In this day and age modern societies waste so much. Americans generate 250 million tons of garbage every year. The amount of generated waste has nearly tripled since the 1960s. We have come so far from how our society was just 100 years ago, when most foods came from the farm and there was little to no packaging.
As a part of good stewardship we need to do our best to care for the world that God has given us to live in. It is one way of honoring him by caring for our enviroment. I want to share with you today some tips that my will help you waste less and save money at the same time.
Check back for Part 2 next Wendsday.
1. Cook From Scratch
When you cook from scratch you are using less packaged products and saving money that comes from buying those costly prepared foods. You will notice an improvement in you budget, amount of waste and health. Not to mention that it just tastes better too! Your family will thank you for it.
2. Buy in Bulk
This is a great penny saver. Buying in bulk can mean less packaging and less trips to the market for those items that you forgot a few days before, using less gas. I buy all my grains and legume in bulk, they come in brown paper bags that can recycled or composted. There are many wonderful co-ops that sell products in bulk for an amazing price. I buy all my bulk items from Azure Standard. I get a much better deal on all my items that I buy from them than I do going to the health food store and buying from their bulk bins.
3. Recycle
What you can and can’t recycle really depends on where you live. My parents who live in California have an amazing recycling program in their city. You put everything in one bin and the city picks it up every other week and sorts it all themselves. While my aunt who lives in Missouri has to separate her recycling herself and take it to a recycling center. Or maybe like me, living in Mexico where there is little being done. There is one place that I’ve heard of that recycles soda pop cans. I don’t drink soda or use many canned products so I don’t worry too much about them at this moment. If you do have cans there are fun ways to reuse your cans to make candle holders, candle molds, Christmas decorations and pen holders. All sorts of craft projects that your kids will love.
4. Cloth Diapers
Cloth diapers are a wonderful way to waste less and save a pretty penny. They are also great for your babies bottom as well! The are approximately 3.4 million tons of used diapers being added to landfills yearly, that take years to decompose. Not to mention the amount of harmful chemicals used to make the diapers the are constantly rubbing against your baby’s skin. You can spend up to $1,600 in two years on disposable diapers for one child. While the initial cost may be more (about $300) to buy cloth diapers they will last you through at least two children. The cloth diapers of today are so much better than the ones our parents used, with safety pens and leaky plastic covers. Now cloth diapers are cute, easy to use, leak resistant and absorbent. bumGenius is a great brand.
5. Reusable Feminine Products
The average woman throws away up to 15, 000 tampons, pads and applicators in her lifetime. Most of which end up in land fills or incinerated. Though a large portion are flushed and pass through the sewage plants and into the oceans. Just like disposable diapers, disposable pads and tampons contain many toxins and chemicals. One brand of reusable cloth pads that are popular is GladRags. There are many other brands that look great too, they are all fairly expensive, but when you compare the cost of how much you spend on disposables you save in the long run even if the initial cost is more. I have never personally bought them but they sound very good. I bought some a couple years ago from Pure Providence last fall and then made some of my own. There are also menstrual cups that are very comfortable and allows you to completely do away with tampons, such as the Diva Cup. I have been using mine for over two years now and don’t plan on switching back to tampons. To read more about the harm from using disposable pads and tampons click here.
What are ways you like to be a good steward and waste less? I’d love to hear your ideas!
This post is part of Hearth and Soul, Simple Lives Thursday @Gnowfglins , Eco Friendly Friday , Homemaker By Choice Blog Hop, Pennywise Platter Thursday,Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Simple Lives Thursday, Your Green Resource, Green Living Tuesdays, Natural Living Link-up
I’ve recently started making my own dog food and treats. It’s much healthier for them and it saves a lot of packaging.
Megan, I don’t have in of my own kids that need diapers either! I just think that it’s a great idea. 🙂 My girls are all the ones I raise at the boarding school I minister at. So I don’t get them in the baby stage.
I’m stopping by from Pennywise Platter. Great tips! I do all of them, too (well, except the diapers, but we don’t have any kids yet). I love Azure Standard, too. =)
Amanda, thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Hopping over from the Homemakers By Choice Bloghop…
Great post! I have implemented most of these in our home, as well. I’m actually looking forward to pulling out the cloth diapers again come September! I LOVED using them!
Very nice post! Those tampon stats are rather staggering, huh?! Thanks so much for linking to Eco-Friendly Friday 🙂
These are great ideas! I do most of these things, too, and have written about many of them in my environmental articles. About buying in bulk, I want to mention that some stores allow you to bring your own reusable container, scoop into it from their giant bin, and pay for the exact amount you want. I love this because my family is only 3 people and can’t buy huge packages of everything. It’s also really nice getting to choose what kind of container works best for us to store each type of food.
Hi Katie! I love this article. I do my best to recycle, renew and reuse every day! I also use cloth pads for my moon, and if you want to be even more economical, you can use the dundee type prefolded cloth diapers as moon pads. Thanks so much for sharing all these great earth friendly tips on the hearth and soul hop this week! All the best! alex
These are all such wonderful ideas and tips, Katie…thank you for sharing them w/ the hearth and soul hop this week. Although, I must admit, I’m a bit squeamish about reuseable menstrual products. I’ll go check ’em out though…thank you for the links 😀
I love this! These are all the reason ppl think we are “weird”. We also use family cloth for toilet paper, cloth napkins for everyday, and we don’t buy paper towels.