Sweet Southern Belle

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

I’ve done pretty well with recycling for a while now. I keep several bins outside my kitchen door for easy access. Even though my city only has curb-side pick up for paper I collect glass, albumin, tin, plastic and cardboard to take downtown to the recycling center any time I’m heading that way. I check out the numbers on the bottom of anything plastic and I try to only buy products that have a 1 or 2 since that’s what I can recycle. I also buy as many products as I can that are made from recycled material. Our market exists on a supply and demand basis so if we demand recycled materials more companies will use them.

However, not until pretty recently was I conscious about reducing or reusing. Reusing is even more important than recycling since it takes a great deal of energy to recycle. Before I throw anything in the trash or recycling bin I try to think of another use.  Here are a few of the things I’ve been doing lately to reduce and reuse.

1. I take notice of the packaging that anything I buy comes in and if I have several choices I try to purchase the product with less packaging.
2. I buy products in the largest possible container. I buy the largest containers I can find of products I use a lot of such as vinegar, olive oil, castile soap and honey.
3. I’m trying to reduce the amount I buy of anything and everything. The truth is I buy buy buy way too much and I need to slow down and think about the necessity of purchases.
4. I am saving all my glass jars for leftover containers (thanks to Amanda for the great idea). I have slowly been trying to weed out the use of plastic containers so saving glass jars helps me have something to put my food in.
5. I reuse glass bottles to put salad dressing or body oil in both of which I make at home and would have to purchase something to put them in otherwise.
6. I’m using both sides of paper when printing and writing.
7. I wash out plastic zip lock bags ( see above pic…not great decor but oh well)  and reuse them for as long as they hold up (usually 3-5 uses) I would like to eventually stop using them but I’m not there yet.
8. I use reusable cloth shopping bags 95 % of the time. That would be 100% if I could remember to take them out of my car ever time I get out!
9. We use wash clothes and cloth napkins instead of paper ones and I’m trying VERY hard to weed out my use of paper towel (the ones I do buy though are made of 100% recycled paper). I keep them in a high cabinet so I have to climb to get them out which makes me really think about the need. Otherwise we use rags that can be washed and re-used!

What do you do to reuse? Any new ideas?

Since this is the last year I’ll live in my twenties I’ve been thinking a lot about age lately. I’ve always heard people say that you’re only as old as you feel but I’m not sure that’s true.

Here’s why……… I think I stopped feeling like I was aging since I was 22-23. While I have a few more wrinkles, and a few (actually a lot) more gray hairs I still feel like I’m in my young twenties.

 I’ll give you an example….I would easily categories myself as a “young married” despite the fact that my dear husband and I will be 29 and 34 this year and have been married close the seven years. But, this morning at church it was proven that no matter how old I feel others know I’m aging. When I started attending Mt. Zion six years ago I started going to the “young married” Sunday school class with people my age or a little older. The class still has the same people and guess what they announced on Sunday?!?!??!! They are starting a “young married” class…what, I thought we were the young married class????? Apparently, not! They want a class with people who really are young and newly married. The nerve! So what are they going to call our class……the middle age married couples class? No way, no how, not me!

I filled up my car for under $30.00 bucks this week!  I’d been paying 50+ for some time so I’m thrilled! Most of the stations around here are now $2.00 or lower a gallon. I’m not sure what’s caused the drop, but I’m thankful!

Before putting Little Belle to bed tonight I read one of her favorite books, The Five Little Ducks. Quite honestly, this book has always bothered me. It’s a simple story about a mama and her five little ducklings who wander away. She starts with five, then only four come back, they leave again, then only three come back and this goes on until she’s left with no little ducklings. When none of the ducklings come back she goes to find them and eventually they all come home with their mama. The part that bothers me is that she doesn’t go looking for them until none of the little ducklings come back.

As an only child and a mama of only one child I don’t know a lot about loving multiple children but I think I’ve observed enough mamas to know that you do.  I think the mama duck should be disturbed when the first little duckling is missing. And, yes I know it makes the book flow and it is just story, but I want her to go find her first little ducking when he/she goes missing. So, from now on I will tell the story my way! Mama duck will go find each of her ducklings as they go missing because she loves them all sooo much!

Do you have a chore you just hate? I do! It’s unloading the dishwasher! My mama made me start doing this when I was young. And, I’ve recently found out it was because she hated to-do it too! Now that I’m home more I cook (or at least prepare) two or three meals a day, six days a week. That’s a lot of dishes and a lot of times to unload. It’s a never ending chore and has to be done 1-2 times a day here. Watch out Little Belle, this will be your first chore too. Now, I am thankful I have a dishwasher because the one thing I hate more than unloading the dishwasher is hand washing dishes.  

I’ll admit that before I married my dear husband I didn’t care much about getting a deal. I bought what I wanted, when I wanted it. Whether it was on sale or not had nothing to- do with me making the purchase. Now, my dear husband is like that about some things but for the most part he loves a deal. When making major purchases (like appliances and vehicles) he prefers to get what you want/need the first time instead of having to upgrade later. However, we still wait for things to be on sale to buy. We’ve been married a little over six years now and he’s slowly converted me over to being a deal seeker too. Actually, I get so excited to get a deal and save money now that it’s almost like a high.

The risk involved with being a deal seeker is in buying stuff you don’t really need just because it’s on sale. I admit that I’m sometimes guilty of that but I try to keep myself in check. This week I’ve gotten some particularly great deals! I got a large box of diapers (126- size 4 diapers, to be exact) for $12.00. The regular retail price is $27.50. Pampers and Huggies are changing their boxes to be more eco-friendly so they have slashed their diapers in old boxes to get them off the shelves. The store had the boxes on sale for $14.00 and I had a $2.00 off coupon! I was so excited in the store I just kept telling the clerk what a great deal it was and how excited I was. I’m sure she just wanted me to hush!

And, today a friend called me to alert me of great 40-75% off sale at Dillard’s. She told me there were some dresses that “looked just like Little Belle”. It just so happened that I had just dropped Little Belle off at Mom’s Morning Out for a few hours and stopping by Dillard’s sounded much more fun than coming home to clean, since that’s what I had planned . I decided to run by there and chec out the sales. I bought myself a few things that I needed for very low prices and then I bought Little Belle a few dresses that were regularly priced at $55.00 for $8.00. Now, anyone that has seen Little Belle knows that I did not “need” to buy her these dresses since her GiGi buys her lots of clothes that keep her dressed like a princess, but I just couldn’t pass up the deal. The dresses are darling and I bought them in sizes that she can wear next year. I guess the dresses fall into the just buying them because they were on sale category but I suppose there are much worse things I could waste $24.00 on than dresses for Little Belle.

My friend Anna Beth has joined the group of Mt. Zion bloggers. Check out the pre-wife’s new blog!!!!

I realized today that in spite of the fact that I’m trying to teach Little Belle about sharing with her friends I really don’t like sharing myself. A few nights ago I popped popcorn right before Little Belle’s bedtime. And, of course she wanted some before bed. I was completely annoyed but let her have some popcorn anyway. Little Belle has grown a love of Ranch dressings and today while I was eating my carrots and dipping them in ranch dressing she kept taking carrots, dipping them and then chewing on the carrot. She did return the carrots after they had been chewed. Gee thanks! As I was getting annoyed and wanted to yell, leave my lunch alone you have your own, I realized that not even an hour earlier I was telling her she should share with her friend Ladybug. I guess I need to work on sharing too! Man, being a parent is so humbling!

 Little Belle has developed a love of the Disney Princesses. She has a pair of long-sleeve pajamas with one of the princesses’ picture on them and every day she wants to wear the shirt. She often chooses her princess book to read and sticks millions of princess stickers on paper a day. Yesterday we made a trip to the dollar store (the “real” dollar store where everything is actually $1.00) and I told her she could pick one prize. She found a princess puzzle when we first walked in the door and even though I showed her other toys she insisted on the princess puzzle.

While I appreciate that Disney has princesses in several colors and ethnicities I wish they came in a few other shapes, besides perfect. The social worker in me worries that such toys and clothes will teach Little Belle that she needs to look “perfect”. I want Little Belle to grow up knowing that princesses come in many shapes and colors. Still, what’s mama to-do? The stuffs everywhere even if we didn’t buy it she’s see it everytime we walk into a store.

Even with my reservations, deep down inside I really love princess stuff too. I’ve never been big on character clothing, but if Little Belle has to have it I’d rather it be Princesses than anything else. I guess the girly girl in me loves them too.

I’ve previously blogged about my love of coffee and the fact that I was drinking 6-12 cups on any given day. I’ve been cutting down and I’m happy to report that I’m down to two cups a day. My head still hurts midday everyday, but I know that will eventually pass. I want to get to only one cup a day. I’m getting close.