This room-by-room guide gives great tips for noticing plastic in your lifestyle and finding alternatives. Even busy families can make choices that cut 3/4 of their plastic garbage!
reusing
Single-use Plastic, Twenty Years Later
I'm about to go out and hang flyers inviting everyone to a Plastic-Free Potluck, and I'm taking the jar of thumbtacks from my desk drawer at home. This jar once held Vitamin C tablets from Revco, which used to be a drugstore chain here in Pittsburgh. Up the hill, where Pamela's diner is now--that used … Continue reading Single-use Plastic, Twenty Years Later
Zero-Waste Name Tags
Earlier this year, I joined a local campaign against single-use plastic, and it's been great working with like-minded, enthusiastic people and feeling so much hope about making the world a better place before it's too late! But there was one blind spot in the organizing of our first several meetings that just stunned me: On … Continue reading Zero-Waste Name Tags
Hello Sunday tote bag review
This is an honest review of a product I was offered for free, with no restrictions on what I could say in the review. I did not receive any compensation other than this tote bag shipped internationally to my home, and I have no other connection to this company. Hello Sunday is an Australian business … Continue reading Hello Sunday tote bag review
How to get slug slime out of car upholstery
Let it dry and scrape it off with a used-up gift-card. Simple! Much simpler than I feared.
How Repurposing Brings Abundance
Once upon a time, there was a stuffed bear. It was a very soft bear, with shaggy white fur and a pink nose. It held a pink plush heart with a stiff taffeta ruffle around the edges, and on the heart was embroidered, Hug Me. The bear could never let go of that heart, for … Continue reading How Repurposing Brings Abundance
Go Green in 2019: Cut Back on Single-Use Plastic!
Here in Pittsburgh, we're having a challenge to reduce consumption of single-use plastic (SUP) products. If you live somewhere else, launch a challenge in your area! Even if you make it just your personal challenge to use fewer SUPs yourself and to ask the stores and restaurants you visit to stop pushing so many SUPs on … Continue reading Go Green in 2019: Cut Back on Single-Use Plastic!
Go Green in 2018: Try Something New!
Happy new year! This is a great time to start a new habit to make a little less garbage, use a little less energy, or otherwise reduce your environmental impact. I made my new year's resolution on a sudden whim when I was in the supermarket on December 30, stocking up on fresh produce after … Continue reading Go Green in 2018: Try Something New!
Go Green in 2017: Drink Better Milk
Did you make a new year's resolution to "eat better" without defining specifically what you meant? or did you try to start the new year choosing all the healthiest, most responsible foods, and now you're reeling at the difficulty of changing too many habits at once? Sometimes it's best to make one change at a … Continue reading Go Green in 2017: Drink Better Milk
Make a Soap Saver: neat, clean bar soap with no waste!
Use every bit of soap with no gooey mess in the soap dish! Easy to make at a cost of $1 or less! Use up all those little soaps from hotels, and repurpose your old scrubby-puff, too!
Bulk Food in Reused Containers in the Microwave: A Cautionary Tale
I've explained how we buy many of our groceries from bulk bins in the food co-op store, dispensing the amount we want to buy into containers we got by buying (and using) foods that came in them. Usually, when a jar has a label that can be removed, we soak it off so that … Continue reading Bulk Food in Reused Containers in the Microwave: A Cautionary Tale
Get FREE Breadcrumbs for All Your Recipe Needs!
Did you make a new year's resolution to waste less food, to do more cooking from scratch, or to buy less over-packaged food? If you did, or if you have ever bought a canister of ready-to-use breadcrumbs, this article is for YOU! And if you don't fit into any of those categories, but you do … Continue reading Get FREE Breadcrumbs for All Your Recipe Needs!
Sckoon Menstrual Cup and Cloth Pad Review
WARNING: People who are offended by graphic discussion of menstruation should go read something else. I first tried a reusable menstrual cup in 1997 and reusable cloth menstrual pads in 2001. Over the years, I've tried a number of different brands, and I've written about why these alternatives are better than disposable pads and tampons … Continue reading Sckoon Menstrual Cup and Cloth Pad Review
Make Your Own Foaming Hand Soap!
This tip is a real winner: You can make your own foaming soap in about one minute by mixing just two ingredients. Foaming soap will save you a lot of money because you'll need less soap to get clean. Refilling your foamer will save even more money and reduce the packaging you discard. You can … Continue reading Make Your Own Foaming Hand Soap!
Our Green Christmas Tree (now with photos!)
Back in 2007, I wrote about the little tree Daniel and I, with the help of former housemate Bill, made for our first Christmas together, back in 1996. Made mostly of repurposed materials, this is a great alternative to cutting down a real tree or using a factory-made artificial tree. It's still going strong! I'm finally … Continue reading Our Green Christmas Tree (now with photos!)
Cloth Diapers: What Works for Our Family
Our first child was already out of diapers when I wrote about why we use cloth diapers and all the details of our cloth diapering equipment and procedures. Some of the specific products we'd used were no longer being made even when I wrote the articles, and others have changed or become unavailable since then. … Continue reading Cloth Diapers: What Works for Our Family
5 Tips for Green Lunch Packing
It's back-to-school season! If your child brings a lunch to school, now is the time to think about how to pack that lunch. If you bring your lunch to work, this is a great time of year to rethink what you're packing, too. Choosing the right lunch-packing habits can make a big difference in how … Continue reading 5 Tips for Green Lunch Packing
FREE Earth-friendly Party Decorations!
Want to decorate your home for a party? You could buy a bunch of bright-colored paper streamers or rubber balloons that you inflate with air. These things are inexpensive, but they're typically made in China by exploited workers in polluting factories and then shipped halfway around the world to you, wasting a bunch of fossil … Continue reading FREE Earth-friendly Party Decorations!
Buying Bulk Food in Reused Containers
Many of the foods my family eats most are purchased from the bulk section of the East End Food Co-op, our local health-food supermarket in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You do not have to buy a membership to shop at this co-op, but members get a discount in exchange for a one-time payment, which is a pretty … Continue reading Buying Bulk Food in Reused Containers
Cloth Wipes for Bedroom, Bathroom, and More!
I am excited to be a contributing writer in the Green in 365 series at Live Renewed! Check out my article on how to use cloth wipes instead of paper tissues to save trees, reduce pollution, save money, and just have a better experience in so many ways. I mean, look, aren't they pretty? I've … Continue reading Cloth Wipes for Bedroom, Bathroom, and More!
The Earthling's Handbook 