Many Ways to Reuse Plastic Bags

image by quinn.anya

• Miniature garbage bags. Rather than purchasing another roll of plastic garbage bags for your trash cans at home, why not consider using a plastic bag from the supermarket? You’ll be saving yourself money on trash liners, while finding another use for a bag that will ultimately end up in the landfill.
• Suitcase organizers. Over the course of a week’s worth of vacation time, many traveler’s suitcases begin to look like a tornado hit them! Plastic bags can be a great way to keep dirty clothes cordoned off from your clean garments, and stay organized throughout your trip. Furthermore, plastic bags are a great tool for wrapping wet swimsuits after a long day at the beach.
• Spill-proof liners. Even containers that are supposedly spill-proof will leak from time to time, potentially making a sticky mess you’ll need to clean later. Use a plastic bag wrapped around such containers in lunch boxes, diaper bags, and gym bags to ensure that any leaks will kept away from your other possessions.
• Doggie Duty. Perhaps one of the best known ways to recycle extra grocery bags, many dog owners use these bags to clean up after their puppies. Many communities have ordinances in place, which make cleaning up after your pooch a necessity. Carrying a plastic bag with you will ensure you’re ready to scoop up any mess your dog may leave behind, and will ensure your hands stay clean and free of any contact with your precious pup’s little gifts.
• Protective Shipping Filler. Instead of purchasing expensive filler to protect a fragile package you may be shipping, use extra bags you may have around the house. In addition to being cost-prohibitive, commercial fillers are made with plastics and chemicals that further pollute the environment. Reusing a plastic bag gives new life to a discarded product, and eliminates further waste.
• Reuse your bags for groceries. Though few consumers actually do so, plastic bags can be reused for the very purpose they were created for: carrying groceries! Take several plastic bags to the store with you on your next visit, and request that the sacker use the old bags instead of new ones. You may get a few odd looks, but take comfort in knowing you’re helping out the environment.

Recycling and reusing old bags is just another way to minimize your environmental footprint. In the event that you still have excess bags around the house, consider recycling them at your supermarket. Most stores provide receptacles near the entrance.

Sarah Danielson writes for Trucker to Trucker where you can find information on commercial truck financing and check out the latest deals on trucks across the country.

All those are fun and obviously useful because they develop a great habit of turning useless stuff into something cool (maybe even if that’s pretty much useless in the end). They spur creativity and hopefully get families together (in making something and inspiring each other).

This post is about creating really awesome things out of computer parts and accessories (which get old so quickly and need to be recycled properly). This post is meant to promote sustainable living in all its beauty: you never throw away anything, you turn it for real good:

1. Recycle a CD Case into a Garden Cloche

So simple and smart! It works like a mini greenhouse by offering climate control to help get new seedlings off to a good start (don’t forget to bookmark this idea for when the sunny gardening days are back!)

Source: CD Case into Garden Cloche

2. An Old Keyboard into Seedling Starter

So you have a few old keyboards and you have no idea how to make use of them? Why not try use them to green your interior a bit?

Can we say now we have an eco-friendly keyboard?

Source: Greenery On Keyboard

3. An Old Computer Monitor into the Kitten’s Home

If you ever owned a cat, you know how much those creatures love to have a home. So why not make one using your old computer monitor? When beautified a bit, this can be turned into a really cute home actually:

Source: Recycle a Computer Monitor into a Cute Cat Bed

4. An Old Computer Board into an Aquarium

If you prefer fish, consider creating one of these really awesome-looking Computer aquariums! I am sure this would walk so relaxing and inspiring if you always have it on the table:

5. A Hard Drive into a Fun Clock

This clock is made using circuit boards from the hard drive and other various computer parts.
Clock dial is actual mirror-finished disk platter with gold colored raised numbers.

Yes, it might be hard to create one yourself: use this project to get inspired or if you really want to have one, buy it from Etsy user TecoArt:

6. Apple Keyboard into a Clock

Yet another awesome clock idea: the clock sports its original aqua blue, white and transparent finish and an “apple red” second hand.

Source: Apple iBook Blueberry Clamshell Laptop Keyboard recycled as Clock.

7. Recycled Circuit Boards into a Pencil Box

This funky pencil box could make a great present to your teen kid.

Source: Recycled circuit boards

8. Bird Feeder

What a great Winter present for your garden birds!

9. Old CDs into Fun Coasters

I am sure everyone has tons of old CDs at home. There are many great ideas to reuse them including CD Lamp and CD Photo Frame. And here’s another one: Recycled CD coasters!

Source: Recycled CD coasters

10. Computer Art!

Mixed paint and used computer disks on wood: beautiful picture which can decorate your interior!

Source: Just another phantasie

This is a guest post by Annie who represents Cheap Stingy Bargains, an awesome resource of Dell coupon codes.

Instead of planting yourself in front of the TV for the day, well maybe just for the Football game, consider getting out some and getting fresh air or play a board game. Take advantage of the time together with family while decreasing your energy usage.

If you are going to someone else’s home for dinner, consider turning down the thermostat and turning off the lights to save energy at home while you are gone.

Don’t forget to recycle. Encourage everyone to pitch in and put the recyclables in bins. Recycling all the packaging from the fixings for the meal, as well as any beverage containers, will significantly reduce the number of times you have to take the trash out, as well as the amount of garbage you send to the landfills.

Using all of those LEFTOVERS is super green

When you decorate that table, use produce, leaves, acorns and branches, bring the outdoors in and use your good dishes instead of paper plates, that of course goes without saying!

We have so much to be thankful for here in Texas. Sharing time with family and being in the company of the ones we love. Hope your Holiday is a wonderful one.

“You don’t have to cut down a tree, to make a used cardboard box!”

The founder of the company, Marty Metro, started selling used cardboard boxes in his local neighborhood back in 2002 and he saw the potential for a big business;

“It’s true! In 2002, I started buying and selling used cardboard boxes in my neighborhood, just because I knew people wanted to get rid of them after they move… and I knew others would buy used boxes, if they were available. I figured I’d test it out and see if anything came from it.”

UsedCardboardBoxes.com doesn’t cut down any trees at all. They rescue truckloads of quality used boxes from large companies that might otherwise recycle them or simply throw them away. The recycled boxes are guaranteed to work just as well as a new box.

Marty Metro Started by Selling Boxes in his Neighborhood

They offer lots of “moving packs” which are ideal for that next relocation, and they always include FREE SHIPPING!

Some of their boxes will have printing on them. Some may have tape, packing labels or even handwriting on them but this is a small price to pay for keeping all of those perfectly usable boxes in circulation. Watch a video of their recycling process here;

The company says that “No matter what you order from UsedCardboardBoxes.com, your satisfaction is guaranteed, 100%.” So what are you waiting for? If you need some cardboard boxes for moving, packing or storage, this is a great green alternative to just buying new.
Visit them today;
UsedCardboardBoxes.com

Piles of E-Waste!

I have noticed a trend of e-waste products starting to hit our local stores in the form of circuit board picture frames etc, but I wanted to find an online store / company that sold them a little cheaper than the big retailers, that’s when I found “Terracycle”. All of Terracycles products are made from recycled items and their waste electronic recycling products are the best…

Waste Electronic Recycling by Terracycle

The Large E-Waste Picture Frame

The Small E-Waste Picture Frame

The picture frames are really nice and the prices are great too, but my favorite e-waste product from Terracycle is their recycled electronic waste desk clock;

Terracycle E-Waste Desk Clock

The Terracycle slogan is to “Outsmart Waste!” and they certainly do that. Big companies have started to notice these great products and Target now sells Terracycles e-waste clocks and picture frames made from circuit boards. So if you are interested in keeping some more electronic waste away from our landfills then check out their site;

http://www.terracycle.net/

If you want to get involved in other ways then make sure you take your own e-waste to a local drop off center, we found a great site where you can find the closest place to drop off your old electronic products;

http://ewaste-dropoff.com/index.html

As a family we certainly have enough re-usable material to create some cool looking decorations, this is so much better for the environment than buying new, so we started to trawl our cupboards, garages and loft spaces for things to turn into our Irish Green decor!

 

A Handmade Green Clover

A St. Patricks Day Gift Box

Let’s start with his appearance, the first and most obvious advantage he has over the rest of us eco warriors is that he is in fact “Green”, he can’t help it! In addition to actually being green he has a large belly and is covered in fur, this means his biological heating system is super efficient. It’s probably a fact that he barely uses his central heating system and rumor has it that is electricity and gas bills are next to nothing! He even has pockets of fur which he uses to keep his hands warm in the cold of winter.

How The Grinch Stole Recyclables

I have tried to be more Grinchy and have started wearing an extra sweater instead of just turning up the heat in our home.

The next admirable trait is that the Grinch is an amazing re-user of waste, in fact he hardly throws anything away! His cave is full of the scraps from Whoville and his clever inventions are all made from the things that the “Who’s” throw away. Perhaps his most famous re-use of waste materials is when he skillfully recreates Santa’s sleigh.

My quest to be more Grinchy will also involve trying to re-use as many things as possible before deciding to throw them out. This weekend will herald a Grinchfest in the garage where my wife and I are going to see if there is any waste we can put to use. I can’t promise I will be making a flying sleigh but there must be something creative we can do.

So let’s all take a page from the Grinch’s book on life and turn down that thermostat, put on a furry green sweater and strive to re-use as much as we can! Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss…