Every Little Bit Helps

Today is Earth Day. This morning after breakfast myself and my 14 yr old stepdaughter and 16 yr old stepson picked a whole bag of garbage up from the public path that goes beside and behind our home while hubby stayed back to do the dishes. Although legally, our County is responsible for keeping the area clean with the recent warm up and snow melt winter's garbage left behind is now apparent and it was time to clean it up. Part of it is from ignorant people throwing cigarette buts and coffee cups away, part is due to the fact that we have mandatory recycling and high winter winds unfortunately blew a bit of the neighborhoods paper recycling all over the wetland.

10 Minutes and one full bag of garbage. Our view, the pathway and wetland look better and the birds can have a cleaner pond.

What can you do? Anything - everything. Pick some garbage up, reduce consumption, recycle. Kind of like breathing - easy.

Thrifting Finds and the A Great Reuse Craft

This weekend was spend gathering, photographing and posting items to sell on Kijiji. In Edmonton and area Kijiji is much better than Craigslist and we have sold 90% of anything we have ever posted on there for free. If successful I will share later in the week what we managed to sell.

There was still time for some thrifting this weekend as well:

1968 Childrens book "The Secret of The Grange". Obviously a British knockoff of Nancy Drew Mysteries but in really good condition. Goodwill $1.49

Salvation Army .99

I have always wanted a cake decorating tool but don't bake that much so never justified the cost. For .99 it is worth taking a chance on. It isn't marked but looks like it is likely 1970's and made from aluminum with four different decorating heads. I can't wait to try it out!

Finally, our Valentines day plans include hubby making his fabulous grape jelly and heinz chili sauce ribs(bought on sale last week), slow roasted all day and finished on the BBQ, beers with lime and some candlelight. This is our version of a non-consumer Valentines day. No storebought cards for us. Just a personal note to each other - then for the evening we will then watch a pre-recorded movie (on the PVR).

If I was going to decorate for Valentines Day (which I never do-hubby is the romantic not me) I found this great tutorial on making heart shaped boxes out of recycled magazines and a little glue from savedbylovecreatons.

Source: savedbylovecreations.com via on Pinterest

Linking to herlibraryadventures fleamarket finds. I have found so many great blogs from her link-ups. Check it out!

Thrifty Link of the Day - Homemade Bows from Recycled Paper

Photo taken in 2010 - Spring Goose Momma and Goslings (eating leftover banana bread)


This is the absolute, hands down, best tutorial for home-made bows made from recycled two sided paper (like newspaper or magazines)

From Older and Wisor - Recycled Bow Tutorial
I have been following her blog for a while now - this girl will crack you up. She makes amazingly cute stuffed penquins and owls too.

Wouldn't it be interesting to take some free graphics from www.graphicsfairy.blogspot.com, print them on newspaper or book paper (ie like blue butterflies on book papers) and make those into a bow? Just a thought. She has thousands of free images by the way - for your blog and for your crafts.

Recycling and Packing Up Christmas

Today I am having a marathon session of packing up all our decorations so they will be Vancouver Island move ready. This involves slightly more time than a normal packup as everything must be tagged, and rubbermaid containers (purchased in our last move 4 years ago) carefully packed to 100% capacity.

I still am on the "purchase no more Christmas crap campaign" so when we opened our presents this year I carefully gathered all the wrappings, bows and ribbons in a garbage bag to be sorted out today - if you decide to do this understand this is best done well after Christmas when there is no stress involved. Yes, a few items get crunched but you can still save a lot of wrappings to be reused.

For our recycling bins: plastic was carefully separated as was non-foil paper - 90% of the garbage bag full of discarded material is recycled this way.

For the garbage: foil Christmas wrap which still makes it way into our house but as a result of finding we cannot recycle these I would not suggest any buy foil wrapping papers if possible. There are greener options.

For us to reuse: All of the below, some of which were recycled from last year. The blue gift bag was purchased at the dollar store about five years ago and has made it through the last five Christmases still in great shape. The tags I made out of Christmas cards - the ones I made last year were mostly used up this year.

To Take to the Salvation Army or Goodwill: Two baskets (I would have kept these if we weren't moving but baskets are extremely cheap at thrift stores to rebuy)

Not only is this a way to save money every Christmas on not having to purchase items to decorate presents with - you are helping put less waste into landfills.

I bought one thing this Christmas: package of 50 Christmas paper napkins as I entertained family on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. These were $2.99 and will be recycled in my green bin. Yes, the same as last year, my only deviance from the "buy no more Christmas crap campaign".

Do you recycle anything from Christmas wrappings?

April Grocery Tally, Coupons and Freebies and Finds

Grocery Budget for April 2011 $450.00 plus $13.19 left from March=$463.19
Actual: 427.20!
Coupons used $33.12(year to date $217.00)

Freebies received this week:
P&G Sampler!




With a trip to Costa Rica on the horizon I need a few more summery clothes so stopped by Goodwill this week. Two T Shirts and two shorts = $14.99
The black shorts are brand new with original tags!



Hubby cashed in $92 in Canadian Tire money this week for a car shampooer, no photo as like a little kid he has it already stashed away in the garage. Retail $129.00 plus GST, out of pocket $43.45.


Perfectly good items to use as wrapping for birthdays and Christmas rescued from the trash (in an effort to spend no more dollars on gift wrapping)







And finally, proof that winter has finally left, the Alberta Pelicans that once were on the endangered species list landed on the pond below our house last week - exactly one day after the ice came off. Sorry the photo is not great but is a definite sign of Spring.

The Trash Rescuers, Simple Living and Getting a Green Life

As I get older I need and want less "stuff". The child of an overworked single mother who disbursed plenty of love but struggled to feed her family I learned how to live on little. With adulthood came an extreme work ethic ingrained by my mother and with the fruits of my labour came the "stuff", all that I had missed out on (or so I thought). Now in my early forties things that are much more important to me are family, happiness and experiences, not the "stuff".

I avidly recycle, first forced to do so by my town but now by choice recycling approximately 80% of our household waste. Cooking is a hobby now, not so much a chore. I would like to work less and live more as have recently been diagnosed with a chronic fatigue disease that will not kill me but will be a factor every day for the rest of my life. Gardening interests me (when we get to a better climate with more than a 2 month growing season)as a means to sustainability. I like small living spaces but have yet to convince my hubby and stepchildren. People who throw away perfectly good "stuff" make me angry. I have a huge appreciation for nature now and wish to protect it.

Part of the reason I buy second hand, use coupons and live a frugal life is to get to the dream of living that life. Plus, I kind of like it. It makes me feel good. One day I will live in a smaller house paid for by cash with a little spot to grow tomatoes and herbs and I will take long walks on the ocean collecting seashells with my hubby.

Today is Earth Day and I would like to share some websites and blogs of people I follow and admire and who are making a difference and living the dream:

ClickClackGorilla: The blog of a girl who used to have a 9-5 job, and left to explore the world and get a life. She is now living in an extremely small trash picked trailer in Germany trying to live life to the fullest.

Love and Trash: Website collection of articles on recycling, buying used, sustainability, green living with sense of humour

Faircompanies.com: blogs, videos and articles on everything Earth Day is about: Simple living, small spaces, green, recycling and world politics. Multilingual website offering articles in English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian and Portuguese.

ncfreegan: A dumpster diver's tales of a trash rescuing to help feed his family in a tough American economy.

These Days in French Life: An American girl living with her husband and daughter in France cooking from scratch, dumpster diving, gardening, living on less. One of my favorite photo blogs (Flicker).

Foraged Food Flicker Stream: Photos of food foragers finds (retrieving Earth's bounty for free)

urbandumpsterdiver: Tales of a woman Dumpster Divers finds living through homelessness and back in the USA. A very strong woman who freely shares her finds with others including food banks.

Happy Earth Day!