Going Green!!

My son was just picked to be a part of his schools new GREEN TEAM!! We are so proud of him, as only a few students were selected. As a part of the program, they will help facilitate a recycling program, and will be planting a school garden.

This has inspired me to think about what it is that I do to help with going green. I must admit that recycling has been a hard one for me. I always thought that I would do it as soon as we had a house. I hated all that garbage piling up in my apartment. Now, we have a garage, and I had planned to make a recycling center with our kids this summer. However, our city does not make it easy on us to recycle. It has been difficult to find somewhere to take it. I am excited to get some more information from my son's school. Maybe they know the secret. I hope to get to work on our families recycling center this month. I plan to make it a FHE event.

However, there is something else that I want to share with you that I feel makes a big difference. You know the saying, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle? Well, I REUSE!! This is something that I absolutely love to do. I wanted to share a few great ways that I feel can make a difference.

Instead of sending more "things" to a landfill, find a way to reuse it. If you can't reuse it, I am sure someone else can. For example:

*I know we all have closets or boxes full of clothing that are taking over our attic. Instead of throwing them out, sell them to a consignment store. That way someone else will REUSE it, and you will get a little cash in your pocket as well.

*Also, shop consignment. I love buying my kids clothes from consignment stores, for three reasons. One, I know that I am reusing something that is in perfectly good condition. Two, I save money. Three, my selection is better. I get to shop the Gap, Old Navy, Gymboree, etc., all at the same time.

*Another one of my favorite ways to reuse is to check the local thrift stores. One Christmas, my kids whole Christmas was thrift store finds. It was amazing. I was able to buy a fisherprice pirate ship with the pirates, and fisherprice cowboys, horses and wagons. I paid $1 each for these. I also found the Target kitchen still in it's box for $15.(it was missing the hardware to put it together, but that was an easy fix.) An art easel for $2, wooden blocks for $5, and I could go on and on.

*If you are looking for a random appliance like; a rice cooker, check the thrift store first. They may have one that works great.

*My all time favorite way to REUSE, has to do with.... you guessed it; Decorating my house!! I will find items at a thrift store, in the dumpster, and some are hand me downs. My friend Krysta, her mom, and my mom give me items to add little touches to my house all the time. I just love it. When I am done with them, then I pass them on to a friend or a sister. I love it because even though Krysta might be tired of it, I am excited to have something new.

Here is an example of a project I did with a dumpster find. My husband found these old windows next to a trash can. I cleaned them up, and made a creative head board out of them. This is one of my most favorite parts of my house.

I recently had this lamp that I took out of my kids room. Instead of throwing it out, I put it in my laundry room. I love walking in through the garage at night, and having some nice mood light. Think outside the box when reusing something. You might think a laundry room is weird place for a lamp. Try it, you just might love it.

My lastest project has been my entry way. I have wanted to spruce up my entry way some, but our funds are a little low at the moment. So... I took a walk around my house and gathered up some things. Here is what I came up with. I was able to move this chair out of my laundry room. I had the flowers, picks and old wreaths in a Fall decoration box in my attic. So I just combined them. I had the ribbon stashed away in a box somewhere, and the basket was in my living room. Now... I did buy the welcome sign, but I had a gift card for my birthday from my friend Krysta. Thanks Krysta. I love the way turned out. I was able to accomplish three of my favorite things... Save money, finish something on my to-do list, and REUSE.

I know when we think about going green, we think about recycling, and saving energy. Don't forget to go green by reusing as well.