead of CD’s.
10. YOU CAN ALSO... use a power strip on your equipment, recycle your printer cartridges and cell phone, donate your unused computer to Goodwill, make paper with double-side printed paper, take unused packing material to your local shipping center...

CLOSET

1. Stick to minimal wardrobes, shoes and purses.
2. Only shop a couple times a year to avoid compulsive buys.
3. Buy mostly second-hand.
4. When buying new, buy quality with minimal tags (leave the shoe box at the store).
5. Be ruthless on fit, if it fits well, you're most likely to wear it.
6. Bring a reusable bag for your purchases.
7. Donate unworn pieces (the most forgiving rule of thumb deadline being one year).
8. Keep some of your worn-out clothes for rags and label the rest as "rags" for Goodwill to recycle.
9. Learn of few sewing tricks (like shortening a hem).
10. YOU CAN ALSO... take it to the tailor to fit it better so you'll actually wear it, and keep a handkerchief in each one of your purses/bags...

MEDICATION

1. Keep only a minimal supply, so you can see what you have.
2. Ask your pharmacy to reuse your prescription jar. It's illegal for pharmacies to refill them in CA, but your state might allow it..
3. Choose tablets (pain reliever, for example) in a glass or at default a plastic jar (usually a recyclable #2), instead of the tablets individually wrapped in aluminum/plastic and a box.
4. Do not buy jumbo size medication jars, they expire way before you can finish them.
5. Choose metal tubes instead of plastic.
6. Invest in a Neti pot: Great to clear out your sinuses with just water and sea salt.
7. Consider a few natural alternatives: a corn silk tea for prostate relief, a senna leaf tea for constipation relief or an oatmeal bath for skin relief.
8. Clean cuts and scrapes with soap and water, forgo the plastic band-aids and let air-dry.
9. Do not use everyday antibacterial products, they make bad bacteria stronger.
10. YOU CAN ALSO... reconsider your true need for vitamins (as opposed to a healthy varied diet) and use sunscreen moderately...

GARDENING

1. Use drought tolerant and native plants, replace your lawn with short native grasses.
2. Make room for compost, pee in your citrus and compost. Consider a worm compost for liquid fertilize.
3. Return plastic containers to the nursery.
4. Find bulk seeds.
5. Give away plants (also, landscaping rocks, fencing, irrigation piping, etc…) that you do not want anymore. Post them on the free section of Craigslist.
6. Find a bulk garden center, and get your dirt, rocks, compost, etc… in reusable sand bags.
7. Consider investing in an irrigation controller with a rainwater sensor.
8. Install rainwater and gray water catchments (check your city ordinances for the latter).
9. YOU CAN ALSO... Keep a minimal and quality tool selection made of metal and wood (which can be repaired more easily)...

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FREEBIE: MARTHA STEWART LIVING MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION

FREEBIE: Martha Stewart Living Magazine Subscription courtesy of RewardsGold

• Simply fill out your info. and take a survey

FREEBIE: MARTHA STEWART LIVING MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION

FREEBIE: Martha Stewart Living Magazine Subscription courtesy of RewardsGold

• Simply fill out your info. and take a survey

FREE Scrubbing Bubbles One Step Toilet Cleaner & Finish Powerball Tabs at Family Dollar!

Here’s a great deal this week to help save on some cleaning supplies this week at Family Dollar!  Use the $4/1 Scrubbing Bubbles One Step Toilet Bowl Cleaner Starter Kit coupon that came out in the 18 Smart Source to get it FREE!

Here’s the deal:

Scrubbing Bubbles One Step Cleaner, $4
Use $4/1 Scrubbing Bubbles One Step Toilet Bowl Cleaner Starter Kit, exp. 2/18/12 (SS 01/08/12)
Final Price:  FREE!

Finish Powerball Tabs 12ct $2.50
Use $2.15/1 ANY Powerball MQ from 1/1 SS Regional coupon – according to Finish, this IS a valid use of this coupon!
Final Price= $.35