Ways to make/reduce the trash you make and save money

So in the past few days I've been thinking about ways to reduce the trash my family prodces(there's 7 of us in all). Today I really started to look things up and get some ideas. Now although I am still browsing the internet for ideas I wanted to go ahead and make a post with the ideas I knew already and then some I just learned.




1. I personally will reuse almost any container I can. I buy my kids yogurt(the big tub which is normally walmart brand) and I know I can reuse that container for my husbands lunch or leftovers from dinner.



2. I have bought a hard plastic cup for $5(I think it was made for slushies and such because of the straw) but I use it only. Therefore I am producing less dirty glasses and in turn makes less dishes that have to go in the dishwasher etc etc down the chain.

3. There are days that my son (who is 17months) just uses too many diapers for my liking so I'll put him into training pants, this may not seem like a huge money saver but at $0.20 a diaper anything I can make last longer will work for me. Now my son is not potty trained or anything of the likes so he does just pee in them and keeps going but I'd rather wash his underwear than throw 5 diapers in the trash because he likes to shuck them as SOON as he's peed in them.

4. I reuse the plastic bags from the store as trash bags in the small trash cans. I have debating do this at all anymore and just getting the reusable cloth bags to take to the store, but then I don't know what I would use for the trash cans, open to suggestions for this. :D

Now since wanting to reduce our trash take-out(we make about 1-2 bags of trash a day) I have started to look at what's exactly in the trash. I do some crafts and have begun investigating ways to re-use some of the stuff I throw away into something awesome for a gift or to sell.
New ideas I found for reducing trash!

1. Family Cloth-for those families that use a lot of toilet paper this could potentially save you $20-30 a month. It's basically torn up sheets and other clothing that you wipe with. You can read more about it here.

2. Newspapers-I know those that use coupons tend to buy in bulk with our newspapers and if you don't have the availability to a recycle bin what can you do with that stack of paper?

• Donate them to a friend with a new puppy
• Use them for wrapping paper(the comics are really cute for this)
• Cleaning windows(I've heard this is ideal to get everything clean)
• Make paper with them(Cool idea, sure they have tutorials and such if you do a google search)
• Paper Mache(just thought of this one) I had planned on making a pinata for my daughters birthday(super easy to make)

3. Easter eggs- containers, now I know we always let the kids play with them until they are either a pain to keep cleaning up OR they just get trashed. Well now you can use them as containers(nails, change, pantyhose). They could also become pool toys by weighing them down and possibly sealing them. Make them into new party favors by painting them.

I'm sure there are tons more ways to reduce, reuse, or recycle things today, if you have an awesome way to reuse or recycle something send me an email with a picture if possible and I'll share it and give you all the credit!

Email: monikarclark@yahoo.com