Cat Water

We give our cats fresh filtered water twice a day.  When it's time to fill their water bowl, there is always a little water left. Instead of pouring this filtered water down the drain, I pour the water into a second bowl in a different location. Our cats will drink the second bowl dry! This "reuse" of water reduces our water filter use. Thanks, cats, for your help reducing waste! :*

P.S.  Can you tell me where to recycle my water filters?

Plastic bags

When I go shopping I ALWAYS take my re-usable shopping bags. ...But, sometimes I forget :( Not to fear! Regular plastic shopping bags make great trash bin liners for the bathroom or other small trash cans. The smallest shopping bags are great for pet waste. The giant shopping bags fit in my kitchen garbage bin (which is less than half the size of my kitchen recycling bin).

Don't just throw those bags away! Throw all your trash away in them! :D

There are so many great things I've seen made out of plastic bags, including reusable shopping bags! My favorite reused plastic bag project is still crocheted hammocks!!

Unplugged. Appliances

I unplug appliances when I'm not using them.

In my little apartment, I can unplug my oven too. It's combination gas and electric and the nearest outlet is over the sink! Weird, I  know. So the range is unplugged when we're not using it.

Pictures

Serge protectors with switch

Turning off the lights

I turn off the light everytime I leave a room. I can't  stand having lights on when there is no one in the room that needs to see things.

It's not always easy. In the kitchen, there is no switch. I  have to pull the string and walk half-way through a dark room. Sometimes, my hands are full. And sometimes, I have to go back to turn it off.

I take full advantage of the day light hours. I don't turn lights on during the day. And, in the mornings, before the sun has come up, I flex my night vision. Hey, my cats don't need any light, those eco-friendly beasts have superior night vision.

Newspaper instead of paper towels

Rags and newspapers instead of paper towels.

I use rags to clean my house. I wash them and reuse them for a long time. Most of my rags are cut from old towels.
I can't remember the last time I bought paper towels!

Food containers

I save half of the food containers we would recycle and use them for holding and organizing items in our house. One of my favorite discoveries had been that dry - erase markers fit in tall olive jars and you can put the lid on! This will save my dry - erase markers from drying out this winter!

Steamy clean

I love to clean my bathroom with the steam from a hot shower. Even the water marks from the previous showers come up with a wash cloth and steam. No cleaner is needed!

Toilet paper rolls

I save my empty toilet paper rolls in a plastic bag on the bathroom.  It simplifies collecting them. When a crafting or organizing project comes up that requires TP rolls, I'm ready to go! ;)

Rubbish Bins

My recycling bin in my kitchen is twice as large as my garbage can. This encourages us to recycle more and keeps RRR in in mind when we do put something in the trash. We hope to start 2nd-floor apartment composting soon, which should eliminate about half of our garbage.

Labels and stickers.

I save all sticky labels and use them to remove cat hair from my clothes. I've had one of those handled sticky-rollers for a couple of years now.