Saving money and Recycling
I thought it would be interesting to post about what Bruce and I do here at the house to save money and recycle. Some of it might be a little overboard for some people, but I think it's pretty cool.
I keep thinking that, in case the economy doesn't improve, we're all going to need to learn how to be more self sufficient. Things like growing your own food or shopping on a budget are not just options, they are becoming important.
When we were living at the smaller property in town I recycled and tried planting a garden. I did a little composting but nothing all that elaborate.
When we moved here we found we had more space to try new things. We compost anything that can be composted, we recycle anything that can be recycled and we are on our third attempt at a garden. Each year I learn more.
I've made my own laundry soap until I had to get a new machine and it didn't work as well with the new machine. Although I might give it another try and use a half and half mix just for fun. I tied a cord to a few trees this morning so I can hang my clothes out to dry. The trick to hanging your laundry out to dry and still having soft clothes is tumbling them in the dryer for a few minutes when you bring them in. I will sometimes throw in a damp rag to help with wrinkles. Black clothes is a bit more of an issue due to the lint. Haven't figured out a fail proof solution for that one.
My bathroom tricks on saving time and money are interesting. I have matches in the bathroom for obvious reasons. The bathroom spray I like costs a lot and sometimes the matches work better. :)
We have a squeegie in the shower that we use on the walls and floor after every shower. It only takes a minute to do and saves on all the chemicals. I have a bottle of that shower spray that I use here and there but I'm not sure I really need it.
I keep a container of cheap baby wipes on the back of the toilet. We don't flush them, but they are great for wiping down the outside of the toilet and other things without having to use chemicals.
If your one of those people who like the fancy hand wash at the sink....keep the container and then go to walmart and buy the giant generic version refill bottle. It will last quite a while. If you like the hand soap that foams up....just add a little water to the refill soap and it works fine.
I try to buy only WHITE towels, hand towels and rags. When I wash them I use a bit of bleach in the load. The towels will last longer between washes because the bleach keeps them fresh longer. Just don't use too much cause the towels will fall apart. If your towels do fall apart, you can rip them into strips and make a bath mat by braiding and stitching it together or crocheting it. There are all kinds of how to's online for that.
In the kitchen I have wash tubs we store in the pantry. I have an old sink that we restored and it's delicate, so I started washing the dishes in the tub to save the sink. I learned that the kitchen looks so much cleaner when the dishes are in the tub waiting for the dishwasher, although I'm not a fan of the smell of dishes when they come out of the dishwasher, so I like to wash them myself with a cap full of bleach in the wash water. Or I will pour a tiny bit of bleach in the machine while it's washing. I like to spray the counters with bleach water, but the sprayers never lasted long because of the bleach. I figured out that I can reuse the clorox cleanup spraybottle and it lasts longer because it was made for bleach. I know...I'm brilliant. I also keep an old windex bottle, by the sink, with a water pinesol mix, for cleaning tables and counders. I think I only use about four chemicals when I clean....bleach, pinesol, dish soap, and maybe windex. I have a cleaner for lime build up and a toilet cleaner for major jobs.
We use low watt light bulbs and have lamps in almost every room to keep from having to use the main multibulb lights often. The bulbs are expensive but we bought them slowly until we had them through the entire house and they usualy last a long time.
During the winter months I take the dryer hose off the vent that sends the hot air outside, put a kneehigh nylon over the end and let it run in the laundry room. It keeps that part of the house nice and warm and smelling great because of the fabric softener sheets I use. :) The nylon doesn't catch every bit of the lint, but it's not bad. You would be shocked at how much heat is put out.
We run our washing machine water out to the trees in the back yard. I had this great little contraption made to divert the water, but we took it apart because it was ugly. (but it worked) Now I need to figure out something else. Right now I'm using a big tub and a small bucket. Who needs to go to a gym when you can scoop soapy water out of a tub and pour it on a tree?
In winter I also hang a second set of curtains on a lot of the windows. In fact, this year I hung a third set on a few and taped the edges down. I finally had Bruce seal the old windows, so I hope I won't have to do that again. It wasn't too pretty. I collect all types of cream colored curtains at the thrift stores. You can mismatch your curtains in several areas as long as they are the same color. I have four windows in my kitchen and 5 different types of curtains. It looks great.
(Although I really need to hem two of them). It just takes some creativity.
OK...so that's just SOME of the things we do. I need to get to my laundry, but I'll try to post more tomorrow.
I'm off to hang out my first load of laundry for the year. Woo hoo. :/
I keep thinking that, in case the economy doesn't improve, we're all going to need to learn how to be more self sufficient. Things like growing your own food or shopping on a budget are not just options, they are becoming important.
When we were living at the smaller property in town I recycled and tried planting a garden. I did a little composting but nothing all that elaborate.
When we moved here we found we had more space to try new things. We compost anything that can be composted, we recycle anything that can be recycled and we are on our third attempt at a garden. Each year I learn more.
I've made my own laundry soap until I had to get a new machine and it didn't work as well with the new machine. Although I might give it another try and use a half and half mix just for fun. I tied a cord to a few trees this morning so I can hang my clothes out to dry. The trick to hanging your laundry out to dry and still having soft clothes is tumbling them in the dryer for a few minutes when you bring them in. I will sometimes throw in a damp rag to help with wrinkles. Black clothes is a bit more of an issue due to the lint. Haven't figured out a fail proof solution for that one.
My bathroom tricks on saving time and money are interesting. I have matches in the bathroom for obvious reasons. The bathroom spray I like costs a lot and sometimes the matches work better. :)
We have a squeegie in the shower that we use on the walls and floor after every shower. It only takes a minute to do and saves on all the chemicals. I have a bottle of that shower spray that I use here and there but I'm not sure I really need it.
I keep a container of cheap baby wipes on the back of the toilet. We don't flush them, but they are great for wiping down the outside of the toilet and other things without having to use chemicals.
If your one of those people who like the fancy hand wash at the sink....keep the container and then go to walmart and buy the giant generic version refill bottle. It will last quite a while. If you like the hand soap that foams up....just add a little water to the refill soap and it works fine.
I try to buy only WHITE towels, hand towels and rags. When I wash them I use a bit of bleach in the load. The towels will last longer between washes because the bleach keeps them fresh longer. Just don't use too much cause the towels will fall apart. If your towels do fall apart, you can rip them into strips and make a bath mat by braiding and stitching it together or crocheting it. There are all kinds of how to's online for that.
In the kitchen I have wash tubs we store in the pantry. I have an old sink that we restored and it's delicate, so I started washing the dishes in the tub to save the sink. I learned that the kitchen looks so much cleaner when the dishes are in the tub waiting for the dishwasher, although I'm not a fan of the smell of dishes when they come out of the dishwasher, so I like to wash them myself with a cap full of bleach in the wash water. Or I will pour a tiny bit of bleach in the machine while it's washing. I like to spray the counters with bleach water, but the sprayers never lasted long because of the bleach. I figured out that I can reuse the clorox cleanup spraybottle and it lasts longer because it was made for bleach. I know...I'm brilliant. I also keep an old windex bottle, by the sink, with a water pinesol mix, for cleaning tables and counders. I think I only use about four chemicals when I clean....bleach, pinesol, dish soap, and maybe windex. I have a cleaner for lime build up and a toilet cleaner for major jobs.
We use low watt light bulbs and have lamps in almost every room to keep from having to use the main multibulb lights often. The bulbs are expensive but we bought them slowly until we had them through the entire house and they usualy last a long time.
During the winter months I take the dryer hose off the vent that sends the hot air outside, put a kneehigh nylon over the end and let it run in the laundry room. It keeps that part of the house nice and warm and smelling great because of the fabric softener sheets I use. :) The nylon doesn't catch every bit of the lint, but it's not bad. You would be shocked at how much heat is put out.
We run our washing machine water out to the trees in the back yard. I had this great little contraption made to divert the water, but we took it apart because it was ugly. (but it worked) Now I need to figure out something else. Right now I'm using a big tub and a small bucket. Who needs to go to a gym when you can scoop soapy water out of a tub and pour it on a tree?
In winter I also hang a second set of curtains on a lot of the windows. In fact, this year I hung a third set on a few and taped the edges down. I finally had Bruce seal the old windows, so I hope I won't have to do that again. It wasn't too pretty. I collect all types of cream colored curtains at the thrift stores. You can mismatch your curtains in several areas as long as they are the same color. I have four windows in my kitchen and 5 different types of curtains. It looks great.
(Although I really need to hem two of them). It just takes some creativity.
OK...so that's just SOME of the things we do. I need to get to my laundry, but I'll try to post more tomorrow.
I'm off to hang out my first load of laundry for the year. Woo hoo. :/
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