A Different Type of Donation

Are you starting to think about spring cleaning? Have you been doing "spring cleaning" this whole time during quarantine and there are just bags piling up because you don't want to visit a thrift store with crowds and reduced hours? 

Or, are you avoiding thrift stores because I've already told you they're only able to sell a small portion of their overall donations? Or you have some items that aren't great condition?

There's a new service, for clothing and textile donation specifically, that will solve all of this: Retold Recycling. It works through prepaid mailers (convenience). Those prepaid mailers are made from compostable cornstarch (you won't add more plastic to the waste stream). They then sort through your items to find the best path to divert them into: thrift shop, charity shop, recycler, upcycler.

Because they do the sorting, you don't have to figure out: Is this thrift shop already over-saturated in jeans? How do I find a textile recycler for my hole-y socks? You can feel good knowing that Retold is making these informed decisions for you, preventing your items from ending up in the landfill. 

This service is "ish" cost neutral. You will pay up front for the pre-paid mailers. And if you do one of their recurring subscriptions, they give you rewards to spend with their feel-good brand partners (aka companies with like-minded good-for-the-planet goods). The bags average $15 up front and you receive $15 approximate value to spend with the partners. 

I'm curious what you think: Is this a recycling model you would be interested in trying?

Refinish Your Furniture

A couple years ago, I got this ugly white filmy stain on my coffee table. Not sure what caused it, perhaps the heat of a pizza box. I turned a blind eye, in fear that I had destroyed the finish and it was going to be a major undertaking to restore it to its original glory. My mind spiraled with visions of chemical stripper and sandpaper, and stains and varnish, doing a ton of work just to end up with a top that didn't perfectly match the rest of the table. You can't tell the size from this cropped photo, but the stained area was approximately 6" x 10".

Finally ready to face the daunting task, I start Googling my options, and was presented with shockingly easy solutions, none of which involved removing and redoing the finish.

Option 1: Rub it mayonnaise.

Option 2: Rub it with equal parts oil and vinegar (so mayonnaise). 

Option 3: Rub a hot iron on steam setting over it. 

The iron option seemed a little more advanced and scary, so mayo it was. The worst that could happen would be I'd need to wash it off, and I'd be out less than 10 cents.

So I gathered a soft white rag and a bottle of mayo. I squirted about a tablespoon of mayo onto the rag, and rubbed into the wood, with the grain. 

The results were *immediate*. Within 10 seconds, the white film was completely gone, and the excess mayo wiped clean with a dry part of the rag. Use a little lemon furniture polish as a next step to remove any last mayo smell.

Lesson learned: don't be intimidated to try and do minor restoration of your furniture. These tiny touch-ups will prolong the life and look of my furniture for years, costs almost no $$ and time, and takes no harsh chemicals.

Are you ready to upgrade your furniture for free?

Sustainable Suites

T and I finally made a trip to Spokane after more than a year. Typically we'd go a few times a year to visit his mom, but alas, COVID. His mom finally got her first vaccine, so we headed for a visit and to do some honey-dos. 

To reduce our time together, we opted for a hotel, which is how we ended up at the Downtown Spokane Oxford Suites, a great mid-level hotel on the riverfront. They seemed to have a bicycle theme throughout the hotel, quite appropriate given the location. In the lobby, they incorporated upcycled wheels and tires into their bike-themed decor. Why, hello, Spokane!

 And here, multiple wheels create an abstract pattern above the lobby check-in desk.

Do these give you ideas for reusing and materials for home decor? Ranging from modern to shabby chic, it gets the imagination going for how you could make some interesting DIY art on any theme.

Beyond the lobby art, there were some sustainable features in the room itself. LED bulbs in all the lamps: 

These ecosmart bulbs are 9W LEDs with a 60W equivalent brightness.

Moving into the bathroom, they replaced the mini toiletries with full-sized toiletries, saving on both packaging and product waste:

Now they didn't brag about these amenities or sustainability features on their website; however, they did call out that they have electric car charging (including Tesla) available. Until these features become mainstream, you may need to make a quick call to the hotel or read some reviews to seek out hotels making these smarter choices. 

Large hotel groups are already starting to make the change, including the likes of Marriott, Holiday Inn, and Crowne Plaza. Per Marriott, a global change across their portfolio will "prevent about 500 million tiny bottles annually from going to landfills; that’s about 1.7 million pounds of plastic, a 30 percent annual reduction from current amenity plastic usage."

What can you do? Choose hotels that are committing to these changes, and if you are faced with a hotel that hasn't made the switch, politely leave a comment at guest services. 

Time to Start Your Edible Garden!

It may seem crazy to be thinking about a spring or summer garden in the midst of Snowmageddon 2021, but now is the perfect time to start your plants indoors.

There are so many videos and posts out there about creative ways to reuse household items as seed starters, that I thought I'd try a few out for you! Check back in a few weeks and I'll share which were the most successful.

Option 1: the salsa jar I held back from recycling.You'll want to put some rocks or vase marbles in the bottom for drainage.

Option 2: the plastic vented produce container. This one held tomatoes, but you'll see this same container used for berries too. The idea behind these is that you can close the lid, creating a greenhouse effect.

Option 3: Any old plastic tub. We eat a ton of dairy, from sour cream to yogurt to cream cheese, so plastic tubs are a-plenty. I drilled some small holes for drainage, or you could use rocks, like we did with the glass jar.

Option 4: a TP or paper towel tube. Cut down to a few inches tall. Cut 4 slits around the bottom, so you can fold into a flat base, like a box. The idea here is that the cardboard is biodegradable, and when you're ready to plant outside, you can plant the tube and all.

Once you've gathered your containers, fill with potting soil and seeds. My seeds are coming in the form of a halved organic cherry tomato. No need to clean off the tomato - it will degrade in the soil. Push the tomatoes or seeds into the soil and cover with about 1" more of soil.

Place your starter pots in a sunny window and water as needed to keep the soil moist.

Happy planting, folks! What edible plants will you be growing this year?

Perpetual Pickles

We are a pickle-loving household, and usually have a few jars in the fridge and a couple back-ups in the pantry. This sounds excessive, but how else do you have spears, stackers, chips, and cornichons, and guarantee you won't have to fight over the last stacker on burger night? 

So inevitably, we go through several jars a year, each over half-full of that delicious, dilly, garlicky brine. 

You can use up that brine in anything that requires an acidic component, like marinades. 

But why not reuse it for its original purpose? Simply chop up a cucumber into your preferred shape, put it in the jar, and in a few days, you have round 2 of pickles. (I used 1 medium pickle to fill a 24 oz jar.) Make sure your cucumber is submerged and don't forget if you put chips in a jar labelled stackers. :) 

The original recommendation I saw for this stated it would take about 2 days to make these "fridge pickles" (good term to Google for other pickle reciples that don't require the canning method), but we found that at 2 days they were still crunchy and cucumber-y. They were perfect for us at about 1 week.

Not only did we get a second use of the jar and brine, but I didn't need to experiment with getting the right spice combination to make homemade brine from scratch, when we love that classic Vlasic flavor.

Average cost of a cucumber? $0.79

Cost of a 24 oz jar of pickles? $2.49

You've saved $1.70 (68%), and reduced your glass and food waste!

Fabric Napkins: Not Just for Fancy Friday

I guess there's no time like quarantine to start spring cleaning early. I got an itch to organize my linen closet on Friday night (wild party!) and came across some cloth napkins I bought years ago. I'd forgotten about them, as I don't often entertain outside of Thanksgiving. 

It reminded me of all the "nice" things I save for a nice day, like that good bottle of truffle oil, only to realize it's gone bad by the time I deem an occasion special enough. So why save the fabric napkins and waste paper napkins? Put em on the table. Done! Keep them in a convenient drawer nearby or cute basket on the table, so that they are convenient to use.When they're dirty, put in the regular wash with your clothes. 

I highly recommend getting napkins with a print on them. They won't show oily stains like plain colored (I'm looking at you, ranch dressing!).

Do you only have holiday napkins? Both new and second hand cloth napkins are super easy find. There are tons at the usual thrift stores, but also don't forget antique stores. Still avoiding stores due to COVID? Here are a just couple options:

Ebay - you may have forgotten about them as the 1990's virtual garage sale, but they are still around and bigger than ever. Just select condition "pre-owned" for your search and you'll come across some amazing finds including vintage designer options.

For example, this lot of 8 vintage Vera napkins for $31.

Or this set of 4 vintage retro napkins plus rings for $31.

I love this set of 6 floral napkins for $14.

Go for a global look with this set of 8 batik napkins for $17.

And don't forget Etsy, which is great for both new handmade as well as vintage. I'm in love with these awesome, vibrant owls from Clear Sky Home, set of 4 for $22.

This is one of those super easy swaps, that takes a small investment up front, but easily pays for itself over the course of a year.

COVID Didn't Stop Us in 2020

2020 may have been discouraging in several ways (thank goodness it's 2021!). There were several things we couldn't do: coffee shops stopped accepting your personal reusable cups. Restaurants moved to takeout-only with piles of disposable napkins, utensils, wrappers and containers. Grocery stores stopped allowing reusable shopping bags... In so many ways, it felt like an insurmountable backslide away from the good sustainable practiced we'd made habit.

On the flip side, there were so many things we did better. For example, with many jobs moving to work from home, we had substantial less commuting. This both saved fuel as well as provided more time for cooking at home and DIY projects. In some areas, we learned completely new skills, and in others, we kept the habits we could, but moved them online.

Thank you for joining me for 38 posts. Through it, we learned a lot and saved a lot:

Clothing and Fashion

• We went thrifting with friends and saved $187 on the perfect skinny jeans and a tutu-like formal skirt for a night on the town. 
• In-person store closures led me to more online thrifting, and saving $96 on blouses and boots.
• I got fancy, saving $104 by thrifting tuxedo pants and and a sparkly skirt. 
• Adding an ankle strap secured my shoes with style. 
• You don't need to splurge to explore your feminine side. I saved $173 on second-hand ruffles. 
• Rental clubs helped us keep things interesting while not buying new clothing.
• Second-hand allowed me to save $50 and explore new colors. 
• I used Poshmark for the first time, expanding my options for second-hand marketplaces.
• A combo of second-hand and DIY saved me $38 on an original Halloween costume.

Energy and Fuel

• We chose pooled or shared trips with our rideshare, and saved $20. 
• We conserved energy by putting our holiday lights on a simple light timer. 
• Cozy sweaters and blankets let us save 10% on our energy bill by dropping the thermostat a couple degrees. 
• Our holiday gifts didn't have to travel far by shopping local.

Pets

• My cat appreciated hours of scratching time because I restored his scratching posts.
• My dog was entertained by a second-hand ball pit from Buy Nothing.
• A homemade cat scratcher gave second life to scrap cardboard, and saved $10.

Kitchen and Cooking

• We replaced our Saran wrap with beeswax wraps. 
• We reflected on 24 ways we could honor Earth Day, despite quarantine. Just one example? We reused our "disposable" takeout utensils.  
• We made flavorful sauces from the waste of jarred sundried tomatoes.
• Portioning and freezing let us make the most of our hard-to-use-up ingredients. 
• Oat milk was an easy-to-make alternative to dairy, avoiding both packaging and methane emissions.
• We enjoyed our leftovers to the last bite, by incorporating them into new recipes.
  

Garden

• We gained survival skills by regrowing our lettuce!
• Home propagated succulents save $2.
• Our Christmas tree got a second life as compost.
  

Home and Bath

• I shared my failed flax hair gel experiment, so next time you know what NOT to do! 
• DIY saves us $10, when we made a hamper liner out of an old sheet.
  
• Switching our cotton swabs may have just saved a seahorse!
• We upgraded our hair products by buying solid.
• Coconut oil made for habitat-friendly, clean burning candles. 
  

Party and Holiday

• Some DIY piñata-making turned packaging waste into a party, and saved $20. 
• We saved a tree by swapping to recycled holiday cards. 
• Normalizing (gently used) second hand gifts saves money and resources.
• We wrapped our gifts with fabric and recycled paper. 
• We remembered that our time is the best gift of all.

Community

• We earned rewards by logging our sustainable activities in the Random Acts of Green app. 
• We gave back to our communities while de-cluttering our homes.

Overall, we saved $710 this year while saving tons of resources. Here's looking forward to an even better 2021. Cheers!