Recently I have been on a quest to come up with more ways that I can consume more and buy less. If I am going to use this as my mantra for my homestead, I feel like I must constantly be finding more ways to help the earth and recycle, reduce and reuse. Here are a few of my new consume more buy less projects.
 |
| Paper Shreds For My Chicken Boxes |
1. Now that I have chickens I have to keep their nesting boxes clean and desirable. Most people use wood shavings or something like it which can add up in price. I decide that I needed to find a way to save money, recycle and not have to constantly be buying wood shavings from the store. While doing my research about the chickens I heard that some people use paper shavings. So the other day I collected all the shredded paper from the office I work in. They were happy to give me the shreds and I mixed them into the nesting boxes. So far so good. Now I can reuse the paper to help me save on buying more shavings and since chicken poop and paper are all compostable I can work them back into the eco-system.
 |
| Reusing Mason Jars |
2. Reusing Jars for containers, drinking glasses etc. I love the old school mason jar look and even regular say "pickle" jars can be cleaned up and look cool in your kitchen if you take the time to remove the labels and clean them out. I use pickle jars for my granola and another old jar to hold my dog cookies. I am able to reuse most of the jars I get with products in some way or another. Whether it is for a cup, to hold a new item or to grow roots on a new cutting from one of my succulents. Reusing jars is a great way to consume more and buy less.
 |
| An Old Pickle Jar with Granola! (made my my mom) |
 |
Paper Flags I am making for the Shower!
(from recycled tissue paper) |
3. Finding already used materials to make presents, decorations etc. (I mentioned this in another update but it has started to become a big part of my life right now so I thought I would make mention of it again.) Next month I am throwing a baby shower for my sister-in-law. Back when I agreed to throw the shower I wasn't making a lot of money so I vowed to make the shower amazing by trying my best to source the materials from used items. I have been able to make most of the items all from stuff that was going to go in the trash. Tissue paper from a party I went to in order to make banners. Using pots as decorations that I found for free at a sidewalk give away. Using mason jars I already own as part of my party too. So far I have only had to buy 5 large gourds as part of my decor and even those I got off of craigslist for 12 bucks. (I promise to do a longer post on this with all of my projects after the shower in November.)
Okay that is all for now but I will have more ideas coming from the homestead next week. If you have ideas on how to help consume more and buy less please write in a share with us! We would love to hear your thoughts. So please share!
Until next time: Consume Less, Buy More...use things in an unconventional way.
Missy
No comments:
Post a Comment