R3 Challenge Update
16 Apr 2009 2 Comments
in R3 Challenge
Well, I feel like such a late bloomer here, but today I really cleaned out a lot of recyclables that I’ve stored in the garage. Other than reusing or repurposing items, this is really a first for me on the sorting side of it. I decided to take a quick drive to a nearby county recycling center and Vivi and I both needed the time out of the house. I know I can easily contact my waste pickup company and request a bin, which I still might, but there is something a little gratifying about taking the actual material to a recycling center and throwing it into the sort bins. (And if you have some aggression to unleash, throwing your green/clear/brown glass bottles into the bins and hearing it all break is kind of freeing!)
It feels so much better knowing that all the junk mail and phone books and unwanted newspapers that end up at my house are being recycled. As well, the burden of knowing what to do with most of the baby formula cans has been lifted, too. What few canisters I can’t recycle, I’m going to encourage Eric to make a baby set of drums for Vivi and then decorate the rest and use for a piggy bank and a kitchen utensil holder for my countertop.
Now, if somehow I could just lessen the overwhelming amount of diapers we are sending to the landfill. Cloth diapers? Nah. I wish I were that good! Maybe Vivi will take to potty training a little soon?! Anyway, hopefully by that time, we’ll have another little one running around here in diapers, God willing!
R3 Challenge: Part 1, Formula Cans
29 Oct 2008 1 Comment
in R3 Challenge Tags: Baby Business, Recycling
What’s R3 you ask? It’s my quick abbreviation of a personal decision to decrease my family’s wasteful impact in our beautiful world. It stands for Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
I’m just learning more about recycling and we have a long, long way to go to operate more efficiently and less wastefully, but we have to start somewhere, right?
The thing I’ve noticed since becoming a parent with a formula-fed baby is the waste from the formula cans. When not being used for it’s purpose of storing powdered milk, an empty can tossed in the trash takes up massive space! Baby maintenance in general takes up a lot of the trashcan’s room each week and while there are some things I’m definitely not into giving up, like disposable diapers, I feel burdened to make better use of the items we empty, like the formula cans.
I found this article regarding a good start on how to repurpose infant formula cans, but I’m wondering if YOU have any other brilliant ideas to share? Eric’s already said he can organize loose bolts, screws, nails, nuts, etc. in the garage as well with them. At 2.5 cans every two weeks, and increasing amounts as Vivian grows, we’ve got a long road ahead and your clever ideas are appreciated!
And if you’re just beginning on a similar R3 challenge of your own, where did you start and what neat things have you repurposed?
