I am so wasteful. I was reading on Down To Earth about how when her bedsheets get a little thin, instead of throwing them out, she will patch it up and get another two years out of it. It made me think of just how very wasteful I am.
I really do need to get in a better mindset of seeing everything as valuable. When something is broken, I need to fix it or find another way to use it before just junking it.
I was watching The Story of Stuff and was very convicted at how much garbage I produce. I have something that is broken (because it was made to break), and instead of finding another use for it (like maybe I can cut it up and use it for rags, or make pinafores to protect the children's play clothes), I toss it because I can't donate it and no one would buy it at a garage sale.
I have learned by being on my local freecycle group (goto the yahoo groups and search for your city and the word free and you will be surprised at what is given away), that even things that are broken and torn, people will grab up. I have to wonder WHAT they are going to do with a broken/torn _____. But sure enough, there is someone with the right mindset out there that grabs it and I have no doubt finds another use for what was previously a useless item.
What are some things that you reuse and find other purposes for?
Updating Things
14 hours ago
2 comments:
Paula - thank you for the organic info! I will check that out for sure. I can't figure out how to link my email to my blog - have to work on that one . The plaque said:
Indian Prayer
Grant that I may not criticize my neighbor,
Until I have walked a mile in his moccasins.
Thanks, Peggy
Paula,
After watching "The Story of Stuff" I was also convicted of our wastefulness. About that time I was going through our younger girls' clothes and came up with two large black trash bags of stained useless clothes. I couldn't decide what to do with them, but I knew I didn't want to just throw them in the trash. One idea I came up with was to use the center of the shirts for cloth napkins for messy meals (bar-b-que or spaghetti). I have also considered dyeing them to make them match. It would be a good beginning sewing project for the girls to learn to hem the edges. Then if your cloth napkin gets stained... who cares. This will also eliminate our use of paper napkins. I can use others for rags, which will cut down on my use of paper towels. If someone had one in diapers, they could use them for diaper wipes.
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