Don’t throw away those old candle containers. Recycle them. Lots of people assume that recycling is the process of taking garbage to a recycling plant, a process that can be too embarrassing and troublesome for many people. Wikipedia defines recycling as:

reprocessing of old materials into new products, with the aims of preventing the waste of potentially useful materials

Which means recycling can happen right in your own home. I find ways to recycle everything I possible can. My latest piece is this old candle holder. The first time I set it on fire I knew deep in my groin that it was special and it would stay with me for a long long time; possibly be passed down to my children and my children’s children.

Now, after many hours of scented vanilla lavender bliss I have found a new way to enjoy the container that my candle once resided in. I found it a new home on the counter top of my bathroom right next to the sink as the new home for my Q-tips. The Q-tips fit flawlessly inside, a perfect match. I’m thinking about screwing a little knob on top of the lid but right now I’m gonna love it just the way it is.

If you have a candle that is on the verge of being burnt out and already have a Q-tip holder, then open that creative box inside your head and find your own way to recycle it. A few ideas that come to mind is: sugar caddy, trinket box, hair accessories and cotton pad holder. Feel free to share those ideas with me. Tell me, what are some things that you have recycle? I’d love to know.

]]> http://ecocheapo.com/2008/07/recycle-those-used-candle-containers/feed/ http://ecocheapo.com/2008/07/tips-on-hand-washing-dishes/ http://ecocheapo.com/2008/07/tips-on-hand-washing-dishes/#comments Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:26:14 +0000 doan http://ecocheapo.com/?p=23

To use the dish washer or to not use the dish washer, that is the question? I’ve read in an old Tree Hugger post that using the dish washer was the eco-friendly thing to do. I’ve also read in a recent Men’s Health article that although dishwasher may use less water, it sucks a ton of electricity. Since washing dishes is a chore I partake several times throughout the day I had to find a guilt free way to solve this conundrum and this is what I came up with. I use the dishwasher about twice a week, usually for my larger loads. For the rest of my dishes I’ve decided to hand wash them. Ray and I hardly make enough dishes between the two of us to fill up the dish washer. Also, if your like us, you need the same dish wear several times throughout the day so trying to fill up the dishwasher doesn’t work. Here are some tips to be a more eco-friendly hand washer:

1. Don’t leave the water running if your not going to use it. If you have to leave or turn your back to dump some left over food down the compost then take the extra two seconds to turn off the water.

2. Turn the water pressure way down. I save butt loads of water doing this. I use to wash dishes with the water blasting away. I’ve learned that I can wash the same amount of dishes in the same amount of time using a lot less.

3. Shoot to wash the dishes after you use them. I admit I don’t always follow this rule. Sometimes after cooking and slaving over your meal, eating is not the reward; it’s the full belly and doing absolutely nothing after the full belly, so I leave my dirty dishes in the sink and promise to do them in the morning. Thing is I regret this every time because I’m left with harden, grueling crust that decided to punish me for my laziness by molding itself to the walls of all my pots and pans. Hard to remove crust and food particles requires a lot more water, and usually hot water to remove so wash those dishes when your done eating.

4. Wash your dishes with cold water so no electricity is used to heat up the water.

That’s all I got for now. If you guys have any tips to add feel free to leave a comment.

Home Depot recently launched their national CFL bulb recycling program. Are you aware that florescent bulbs contain mercury and are therefore considered hazardous waste, which is why we should dispose of them properly. I know a big reason why people don’t care to recycle is not because they don’t care about the environment it’s because they are lazy. Admit it, we’ve all been guilty of it. Convienence is a major contributing factor when it comes to being green. Who the heck has time to research proper disposal of these bulbs. Not only that, but a lot of towns waste facilities won’t even take them. What is one to do? Ah, have no fear, Home Depot is here! Home Depot recently launched their national CFL bulb recycling program. I don’t know about you but there’s at least 3 Home Depots in my town. The closest one is just 10 short minutes away. No more excuses, Home Depots are like Starbucks, there’s practically one at every corner. Well not really but you get my point. Recycle those bulbs!

1. Hand-wash your dishes instead of using the dishwasher. The dishwasher actually uses less water, but sucks a ton of electricity. So as long as you don’t leave the water running non stop while hand washing, you and the planet will be better off if you hand wash that dirty plate.
2. Put that computer to sleep. Did you know that your pretty little screensaver uses about 65 watts of electricity to run? Putting your computer to sleep only uses about 4 watts.
3. Replace those blades. Not one of the 2 billion disposable razors bought every year will ever be recycled. So buy replaceable razors and save room in that landfill.
4. Ceramic plates rather than paper plates. There are plenty of recycled paper plates out there, but reusing your ceramic plate is always better than throwing something away.
5. Buy rechargeable batteries. A single rechargeable batter can replace hundreds of single-use batteries over their lifetime.
6. Buy energy efficient appliances. If everyone replaced their TVs, phones, and dvd players with an Energy Star model. It would be the equivalent of taking 3 million vehicles off the road.
7. No more bottled water. Plastic bottles take centuries to degrade. If you do buy bottled water make sure it’s packaged locally. Or buy a brita filter and filter your own tap water.
8. Use recycled napkins. If every household replaced just one 250 pack of virgin paper napkins with the recycled kind, each year we would save 1 million trees from being cut down.
9. Switch to recycled toilet paper. Don’t be scared, it’s just as soft. And if we each buy 1 pack of recylcled 12 pack rolls a year, we’d save 5 million trees anually.
10. Don’t wash your car at home. Most car washes re-use and filter their water. You waste about 100 gallons of water washing your car in your driveway.

George Clooney recently purchased a new, environmentally friendly electric car, the Tango. Though it may look as though it’s been dropped on it’s side one too many times, don’t be fooled by it’s awkward looks. The Tango will tango it’s way to 0-60 mph in just 4 seconds, park perpendicular to the curb, and is a major babe magnet if you ask me. It screams, “Oh yes, I’m a fortunate, blessed man, just living a simple life doing my part to save the planet. Sorry, I’d love to give you guys a ride but there’s only room for one more and I’m on my way to Brads house.” Built for one the Tango makes the ideal commuter vehicle. Kudos for George.

Hello world, this is my first post on my brand new site and I can’t tell you how excited I am. I have a ton of ideas to share with all of you on how to be more green or eco conscious and how to be save money doing it. Cheap has always been seen as negative connotation. People think of cheap and instantly think of being poor, using food stamps and clipping coupons. What a lot of people aren’t aware of is that being cheap and being green are harmoniously intertwined. My mom, the cheapest woman I know, has been green her whole life and she doesn’t even know it. Well, my mom’s cheap gene has definitely passed on down to me and not only am I thankful for it, I couldn’t be more proud. Cheap people consume less in an effort to save money and in doing so they help save the planet and aren’t as fat. Think twice before you purchase that box of ice cream because sooner or later your gonna have to throw away that empty ice-cream carton and that carton turns to waste. Also think of all the extra calories you’ll save. Packaging accounts for more than 1/3 of the volume that goes into landfills, packaging used just to package what we need and serves no other purpose. How sad is that? Another way to decrease the amount of packaging is to buy in bulk. Buying in bulk uses less packaging and therefore less waste. So next time you start your period buy in bulk at your nearest Costco and have enough tampons for the whole year.