The 3 R’s are no longer readin’ ritin’ & rithmetic – they are Reduce Reuse & Recycle.
Using the 3R’s is a sure fire way to reduce the money you spend. How? Let’s think about it. Your great grandparents, (or maybe your great great grandparents) didn’t have much trash. They reused e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.
Flour sacks became clothing. Worn out leather pieces became hinges. Pieces were repaired, not thrown out. Have you ever seen a vintage piece of furniture where someone, a long time ago, repaired a corner or an edge with a piece of an old can? They were masters of reusing things.
We can be too, with just a little thought. Before you trash anything, look at it in a different manner. Think about ‘what’ you could use it for.
Milk cartons tops become disposable recyclable funnels. Mop handles become walking sticks. Wallpaper ends become wrapping paper or shelf liner. Large cans become tomato guards (keeps the cutworms away from the tomato stalk). Butter dishes become storage containers. Dryer lint becomes modeling clay (I kid you not – recipe follows). Coffee grounds and tea bags and other kitchen waste become compost. Lemon rinds go down the disposal to clean and freshen and stale bread goes to the birds.
There are internet groups devoted to reducing and recycling everyday items. One popular group is called ‘waste nothing’ and believe me – that group can come up with ideas to reuse just about anything!
So as you go about your daily duties, think, before you toss something. Could it be used somewhere else? Remember the new three R’s, Reduce Reuse and Recycle.
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Dryer Lint Modeling Dough
3 cups lint from the dryer
2 cups water
5 drops oil of wintergreen or oil of cloves
1 cup flour
Put lint in a 2-quart saucepan and cover with the water and oil of wintergreen or oil of cloves. When the lint is saturated, add the flour. Stir until smooth. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the dough starts to hold together. Pour it onto newspaper to cool. Model figures out of cooled dough, or use it to cover a form (balloon, paper bag, etc.). Allow the finished craft to dry about 5 days. Once dry, paint or decorate as desired.
(The wintergreen or clove oil helps to retard any mold issues that might arise.)
Many of us diligently recycle our plastic water bottles. I carry my empties home to put in my cardboard recycling box. But, overall as a nation, we are trashing way more than we are recycling. The national average is TWO plastic bottles recycled out of every ten.
