It feels weird talking about reducing pots for plants! Wonderful, glorious, green plants.  But it’s always just struck me as weird how these plants are purchased, transported home, repotted, and then have left this plastic pot waste behind. How can we do this differently? Also, I know the tempting feeling to acquire more and more plants. And if you really have the time and knowledge to care for them, that’s great. But, if you’re a newbie or you often get distracted at poor plants’ expense, maybe hold back from purchasing more than you can care for. Just a thought…. That being said, I’ve become an absolute sucker for houseplants, so I get it.  Lately, I’ve been experimenting with propagating plants, which is loads of fun and another way to have more plants without worrying about these little pots.

REDUCE

I think plants are great, but it seems that even in the most down-home, local, organic plant place, you’re dealing with these darned plastic pots. So, a lot of what I’m going to say about reducing will just tie in with reusing in the next section. But, what I will say here is this little tangent: Not all plants are created equal. Think about where you’re buying your plants from and if that’s the kind of place you’d like to support. What kind of soil have they used? What kind of growth hormones have they used? See if you can locate a local seller who uses good practices and really loves what they’re doing. Often times, people hold “plant sales” at their homes in the spring, just as one might hold a yard sale. Propagating your own plants ( as mentioned above) is another great way to reduce the waste of these plastic pots.

REUSE

A lot of ideas I’ve seen on reusing these plastic planting pots in new ways are probably things I wouldn’t actually do… The ideas that would be the most likely involve the multi-sectioned pots. After cleaning them out, they could be used to sort screws or nails or they could be used to teach a child color sorting or money sorting. I also heard some people who use these pots as a sort of filler in very large pots to take up some soil space.

One of my favorite ideas is going back to where you bought the plant, especially if it was a local grower, and seeing if they can reuse them for a new plant. Better yet, though, reuse the plastic pots to help you as you get new cuttings started. I recently asked ReStore if they’d take a donation of plastic planting pots, and they accepted a stack of them. You can also offer the pots up on a site like Freecycle to see if anyone is interested. Maybe try calling around to some local nurseries too. If you happen to work with kids at a school or community setting, it would be super awesome to teach them about propagating plants and then use it as a fundraiser once the plants have grown. This would be an instance where you could be reusing plastic pots during your growing and selling.

RECYCLE?

You’d have to check with your local recycling center or curbside recycling to see if these are recyclable in your area. Don’t be shy; you can do it. Just remember, throwing the plastic pots into a recycling bin without checking first does not mean you’ve done your environmental part. In fact, it could just mean creating more work for the recycling center. Sometimes, large home improvement-type stores will have their own plastic pot recycling option too, so keep your eyes open for that as an option as well.

ENDING THOUGHTS

Those plastic pots seem to be everywhere, especially in planting season. Maybe we’ll find a better way of doing this soon. In the meantime, my suggestions are to be smart about the plants you buy and from where, offer the pots to growers who might be able to use them, or use them for your own growing and giving away. And lastly, check with local recycling to see if that’s an option.

Thank you for being here! Your actions can and will make a difference.

It seems that with so much online, catalogs would be less popular, but I still see so many. Sometimes the catalogs are fairly unassuming, but sometimes they are monster catalogs. Either way, if it’s not a wanted catalog, see what you can do to stop it from coming to your mailbox. If it’s a catalog you genuinely like getting, that’s great. Maybe consider if you could look at the products online instead though. But, quite often I see catalogs arrive at someone’s home or business and go straight to the recycling, or worse, the trash.  At one of my jobs, I saw so many catalogs go into the recycling, that I finally asked if I could just cancel them. It was way easier than I thought it might be, and it reduced the amount of incoming stuff to deal with.

REDUCE

The best way to reduce your number of unwanted catalogs is to take the time when ordering something to make sure you’re not automatically signed up to be on a mailing list. There’s usually a check box somewhere along the process where you can “opt out” before anything is even sent. 

But, if you do end up receiving catalogs in the mail, either in your name or from a former house or business owner, it’s fairly easy to cancel.

There’s usually a phone number on the back of a catalog. They’ll ask for your name or a code on the catalog. I’ve called and cancelled a good number of catalogs in recent years, and I would say with 95% of companies, it’s super easy and they really don’t care why you’re unsubscribing. There are some companies that are tough to get a hold of or who are slightly weird about it, but I would say that’s definitely the exception. Often times, you can also just go to the company’s website to unsubscribe. You will usually be told that you will still receive one or two more catalogs since everything is preprinted. I think the standard answer is to give it 6-8 weeks to process. Because I was dealing with canceling so many catalogs at one point, I made a list of catalog names and the date I called, just to make sure everything stopped after that time period and to have a record of which ones I had already called.

REUSE 

There are so many ideas for reusing catalogs.  An online search will provide an abundance of inspiration.  Above are some videos I’ve made that can be used for any number of paper products – magazines, catalogs, wrapping paper, etc. Paper products can be reused for collaging, crafting, making homemade envelopes, shredded gift wrap filler, gift bows or wrap, and so much more. If you’ve cancelled all your catalogs and magazines but still want to upcycle or craft with some, don’t worry. You can always ask friends or Freecycle. 

RECYCLE? 

Catalogs CAN be recycled. There was a time awhile ago that they couldn’t, but that’s no longer the case. My only hesitation with the awesomeness that they can be recycled, is that some people get careless then about reducing and reusing. Remember, to get the catalog TO you, trees are cut down, dyes are made, the catalog is manufactured and transported, which means pollution and water usage. And then the recycling itself, while is better than the trash, also involves its own transportation and manufacturing. 

ENDING THOUGHTS 

Reducing unwanted catalogs is easy. Spend the time you might be zoning out on your device or waiting on someone and cancel those catalogs! You’ll feel an enormous weight lifted for a relatively simple process. Not only are you doing your part for our environment, it’s also just really nice not to have to see those unwanted catalogs in your mail every month. 

Thank you for being here. Your actions can and will make a difference!

Like any paper product, I think that reducing facial tissues is an easy way to change our habits and help the environment.  For years, Kimberly Clark, of Kleenex fame, chose to ignore environmental concerns of cutting down virgin forests for their products because they felt these trees provided “superior softness.”  Oh, dear…    Facial tissues, like other paper products, involve trees being cut down, transportation pollution getting the trees to a mill, the pulp to a factory, the product to a packaging plant, and so on.  Many, many facial tissues use bleach to whiten their product, which may be leaked into waterways and doesn’t sound the healthiest for our bodies either.  The aloe tissues use mineral oil, a petroleum product, to create their softness. No, thank you.  And, tissues are yet another product that is thrown away after only seconds of use. Reducing our use of tissues is a no-brainer.

REDUCE 

So, how do we start reducing our use of tissues? My favorite way is with cloth hankies. Cloth is SOOOoooo much softer– no red or chapped noses. They are so much cheaper. They make way less mess. They’re better for your health, if you consider the bleach or petroleum products found in some tissues. 

I think when some people think of a handkerchief, they think of an old, snotty rag kept in a shirt pocket.  But it really doesn’t have to be that way. At our house, we have a huge supply of cloth hankies, and since they just go in with our clothes wash, we use what we need. We use a smaller 7.5” square size, rather than the larger 12” size. Cloth handkerchiefs can be purchased on places like Etsy, but you can also easily make your own, as they are just square pieces of cloth with a stitched border.  Just remember, cotton is a notoriously wasteful crop, so try reusing material you have or finding cloth made from organic cotton, hemp, or bamboo. 

I used to carefully fold our cloth nose wipes and place them in a reused tissue box so they would dispense one at a time, but that didn’t last long for me. It’s easy enough to do (a tutorial), but it’s even easier to just put a stack of clean ones in a basket or a drawer. Used ones just go in with our regular wash, whether it’s clothes or towels or sheets. They always come out clean and fresh! I can’t speak highly enough of using cloth—cheaper, softer, better for the environment, and bonus, you can have fabric with cute little designs if you’d like!

If you’re REALLY not ready to part with disposable tissues, just start by being more conscious as to how many you’re using.  Look for 100% recycled paper and a minimum of 40% post-consumer content.  Look for tissues that are process chlorine-free (Beware of “elemental chlorine-free!”) Also, be aware of what packaging the tissues come in. Instead of buying a huge group of travel packs, individually wrapped, buy a bigger box and divvy them out into small, reusable zippered pouches.

REUSE 

This seems like a strange thing to address. Once a disposable tissue is used, that’s that. But, say you have a stack of tissues that was sitting in the car and was squished or stepped on, or for whatever reason you don’t want to use these unused tissues as tissues. Well, keep them, and use them to wipe baseboards or clean up little messes. Use them for eyeglasses or wiping your dashboard. Don’t toss unused tissues!

The item you would most likely be looking into reusing would be the box itself. As with anything, you could search this and find a million ideas. My favorites are decoupaging or decorating it and using as an organizer, using as a diorama box, storing crayons, punching out small bits for gift tags, or playing a fun family game called “Junk in the Trunk.” In fact, at one point I wanted to try this game and had to ask people for empty tissue boxes since we haven’t had any in years.

RECYCLE? 

Here’s what I’ve read in my recent Internet search on this:

–Unused tissues are sometimes recyclable (But why on earth are you getting rid of unused tissues?)  And mostly, I read that the fibers are too small to actually recycle…

–Used tissues are definitely not.  However, there are some people who compost these, especially if they’re unbleached.  Research it more and see if this is for you.

–The cardboard boxes that facial tissues come in are definitely recyclable! Flatten them and put in with your other cardboard.

—Any outer plastic wrap should be able to go in with plastic bag recycling, but you might want to double-check with your local bag recycling facility.

ENDING THOUGHTS

Reducing our use of tissues is a great way to help the environment. And, as I said, for us, using cloth has been a far superior option. We far prefer the softness and cost-effectiveness of cloth vs. the scratchy paper ones that you have to keep purchasing. Consider making the switch and giving it a try! 

Thank you for being here. Your actions can and will make a difference!

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