Changing my Perspective about Weeds

In a previous post, I discussed the importance of organic gardening and reasons why we should avoid herbicides and insecticides. We can take it a step beyond that and learn to appreciate weeds. Now, nobody wants a weed growing in their garden, taking up space and depleting nutrients from your vegetables and herbs, but weContinue reading “Changing my Perspective about Weeds”

5 Ways to Upcycle Cassette Tapes

I’ve inherited a few boxes of cassette tapes, and now I’m brainstorming ways to upcycle them. To do these projects, I first needed to do some research. First, I checked to see if there was any value at all in these cassette tapes and found that some can actually be sold depending on the bandContinue reading “5 Ways to Upcycle Cassette Tapes”

10 Ways to Upcycle Old Clothes

After my clothing swap party, I was left with a huge amount of clothing to deal with. I sold a few pieces to some resale shops, but that barely put a dent in the amount of clothes leftover. Selling used clothing can be tricky because most shops are very particular about how old the styleContinue reading “10 Ways to Upcycle Old Clothes”

10 Tips for a Greener Closet

Nearly 92 million tons of textile waste ends up in a landfill each year. What’s worse is the fashion industry accounts for roughly 10% of global carbon emissions. Fast fashion encourages low cost clothing and new styles weekly resulting in mass overproduction. I had no idea the clothing crisis was so bad. It’s changed the way IContinue reading “10 Tips for a Greener Closet”

Five Steps to Green Up your Toiletries

Recently, I’ve started helping people clean out their pantries and closets. I’ve been partnering with multiple charities in my hometown to donate good, usable items after I do a clean out. Much of the clothing and food items are not fit for donation, however, and must be disposed of environmentally. Fortunately, most food items canContinue reading “Five Steps to Green Up your Toiletries”

10 Tips for Preventing Food Waste (Green Living and Food Part 3)

I’ve revamped my dietary plans and now I have goals for greener grocery shopping. The last thing I’d like to focus on is preventing food waste. According to estimates by the Economic Research Service, nearly 30% to 40% of food gets wasted in the United States. This number is alarming. Nearly half the food producedContinue reading “10 Tips for Preventing Food Waste (Green Living and Food Part 3)”

Zero Waste Challenge Day 10: Compost

Composting is one of those incredibly simple activities that has a huge pay off. Not only is it better for the environment, but you’re left with rich, nutrient-dense soil that can be used for gardening. I love composting because it keeps food and other perishables out of the landfills so it can decompose naturally andContinue reading “Zero Waste Challenge Day 10: Compost”

Zero Waste Challenge Day 9: Green Cleaning

Now that we’re focusing on lifestyle changes, let’s talk about cleaning! How green are your cleaning products and habits? Common household cleaners contain harsh chemicals that are not only bad for the environment, but can be harmful to the health of your family and pets, too. Using natural cleaning products is safer and healthier. AvoidContinue reading “Zero Waste Challenge Day 9: Green Cleaning”

Zero Waste Challenge Day 3: Water Bottles

While we’re on the topic of swapping out single use for reusable, let’s not forget about water bottles. It’s estimated that roughly 80% of water bottles end up in a landfill where they’ll take nearly 1,000 years to degrade. Currently, there’s no good method for recycling all these single-use plastics which is why they ultimatelyContinue reading “Zero Waste Challenge Day 3: Water Bottles”

Zero Waste Challenge Day 2: No More Plastic Straws!

The next step in the Zero Waste Challenge focuses on simple swaps from single use to reusable. And the first swap I’m going to try is making the switch to reusable straws instead of plastic ones. Plastic straws pose a number of environmental hazards; they’re not biodegradable, they’re difficult to recycle, they’re small so canContinue reading “Zero Waste Challenge Day 2: No More Plastic Straws!”