I have recycled for years. I also compost kitchen scraps into my garden. I don'thave anywhere in my area to recycle syrofoam. so if I can help it, I don't by it, i.e. egg cartons.

you have completely changed my attitiude and i am goin gto become a freegan and change the earth

Its so great to read more and more ways people reuse. My puppy is even contributing to the re-use portion of life by using toilet paper tubes as chew toys. I think we all would do more if we just thought about it. It doesn't have to cost any more to live greener.

we recycle in our house and my husband and i are always trying to get our parents to be vigilant about it as well. after becoming a mother, it makes me that much more aware of the need to reduce waste and also to use baby-friendly cleaning products. we use vinegar to clean everything now!

Kleen Kanteens and Sigg bottles are great alternative to plastic sippy cups. Check them out!

I use cloth bags for shopping and try to recycle the garden waste. I try to recycle and reuse as much as I can. Use old T shirts for mopping floors.

I use the plastic containers that salads and fruits come in as mini-greenhouses to start seeds.

My friend, Laura, just sent an additional suggestion: In place of disposable paper gift wrapping, she & her family wrap presents in fabric & reuse the same wrapping. I recall that Laura once wrapped a present for me in a pretty blue dishtowel; the wrapping was part of the present.

I now live in India and that taught me to seriously think twice about what I trash. When more than 50% of the coutry population live under the pverty line, and infrastructure for recycling is not that great, you start wondering if what you are trashing can't be reused somehow. I Refuse to buy anything that comes in too much packaging, or in plastic jar if another brand offer a glass container. I reuse all my jars to store spices, knick knacks, or other foood stuff. And my daily trash weight is minimal in fact both DH and I combined produce about 2 pounds a day in average.

I would like to know how compost can be made at home. I have a small garden and can use it as manure. But I also have four dogs, so I would notlike them to play and mess around with trash.

I would like to know how compost can be made at home. I have a small garden and can use it as manure. But I also have four dogs, so I would notlike them to play and mess around with trash.

I found a website called www.howtocompost.org which may answer a lot of questions. Composting can be a simple as keeping a bin of tender garden/lawn clippings (cut larger items into small pieces to speed the process; woody items decompose slowly), renew from one year to the next. For information on indoor composting, or composting workshops in the NY area, see www.lesecologycenter.org

I just wanted to say, I know reusing plastic ziplock bags and food containers sounds like a great idea, but they hold bacteria and waste, no matter how much you wash/scrub them. It is not healthy for you or your children to do this, and can cause more harm than you may be willing to deal with.

Question for kh: Are there specific instances you can advise us of? I understand that one must judgment about re using ...If a plastic bag used for perishable food (meat, mayo) comes home after a school/camp day, I would toss it. In trying to wash such a bag, one can notice that it doesnt feel clean. If a bag comes home with cookie or cracker crumbs, I am comfortable re using.

Anybody thought of those things called "Knitting & Crochet" or even the other crafting skills yet? Knowing skills like those helps with recycling too. Instead of buying something like a birthday or christmas present from the store for someone, learn to knit a sweater, or crochet a hat. Then your gift would also have a special sentimental value, and all you did was use some yarn and needles! You don't always have to buy stuff from the store that way. I even read on another internet site about eco-knitting and how you can take and use those plastic bags you get so many of from the store and knit them into grocery bags. you can even take those old clothes that wouldn't have any other use, and crochet strips into a bathroom rug or some such. I could keep going on forever, but my point is that think of how much more you and everyone else can benefit from stuff like that. you can go in so many different directions with this. It's even theraputic(you can save alot of money with that one)!!!

After washing dishes, use the rinse water for glass & cans to be recycled. Probably already know this one, but don't keep water running when washing dishes; also, I've read that Energy Star dishwashers are actually better than washing dishes by hand, so only hand wash stuff that can't go in.
If you sew, old sheets make good muslins (used to test out a pattern before using good fabric) and pressing cloths; when knitting, old sweaters can be unraveled & the unworn sections reused.

I compost and recycle and just began using baking soda, salt and vinegar as cleansers. Dip an old toothbrush in vinegar and then salt to remove mold from grout in the bathtub. It works.

We buy our music online and upload it to our ipods and laptops. No more piles of cds and their cases with the plastic wrapping. 3 teenage girls = alot of music. Also, we subscribe to Netflix rather than buying piles of DVDs.