Cheap Like Me blogger finds her frugal lifestyle is also kinder to planet
Actually, it is easy to be green, and often less expensive too, says Cheap Like Me blogger Susanna Donato. “I recycle everything I can,” says Donato, a Denver-based writer and editor.
“Items that our local recycling won’t accept, I stash in the basement to take to Eco-Cycle occasionally. I have bags of Styrofoam blocks, yogurt tubs, milk cartons, sometimes worn-out sneakers, and a bag of lids to take to Aveda.”
For the past three years, her daily installments on cheaplikemeblog.com have testified that thrift and a recycling mentality are a natural partnership.
Many are tips that your grandparents (or great-grandparents) might have followed: Use a clothesline to dry your laundry, and reusable containers for packed lunches.
She avoids buying products that can’t be recycled, a strategy she employs in deciding which fast-food restaurant to patronize. (Donato prefers Chipotle or Good Times, which both use recyclable aluminium foil as wrappers.)
“Do what you can, and think twice” is her motto. Do you really need a plastic lid for your lunchtime self-serve soft drink? Buy toys that aren’t encased in plastic tombs.
Her frugality pays off: The Donato household produces less than half a 13-gallon bag of landfill-destined trash each week, but she knows others are not as relentless about recycling and other green measures as she is.
“If it drives you crazy, don’t do it,” she said.
“Not flushing, for example. But we do buy recycled toilet paper from Amazon.com, a case of it at a big discount. Forty-eight rolls, and it’s not gone yet, a year and a half later.”
-Claire Martin
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How much garbage?
How much trash does the average U.S. household produce? How it breaks down:
30% Containers and packaging
24.5% Non-durable goods (MP3 players, shoes, clothing, toys)
17.9% Durable goods (appliances, bicycles, cars)
12.8% Yard trimmings
12.5% Food scraps
Source: “The Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard (Free Press, $26)
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Small change-ups that add up
•Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins and rags instead of paper towels.
•Bring an empty bag or two wherever you go, to use for groceries or other products.
•Bring a water bottle and coffee cup wherever you go; some businesses offer a discount for customers who bring their own cups.
•Use a clothesline instead of an electric drier; you’ll see a direct impact on your utility bill.
•Know what can be composted: You can’t recycle shredded paper, but it will break down in your compost, adding carbon to the mix.
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Can’t recycle?
Repurpose
What can’t go in conventional recycling bins?
•Plastic “clamshell” containers used for produce and takeout. (If the number inside the triangle is 6, the plastic can be used to make Shrinky-Dink-type projects; instructions online at skiptomylou.org.)
•Milk cartons. The waxed paper requires a different recycling process. Milk cartons can be torn or shredded to include in compost.
•Plastic caps from soda bottles, shampoo bottles, milk bottles, etc. Aveda salons will recycle them: aveda.com/aboutaveda.
•Shredded paper. The shortened paper fibers are difficult to reuse, but Denver Recycles and some other recycling centers will accept shredded paper that’s stapled inside a paper bag. Like milk cartons, shredded paper is compostable.
•Bright-colored paper. It can be shredded and added to compost.
•White block foam, books, audio-visual equipment (including computers, TVs and DVRs), bicycle parts. Eco-Cycle’s Center for Hard to Recycle Materials accepts all these, and more, for a nominal fee: ecocycle .org/charm.
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While I am certainly not dedicated enough to have a blog called “Cheap Like Me” (because I’m definitely NOT cheap), I think most of us out there can do better. Thanks for the inspiration!
Please give me the address of an Aveda salon, in your area, which acceps the bottle caps. I have been collecting caps for over two years waiting for a Colorado Springs-based Aveda salon to accept them. I am willing to mail them to get rid of them.
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