reduce, reuse, recycle

I found a recipe for Rose Petal Jelly at Miranda’s blog
http://simplereduce.wordpress.com/
and decided to make my first effort at canning.

Looking online, I found a box of canning jars, lids, and bands for $20 at Target, just so I could see how much this new endeavor might cost. Filed that in my brain and went to run some errands. While I was out, I stopped in at a thrift store to return some things I’d bought and decided I didn’t want. Prowling up and down the aisles, I spied a box of jars, bands, and lids for $4.99! Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell exactly what the box held.

When I got them home, I discovered that only half of the jars were the right size for matching up with Mason lids and bands…
but, there was a whole box of good lids and a few usable bands, enough to get me through the jelly.

We have wild roses out in our front yard, but the blooms don’t last very long. So, I picked a bunch of flowers that were just past their prime (and some perfect blossoms) and used them in my jelly.

After you’ve done one batch of canning, it seems very simple, but this first run filled me with trepidation! I kept wondering if the jelly would gel, if the jars would burst, and if I’d be killing my family off with botulism.

Well, the jelly gelled, the jars are intact, and DH and I are still standing…so far. I’m glad I could make food from flower petals that would’ve just fallen and rotted, that I learned a new skill, and that I was able to find the jars at a thrift store.

BTW I just found out that I can use the jars that don’t fit bands. If I sterilize the jars, fill them with jelly, and put melted wax on top, the food will stay good for a few months.

We got the utility bill recently, and boy, did it look good!
We only used 432 kWh on average for the last 12 months. I believe the “average American family”-whoever they are-uses around 800 kWh a month. Gas consumption for heating and cooking is down, also.
The water usage went down, despite having to water the plants outside. The fact that this has been a very rainy season, and that we have a rain barrel that gives us some free water for the garden
have kept us from using so much from the utility company.

My latest DIY project was a homemade earthbox. You can find the directions here: http://www.josho.com/Earthbox.htm
My Rubbermaid bins came from freecycle, I used an old Ziploc container in place of the water basket, but the tubing came from
the hardware store. Making it myself was VASTLY less expensive than getting it ready-made. The tomatoes I planted in it last week are looking very good.

My birthday is coming up soon, and I am hoping for a reciprocating saw! We didn’t have one when I was making the earthbox, so I used a 1 1/2” bit to make connecting holes around the lid to cut the center out. Necessity is the mother of bloody knuckles.

DH’s old Dockers got remade into a shopping bag this month. I sewed across the legs at the crotch level and braided jute handles that were attached to the belt loops. I gave this to a woman in line in front of me at the store. I really believe that giving things away is a good idea to spread the word on bags.

Someone on another site was bemoaning the lack of macho-looking shopping bags, so I decided to make one. I used the front of one of DH’s worn out tee shirts and a denim tote.

The front of the tee says, “Quien es mas macho?”
Who is more macho?—English

My best friend, Nina, gave me a couple of cool bags that her basmati rice came in. They are burlap, have an interesting illustration on the front, and come with a handle and zipper! DD snagged the first one-I don’t know what she’s going to do with it-and I got the smaller one.

Today, I turned my bag into a planter. I potted up a spider plant, filled the bag 3/4 full of shredded junkmail, set the plant in a plastic bag, and tucked it all into the bag’s zipper. The plastic bag is to keep the plant from draining water on the burlap and messing it up. The shredded paper is to bring the pot high enough that the plant can hang out of the zipper.

The spider plant was a give-away at the Earth Day celebration. I like spider plants because they are usually pretty hardy. The one I got was sort of battered when I received it, but I think it’s going to be fine.

Citrus peels—I’ve made another batch of candied peels and I have been faithfully slicing and freezing the peels that come off of our oranges, lemons, and grapefruit for cooking at a later date.

My fabric stash—I was able to make a considerable dent in the hoarded fabric. In February, I made three tea towels, one grocery bag which was given to a bagless shopper at the food store,
and four hankies. Those hankies are turning out to be a very good idea. I’m sick at the moment, and my runny nose welcomes them!

Books—I released forty books through bookcrossing. I also got caught up on labeling books…
until I was given 200 more! I’ve registered two boxes + three bags full. It’s a start!

Other things I tried this month : counted the number of miles we put on the car in one week(68), walked as much as I could (while combining bookcrossing releases with combined errands),
only sent one trash bag to the landfill, made and used spray starch for ironing, unplugged the power strip to the stereo and etc, unplugged the dustbuster, made a valentine for my sweetie,
took jars that I want to keep for other projects and filled them with water and froze them to in-crease the freezer’s efficiency, darned a sock, recycled a vacuum cleaner bag per Tightwad
Gazette’s instructions, and started making a ball of plastic yarn from the bags that the newspapers come in.

These weren’t too hard to do except for the part where I used some old velcro tape as closures! That was a pain in the butt because the sticky stuff on the back of the tape kept gumming up the needle, so I had to clean it off with Goo Gone every few inches! I’m very pleased with how they turned out!

The gift bags I made to use and reuse were a great success! There was almost no wrapping paper, boxes, bows and so on to toss out or recycle after Christmas. Presents from other people were the source for those things.

The gift bags I “wrapped” presents in were meant to be part of the gift, but not everyone wanted to keep his—notably, my DS.
I’m trying to make more bags to make up for the ones that were given away, as well as making some to use as gifts.

Okay, so I stopped at a sewing store to see how much fabric with Christmas prints was going for and I was shocked! The marked down stuff was about $5 a yard! So…I hied myself to Goodwill to see what they had. I found gorgeous fabric curtains for $2. They were on sale that day because they had a purple tag, so I got lots and lots of yardage for $1!

Looking at the material laying on my couch, I was impressed to notice that it looked a whole lot better than one of the ugly pillows we’d been using. So now my first project with this fabric is going to be a pillow cover, then I’ll start in on the bags. I’ll post a photo when I’m done.

I like sharing good ideas, so when DH and I saw that the elderly woman in line in front of us at the grocery store was buying lightbulbs, I gave her a CFL. Luckily, we were right by the bulb aisle, so I could dash back and grab one for her. Her son was helping her shop, so we asked him if he’d wait till the cashier scanned the bulb onto our purchase so we could give it to her. It was a big hit! Neither one of them knew about CFLs and they were eager to try it out when they read the claims about longevity and economy on the packaging. I hope we’ve made a convert.

CFL bulbs contain an extremely small amount of mercury; about 1/100 the amount in a common household thermometer. The primary source of mercury emissions in the U.S. is coal-fired power plants. An unbroken CFL does not pose a health risk. However, expended CFL’s should be disposed of properly, in the same manor as other household hazardous waste products like paint, batteries and non-digital thermostats. The concern is valid and lies in concentrations of mercury accumulating in our landfills over time.

Compact fluorescent bulbs emit no mercury unless they are broken.

NOTE: A coal power plant powering an incandescent light bulb instead of a CFL will release more mercury into the air than is actually contained in a CFL itself. Although the CFL mercury issue is a concern, the net result of mercury released into our environment, given the reduced power requirements of a compact fluorescent bulb over its lifetime, remains less.

Many municipalities offer programs for safe collection of hazardous household waste.

Never incinerate a compact fluorescent light bulb as means of disposal.

What should I do if a compact fluorescent bulb breaks in my home?

Do not inhale the vapor.
Do not use a vacuum for cleanup.
Sweep the pieces together with a brush or broom—not with your hand.
Cleanup glass with a wet rag or towel and place the towel, along with the pieces, into a sealed plastic bag.
Proper Disposal
Dispose of expended or broken CFL’s at your local Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Collection Site. If your local HHW Collection Site does not accept CFLs, check with local authorities. Many CFL retail outlets also offer safe disposal or recycling. Find information on your local HHW site at: earth911.org.

Back when the plants outside were sizzling under the summer sun, I was very diligent about hauling my used dishwater out to them. Now that we’ve had two good snows, I’ve just been dumping the dishwater down the drain when I’m done. I need to get back in the habit of using that water to flush the toilet.

On the other hand, I went out and bought a bunch of compact florescent light bulbs for the house. I’ve installed half of them in the light fixtures we use the most. These also happen to be the only fixtures I can reach! The next time a bulb goes out in a ceiling fixture I’m going to be right there to hand DH a CFB to replace it!

Our utilities company offers rebates on several energy saving items: new roofs, energy efficient appliances like refrigerators, windows and doors, low flow toilets, and light bulbs. We’ve received rebates on all of these except the roof.
I would suggest that anyone looking to make a purchase on one of these things should call their utilities company and see if they offer rebates, too. I got $5 on my $25 purchase of lightbulbs. Other rebates are much higher.