Tips to Reduce Household Waste and Save Money!
I, personally, have become concerned about the amount of waste that our society produces. The Earth is the Lord’s and we are intended to be caretakers, not destroyers! As a result, I made a few changes around the house to reduce the amount of waste that our household produces as well as save money. I'm becoming a penny pincher and finding great ways to receive the same results as if I had spent a lot more money:
In the Kitchen
• Paper towels – I no longer use paper towels for cleaning the house. Instead, I use kitchen dish towels and hand towels for cleaning all the dirty surfaces of my house. Then I toss them in the wash and they’re ready to be used again.
• Cleaning supplies – The smell of this stuff makes me sick so I know it cannot be good for me! Instead, I take an empty Windex bottle and put in about a ¼ to ½ inch of dish soap and then fill it up with water. Shake it up and viola! You have a wonderful all-purpose cleaner that can get the worst dirt that a lived-in house can throw at you!
In the Laundry Room
• Fabric softener – I love the wonderful softness that only liquid fabric softener can provide. However, I cannot stand how fast we go through it and how wasteful those big, bulky plastic bottles are. I have recently begun mixing one part fabric softener and one part water in a spray bottle that I leave on the dryer. Before I dry a load of clothes, I spray a clean wash cloth with the mixture and toss it in. It produces clothes that are softer than the traditional dryer sheets and will greatly reduce the amount of waste. Further, I am buying the cardboard containers of softener refill instead of big, bulky plastic bottles.
In the Vanity
• Homemade exfoliant - I LOVE skin care and hair care products. Unfortunately, I cannot stand to spend my hard-earned money on the expensive stuff. I used to use Mary Kay's Microdermabrasion system and loved it. However, it is cost prohibitive. I decided to do some research and experiment with what I have on hand and found a super cheap exfoliant at home that really works and is amazingly simple!
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Your favorite facial cleanser (I use Philosophy's Purity Made Simple)
Mix the two together and apply to face. Gently massage in a circular motion for about 30-seconds to a minute. Rinse off with warm water. I was impressed with how soft my skin felt afterwards - the roughness/toughness from dead skin was gone! Be sure to follow up with a good moisturizer!
• Hair care - I have naturally curly hair. And if I don't use tons of conditioner and spray gel on it, its a frizzy mess. I recently learned that I shouldn't even be using shampoo! I've dealt with dry scalp and dandruff for years and couldn't imagine that I wouldn't need to use shampoo. But I decided to be brave and try it. I simply rinse my hair in water for a few minutes and then massage conditioner into my scalp and the rest of my hair. I then lather it a bit (by sticking my head under the water stream for a second) and comb it out. I leave it like that for the duration of the shower and then rinse it out before I get out. My hair is super soft and much healthier now because I'm not rinsing away the scalp oils that my hair desperately needs! I did struggle with an itchy scalp but then I started using Head & Shoulders conditioner (with the zinc properties that are also in the shampoo) and haven't had an itchy scalp issue since. I'm also reducing trash because now I use just one bottle of stuff in the shower instead of two!
Reader-submitted tips:
Thanks to readers who have sent in cleaning tips of their own. They are added below!
From Margarett - Add lemon juice or vinegar and tea tree oil to your mixture to give it antibacterial, antifungal and insecticidal properties. You can use it on plants, pets and bedding as well as for cleaning--great deodorizer too!
From Karen - Baking soda also works very well on your hair - using it every week or two to remove all of the product buildup. You can also make most any store-brand body wash into a 'sugar scrub' by adding some sugar! Just pour out the amount you usually use and add 1 T granulated sugar. Gently scrub and exfoliate your body (not recommended for faces, too rough.)
From Karen - As we all should be using sunscreen on our faces and bodies daily, I have found that many of the major brands of sunscreen have products for faces that include moisturizers! So I use these all year long and I have the protection as well as the moisturizer! (I am using one from Banana Boat now - it's called Sunwear Faces and it's SPF30 w/ anti aging moisturizers.)