Things I Keep, Save and Reuse

Hello Everybody!

The zero-waste journey has indeed been a process that has slowly, slowly seen great strides and progress. During this journey I have spent a lot of time reading blogs and listening to vloggers talk about the changes they've made in their lives, and I wanted to go through some new habits I've formed from all their knowledge, to keep things out of my trash and reusing/recycling things that are still good for other purposes than the landfill. Some of the things I've learned from them has been immensely helpful, and even saves me a few $$$. Let's jump right in!

EGG SHELLS

Did you know that Egg Shells are an excellent source of calcium? WHAT?? It's true! I wash the shells off and keep all my egg shells in an open container to dry out. If I were to consume them like an alternative to calcium supplements, I would boil the shells for a few minutes, but since I don't eat them I skip this step. Next I put them in a casserole dish the oven on 200 degrees for about 45 minutes to kill bacteria. I take them out and crush them by putting another casserole dish on top of the one they are in, and squish them til they are small. For human consumption, I would put them in a blender until its power, and add it to soups and such. What I do with it though is I am keeping it in this jar until spring, and I will sprinkle it in my garden soil to decompose and keep the soil healthy. Or I will feed handfuls of it back to my chickens to give them much needed calcium.

Here is a video about how I learned how to do it here:

FRESH VEGETABLE SCRAPS

Did you know whenever you cut the end off an onion or a broccoli, instead of throwing it out you can save these scraps in the freezer. WHY? Because these are pieces of gold! When the freezer bag is full, I put them in a pot of water and bring to a boil. I simmer on low for an hour or two, and what comes out of it? Delicious vegetable broth!!!! I can freeze or can the vegetable broth for future soups!

FRESH FRUIT BITS

My kids don't eat all their fruit when I give it to them, so I usually keep the fresh, uneaten leftovers in a bag in the freezer. I also throw in some kale or spinach, some chia seeds or flax seeds, throw it in the blender and make a nice smoothie for everyone!

(she doesn't want any more banana, so I'll take that piece too, thanks!)

PRETTY PAPER

My kids come home with cute drawings, and I put them up on my refrigerator for a little while, but then I keep them to use for wrapping gifts! They make excellent wrapping paper. The school sends home scholastic papers, and I keep those as colorful wrapping. And lastly, goodwill uses paper to wrap my glass goods, and I keep the paper for wrapping presents. They look cute with repurposed ribbon from presents past.

PLASTIC BAGS

A lot of people save their plastic bags from the grocery store. But since I've gone zero-waste, I bring my own reusable bags to the store, so I don't have any plastic coming from the grocery. I need to get creative and wash out/ reuse the plastic bags I still have left in my home. On the left is a bag that my kids got from a fire safety day at school. The middle bag is from wet wipes that I've repurposed. The right is an old celery stick bag when I couldn't find any celery without a bag, and I needed it for a recipe. I wash and rinse these out and reuse them. The fire safety bag I use to keep my homemade bread machine breads in. So far it's worked out great.

HAIR

I haven't done this yet...I still need to form this habit...You know the hair that you pull out of your hairbrush when it gets full? Or the hair that gets stuck in the shower drain? That doesn't need to go into the landfill, it's compostable. So designate a spot for your hair bits, throw it in your compost pile and let nature do its thing. Birds can even use it in their nests. That being said, DO NOT FLUSH IT DOWN THE TOILET! I had no idea until recently that hair should not go down a toilet, and can clog septic and sewage systems. oops! 

COMPOST

These are the composts that I've accumulated that the chickens or pigs from the local pig farm can't consume. Usually it's onion and garlic skins, lemon rinds, flowers, avocado and mango pits, etc. I see some egg shell in this bowl, and I think it's because my husband wasn't sure where to put it yet. I have to train him still! Anyway, I keep these items in the freezer instead of throwing them in the trash.  They won't rot in the freezer, and then when the bowl is full I'll add it to my compost pile (um, I still need to figure out how to make compost that works well for me still...) and it will turn into lovely garden soil!

BREAD CRUMBS

I make my bread from home now with my bread machine, so I won't have to purchase the plastic bags the bread comes in at the store. It's also much cheaper. So when I cut into my bread, there's tons of crumbs that fall off. I sweep these crumbs into a container and keep it in my freezer. When the container gets full, I can add some Italian seasonings to it and use it as seasoned bread crumbs for dishes! I can also take some end pieces, dry them out and then grind them up in a food processor to make bread crumbs. No more wasted bread! Here is a simple tutorial:

DRYER LINT

My dryer lint is excellent for kindling at the fire pit, so I like to save them. I put them in a plastic bag right next to my dryer. They also are good to keep around for your emergency kits.

I hope this helped you with a few ideas around your house. What do you save at home to reuse since going Zero Waste? What do you keep from the landfill? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Good luck to you all!

Cheers!

Laura