This Lent we decided to work on creating less waste as a family. I feel like somedays I’m doing really well remembering my tote bags on grocery shopping trips, donating items we aren’t using to charity, and taking trips to the recycling center.
Recycle Cartons
We recently moved to an area that doesn’t have curbside recycling. The good news is we’ve had to take more responsibility and learn about the recycling process. For example, my daughter loves almond milk and I always assumed the containers that the milk comes in are recyclable. During a recent trip to the recycling center, I learned milk cartons can’t be recycled in my community.
I went home to do some research and found a website to look up if carton recycling is available in your area: recyclecartons.com. I went ahead and signed a petition on this site to bring carton recycling to our town.
Buying Less Stuff
This week we are also reading a book called Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living. It’s a memoir of a couple who decided that consumerism wasn’t making them happy so they went on a quest to become financially independent by living an extremely frugal life style. I don’t want to take all of the steps they do in the book. For example, I’d rather pay a talented hairdresser to cut my hair (and know it’s helping her support her family) than ask my husband to attempt it (yikes!). However, I love the idea of thinking about where you can cut back to save money and create less waste in the process.
We have one more week of Less Waste Lent, but I’m confident we will continue along this road and keep improving as we go. Let me know if you have any ideas about how to solve my milk carton problems. I’d also love your inpiring book suggestions.
-Kelly
rocky mountain tot 