Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Reusing and Not using (lots of links)

For my brother's wedding, I decided to do my hair at home rather than go to a hairdresser for several reasons:
  1. I can do my hair when I want (and with a mom for a stylist, I can actually do it fairly well!) and not deal with finding a babysitter.
  2. I don't have to tip myself.
  3. It's the perfect excuse to buy a new hairbrush!

So, I went to the local drugstore to get a new brush... came home... and then spent 10 whole minutes trying to pry the brush out of its' packaging!


Look at this thing! It's metal and fairly unbendable... and not recyclable. Aargh! What's a eco-conscious gal to do? Well first, I sent an email to Revlon with a short but polite email about the over-the-top packaging. Then I ripped the stickers off and took a look at this metal thingie and noticed it looks a lot like a shi-shi hook you can buy at a place like Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrell. And, it's green... a color well used in this house. So, watch for it to be reused and pics up in the next week or so. My son will be helping me re-use this as a homeschool project when we go over energy use and conservation.

My second find came from a friend. I had been looking for an indoor drying rack that was portable and could hold more than one load of laundry... I couldn't find anything I liked until I was visiting my friend one afternoon. She had these awesome drying racks that she had brought over when she moved from Germany. But I couldn't find them anywhere here in the States... then I found one for SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS! Ridiculous.

Fast forward a month... I am at Ikea buying trains for Em and what do I spy??? There is my pretty drying rack for a mere $17.00! It folds up to fit in a closet or under a bed, but it's usually at home in the afternoon sun in my dining room as you see here. Now, I only dry about 1 or 2 loads out of the eight loads of laundry I do every week! Woo hoo!

Are you a recycler? A re-user? A reducer? Do you worry about the planet? What do you do?