No More Paper Towels

About a year ago we ran out of paper towels and stopped buying new ones.  At first, this wasn’t exactly hygienic, because I just had a few rags and no system for cleaning them.  Since then, we have a much better system, which I share for those of you who are thinking of forgoing paper towels but who don't have a sewing machine:

We use old T-Shirts.  I tear t-shirts up to rag size pieces-- tearing is important because you don’t get any fraying, which you do when you use scissors.
And a basket to put all the clean rags in
And a small section of floor in the bathroom to put the dirty rags (probably it would be better if we had some kind of container)
We use the same rag for about a day on the counter, and one on the floor.  They rotate regularly.
I wash them all about once a week, together with the mop end thingy.

Changing the Way We Think About Trash

According to Clean Air Council, Americans produce an average of 4.39 lbs trash/day.  That would be 61.5lb (28kg) in our household if Noah isn’t counted, and 92lb (46kg) if he is.  For the simplicity of getting down to 1/10 of the average, I’m going to count him-- plus, the average baby actually creates more trash than adults, despite their tininess.

Over the next two months, I’m going to be writing a lot about trash.  My goal is for our family to have one plastic shopping bag of nonrecyclable trash a week (probably 4-6lb), and not a lot in our green bin (for plastics and metal), for a total of up to 9lb, or 1/10 of the average.  Our paper waste is mainly junk mail, which I will work on reducing in the New Year.  I’m aiming to eliminate our food waste by improving our composting.  When we run out of plastic shopping bags, I’d considering an alternative to putting our trash in a plastic bag, particularly since most food items don’t go in there so smell is not necessarily a huge issue.  Has anyone tried putting their trash directly into their trash can?  Thoughts?

Almost 1/3 of the waste generated in the U.S. is packaging.  A lot of packaging reflects mass production and centralization, which in my bravest moments, is something I want to work against, in favor of decentralization and local production. To reduce our waste, I’m using reusable produce bags, bulk bins at the local coop, and reusing as much as I can.  I won’t use single use items like paper cups or takeout containers.  But Eug can, if he likes, before he gets his kleen kanteen for Christmas.


What's been the most trash-reducing move you've made?

On Whipped Butter, and some links

A little whipped butter

Does anyone use whipped butter for bread or cooking(can’t use it for baking)? Add some milk to some butter (around 1 tbsp per stick/1/4 cup), blend/mix it up and your butter is soft for spreading. It’s great for extending your butter and not trying to spread the unspreadable.

A couple of links from this weeks surfing:

Man vs. Debt discussed couples finances this week. As I’ve mentioned on this blog, Eug and i combine finances but leave a little space for spending differences by each having a small personal spending account. Any thoughts?

Has anyone tried going without shampoo? I’m embarking on the journey, but I’m nervous about the transition period where my hair will be greasy, so I’m taking it slow.  Today was day one with Baking Soda.  I’ll give an update in a few weeks.