"crumbs of lost material add up to a feast of waste at the end of
our lives."
The Garbage Picking Game: Scrounging, Scavenging, Dumpster Diving,
whatever you call it it's a new American game. Matrons in Mercedes,
immigrants, rednecks, housewives looking over their shoulders,
everybody is doing it. Not only money, but resources are saved and
preserved by this sport. Some people make a living doing it.
Neighborhood clean-up days are an excellent opportunity to find items
that you can repair, use or sell.
Dan's Diving notes
Garage Sales give you an opportunity to extract wealth from what
you don't need any more, meet your neighbors and create less clutter
and space in your home. What doesn't sell often gets put out at the
curb at the end of the day and moves on to others.
Why should every home on a block have its own set of tools, garden
implements, and specialized equipment? Take the concept of the
library for books and extend it to useful things and your
neighborhood can save a tremendous amount of material, energy and
money. If your community doesn't already have a tool or specialized
equipment "library" what's to stop your community from setting one
up?
The City of Berkeley, California, has a tool lending library that can
serve as a model :
Berkeley
public library tool lending library
Subscribe to your favorite magazine through your neighborhood
library. Have an automatic hold placed on it for you each month. When
your finished reading it the whole community gets to enjoy it.
Food, from epicurean to basic, makes an ideal gift. It is totally
useful, leaves little waste and may be subject to no sales
tax.
Make a printed list, same order in which they appear in the aisles,
of all the things that you buy in your market. As you discover a need
for an item during the week, circle it on the list. When you go to
the market, you have a tool that will tell you what you need, speed
things up and prevent impulse and over-purchasing.
Why would anybody go out an buy a new couch, tv, table,
exercise machine etc, etc, etc, when people are literally giving
them away free or for barter or very little money on
Craigslist. (coming soon to a majore metrolpolitan area near
you)
This links to the San Francisco Bay Area Craigslist, "Free" Section note the geographical divisions that you can select at the top of their page.
Note that there are other catagories such as "General" for sale, "Barter", etc. All listed on the opening page at http://www.craigslist.org/
see the listings of cities now served on the main page. Absolutely free to use and enjoy.
We've organized these into groupings of somewhat similar things
separated by horizontal rules.
IN GENERAL;
*Make a space for a recycling box wherever convenient in the kitchen.
Place all recyclable items in this box, thus saving time by
eliminating repeat trips to distant recycling bins.
*Start a compost heap for coffee grounds, eggshells and vegetable
scraps. Even if you don't have a garden, you can add these materials
to a nearby green area that will benefit from having its soil
enriched. Just place the organic matter around and under plants. A
gallon plastic jug with its top cut off at 45 degrees opposite the
handle makes a good kitchen storage and carrying device. Or, a
half-gallon milk carton with the top opened up.
*Coffee houses and juice bars are ideal places to get all the
grounds/juicepulp you want for large scale composting. Places that
use hardwood to roast food can be a great source of fireplace ash
that, when used carefully and in small amounts, can neutralize
acid soil and add nutrients. Only add ash to your compost heap in
tiny amounts sufficient to dust the surface and in alternate layers
with other materials.. Apply it directly to soil or lightly scatter
around plants. Clumps of ash become caustic lye when wetted, so you
want it to just be a dusting-and yes, do not breath it in.
*Salvage and gather reusable screws, bolts and fasteners from wood or
other item being recycled or discarded. Place them in a large clear
container. Soon you will have a readily available collection of
fasteners that are visible through the sides. Except for large
projects you may never have to buy another screw or fastener.
*Do the same for larger items by catagory. For example, in a box
marked "electrical" , we place lengths of wire,
adaptors, extension cords, switch-plates, fuses etc. Some items are
surplus to our home, others are garbage-picked or just found.
Whatever the source, they inevitably get used. The larger the number
of people that contribute to these stashes, the greater the variety
and more money and material preserved. Consider catagories such
as hardware, plumbing, garden, car etc.
*Paper being saved for recycling can be highly consolidated in a
paper grocery bag by laying the bag on the floor, open side against a
wall, and then carefully stepping on the bag to compress the material
inside. There's a link
from our opening page on this:
*"Disposable" cameras, which you would never consider buying
of course, have a normal AA battery inside of them.
Get your photo finishing lab to sell them for a token price of say,
10 cents ,instead of dumping them. There usable just like a store
bought battery and usually have plenty of charge.
* When sending greeting cards, write your message on a post-it note
placed into the card instead of on the card itself. This allows the
similar reuse of the card by its recipient.
*Cut out the graphics from greeting cards that aren't reusable to
decorate your packages. Glue them down to avoid reading of the
messages on the opposite side.
* Instead of buying gift-wrapping paper, use old maps, especially
from National Geographics, posters or foreign-language newspapers.
Hallmark makes billions because people haven't thought of these
things.
*Get all the writing, computer, drawing paper or envelopes that you
will ever need free from your school's computer lab or printing room
garbage/recycle bins. If not crumbled it can easily be fed into any
printer. There is usually plenty of paper with both sides blank as
well. Recylcle bins behind print shops often have missprinted
envelopes by the hundreds for the taking. Cross out the printed
address and use them...to mail letters-remember those
things?
*Dry ballpoint or marker pens can sometimes be recesitated by holding
them in your hand, with bent wrist and flipping them up and down, tip
out, CAP ON. This moves the last ink out to the tip or ball. Do this
without the cap and you get free wall decoration.
*Write the due date on the back of return envelopes that accompany
bills . Place the envelopes in sequential order in a clip then pay
them a week before they're due so as to avoid late fees and keep the
use of your own money.
In the 10 minutes or so before you must have hot water, for a
shower, a washing machine or dishwasher, use only the hot
water tap nearest the shower etc. for hand washing, rinsing dishes,
watering plants etc.
This uses up the cold water in hot water line and brings the hot
closer to where it will be needed. After the essential hot water
uses, use just the cold water taps.
Many people automatically use the hot water tap all day long to
wash hands and are not getting any hot water, just warming up the
line and wasting gas/electricity.
Haven't you insulated your hot water pipes yet!? Even in places where
it never freezes, foam insulation will allow you to turn down the
water heater one notch and still get approximately the same
temperature water. Plus the water standing in the pipe will stay
warmer longer, lessening the need for warm up water. You get the
stuff in long lengths, split it open at the seam and wrap it around
the pipe. No tape, no glue, easy to use. It is plastic, but the
energy it saves more than makes up for this. Foam insulation for
larger pipes can be opened up and wrapped around the bottom of boards
on their vertical edge, ("joist") in tight places where you might
bump your head.
Consider turning your water heater down to its lowest setting. Ideally you could shower under only the water coming out of the hot water side without mixing in any cold. This will really save on your energy bills.
* Store nearly "empty" bottles of liquids like shampoo, syrups or
soaps upside down, (lid on), to obtain the very last contents.
* Bars of soap too small to use effectively can be pressed into the
sides of new larger bars softened by recent use.
*Aerosol containers can be emptied, stepped-on to flatten and
demonstate non-pressurization, and then may be recycled with steel
cans.
*Shaving-cream can dregs, too watery for shaving, can be used for
hand soap until the can is completely empty and ready for flattening
and recycling.
*Try shaving in the shower. Clean your face with soap to get the oil
off your skin then run hot water over it to soften the beard and
force the hair follicle to poke out. Lather with soap and Shave by
feel. This obviates shaving cream and, once you get used to it, gives
a better shave and saves time and money.
*"Disposable" baby-bottle liners, the stiff kind, from playtex,
can be washed and reused in lukewarm water. You trust the cleanliness
of the spoon and cups you wash, so why not these? We've used one over
a hundred times and counting. Hopefully the manufacturer won't make
them flimsier in the future just like nylon stockings were made
weaker in the 'Forties.
*How about a free, biodegradable, recyclable, customizable, easily
replaced toy, that toddlers and small children will go crazy about
and will stimulate their imagination more than any video game or tv
program? We're talking about a large, clean, heavy-duty cardboard box
with all the staples removed and the bottom (still) taped
shut. Flip it upside down. On the sides cut windows, peekholes or
shutters the shape of an horizontally elongated capital "I". Make an
entryway on one side large enough to crawl through. Toys-R-us keeps
slaves in China busy making pastel plastic play structures that costs
a fortune and pollute the environment because people haven't thought
of this.
*Sponges (with no metal components) that smell bad can be disinfected
and made to smell fresh in the microwave. Wash sponge throughly, then
microwave wet, for a short period. When you see steam from the
sponge, the bacteria in the sponge will be dead. Remove carefully, it
will be hot! Rinse the sponge throughly before use.
*Microwaves can be used to emergency disinfect clothes, such as a
child's cap that another kid has put on, as long as they have
absolutely NO metal in the zippers, buttons, rivets etc. (Want to
Ruin clothing? Leave a wire twist-tie in the pocket. The end of the
wire will attract all the energy and melt at about 2000 degrees.)
ALWAYS place a cup of cold water next to the article to absorb the
heat and microwaves.
* Reflective Mylar sheets or mirrors will save electricity by
brightening up a room by reflecting daylight or artificial light.
Position them in the darkest part of a room facing the lightest.
*Replace your lawn with native plants and wildflowers. You'll save
much labor, money, water and will encourage wildlife. Label the
garden to educate others who may think it's just "weeds".
*If you are discarding an item that might be repaired or reused,
place it on top or alongside your garbage can, where people can see
it, rather than inside, so that someone may have the opportunity to
pick it up.
*Empty fire extinguishers can be inexpensively professionally
refilled and are as good as new. We're talking about the ones with
METAL handles, valves and hose-couplings, not the cheap plastic ones,
they're junk.
* Carry an insulated plastic coffee mug with you in your travels. It
will, after several years, obviate the manufacture, transport and
disposal of thousands of paper or styrofoam cups and lids, the
wrapping material and cardboard boxes in which they are shipped,
hundreds of gallons of hot water and soap to wash china mugs in cafes
and more than pay for itself in the discount some coffee places give
when you bring your own.
NOTE: RECENT RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT HEATED PLASTIC RELEASES TOXIC
CHEMICALS . You may want to use the plastic mug for cold liquids only
or carry a ceramic mug. See "Rachel's" on second line of
Resources page.Here's the article that discusses the heated
plastic issue:
#487
OUR STOLEN FUTURE-Part 2.
*Take a thermos of iced water with you in your travels. This will
obviate the need for stops to buy expensive carbonated sugar water
usually sold in non-recyclable cups.
* Shower curtains can be renovated by being washed, on gentle cycle,
with a pint of white vinegar.
* Baking soda and water paste cleans car battery terminals.
* Take your hangers back to the laundry for reuse. If they don't
accept them patronize a laundry that does.
* Plastic buckets may eventually get holes in the bottom or sides.
These are then useable as planters as they allow drainage.
*Need a new bucket? Bakeries and restaurants often throw out five
gallon plastic buckets in which factory-food ingredients are shipped
across the country. They're larger and stronger than the flimsy
rubbermaid pails that you might buy in a hardware store.
CARS: Now has it's own
page:
Ideas, suggestions or other things that you would like included in ongoing changes? Use the e-mail address below.
e-mail:
This next link puts the financial and environmental effects of
overcoming consumerism in stark perspective.
Two Comparative Families
O.
C. Accomplishes?
Active
Resistance
consumption
chart
resources
to overcome consumerism
radical
anti-consumerism
cars
How
to raise food
How
to raise trees
eliminate
polystyrene products
Corporate
officers and their interlocking interests
e-mail :
***