“We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”
Native American Proverb.
Reduce.
Reuse.
Repurpose.
Recycle.
It’s relatively safe to say, we were all taught the “Four R’s” for Earth Day while in elementary school. We try our best to reduce as much waste in our lives as we can (feasibly). I can’t honestly say we do anything extravagant during this week, since we focus on repurposing items or reducing their waste throughout the year.
I just wanted to share a few simple ways we incorporate all four of these principals in our daily lives.
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Reduce
Reducing the amount of waste we produce stems completely from a consumer standpoint. We had to choose to purchase items intentionally that do not produce waste, or that will leave us with very minimal waste.
Some simple examples to reduce your waste include:
- Buying staples in bulk to reduce packaging waste such as flour, honey, maple syrup, salt, and oats.
- Specifically buying produce that is package free. We purchase most of our produce through Misfits Market that limits their packaging to mostly what’s necessary for shipping and keeps everything either compostable or recyclable. (Check out our most recent Misfits Market experience here!)
- Bringing our own produce and grocery bags to the store
- Meat. We use almost exclusively meat produced from our own property. This not only reduces the packaging, but also the amount of fuel needed for transportation. The exception we make for purchasing meat is salmon. I usually try to catch the Aldi sales of their large salmon cuts.
Reuse
I’ve made it my mission to replace as many of the single-use items in our home as I can. It’s taken many years to build up to where we are, because they can be a bit of an investment initially. (But definitely save us money in the long run!) There are so many options to find reusable replacements, but today I will only focus on a few!
- Stasher bags to replace single use sandwich bags
- Stainless steel travel mugs and water bottles
- Cloth diapers
- Cloth wipes
Repurpose
I love repurposing old furniture (check out my previous post on how I refurnished our bedroom for less than $100!). Taking something that would normally be thrown out and giving it new life just makes me fell good! And to be honest, the older pieces are made significantly better than what you can currently buy at the store.
Repurposed Crayons
One fun activity I’ve done with the boys recently was to repurpose a bin of old, broken crayons. It was a great way to keep them entertained on a cold, rainy day with things that otherwise wouldn’t have gotten much use.
I purchased a large box of broken crayons at a sale for $1 recently. Little did I know, the boys refuse to use crayons once the wrapper has been removed and are broken.
I used some of our silicone molds (the dinosaur and honey comb being our favorite) to melt the broken crayons down into something new! The boys had so much fun mixing colors and making something new.
To Do:
- Break crayons into small pieces to fit into your mold (make sure your mold is already on a baking pan for stability).
- Placed pan into an oven preheated to 220F for 15-20 minutes or until fully melted.
- Remove and let cool on the counter for 24 hours or move to the fridge once the pan has cooled to touch.
- Pop them out of the molds and enjoy!
We actually did this activity right before Easter and they made fun additions to their easter baskets!
Recycle
Recycling is purposely on the bottom of our list, as we try to use all previous options first. Specifically checking that the products that we purchase with packaging are actually recyclable – AND, actually making sure they are recycled properly. Many times, I would find myself tossing packaging or empty bottles into a trash because I couldn’t find a recycling bin.
In what ways do you choose to incorporate the “4 R’s” into your daily life?
Nice ideas.
Thank you!