Day 46

Collection

• Mail

1. A statement (file/reuse)
2. Bill (file/reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. 1 plastic pretzel bag (reuse)
2. 3 glass beer/soda bottles and bottlecaps (reuse)
3. 2 paper bags (reuse)
4. 1 big piece of masking tape, used to pick lint off of something I crocheted (garbage)
5. 1 glossy paper yarn wrapper

Reuses and other projects

• Today I cleaned out some spots in my living room and gathered a lot of reuseable materials in the process. Much of this was paper from my desk, and much of that was made up of piles of junk mail I had not yet sorted. Even before the project started I was finding it increasingly difficult to throw out potentially useful items, so I have quite a collection. I found at least 15 credit card offers from American Express. These should be drying up now that I have taken myself and my husband off the the mailing lists for credit card and insurance offers. In the meantime, I began a project with them. So far, I have made several sheets of homemade paper using just the credit card offers. I saved the intact envelopes, the thicker paper and those fake "your name here" credit cards they send. I threw out the tacky glue that adheres the fake cards to the paper. From all of this I'll be making some small notepads.
  

Day 47

Collection

• Mail and other paper
  

1. A local hospital newsletter (reuse)
2. Magazine offer (reuse)
3. AAA offer (reuse)
4. Credit card offer (reuse)
5. 6 pieces of my son's art (reuse)
6. 1 catalogue picked up from a furniture store (reuse)
7. 1 flyer picked up from a furniture store (reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. 2 paper bags (reuse)
   
2. 1 plastic produce bag (reuse)
3. 2 paper receipt (reuse)
4. 1 plastic milk bottle seal (reuse)
5. 1 plastic potato bag (reuse)
6. 1 plastic bag from food leftover take-out (reuse)
7. 1 cardboard food leftover take-out container (reuse if not too messy)
8. 1 cardboard tissue box (reuse, but contents are in the garbage)
9. 3 glass beer bottles and bottlecaps (reuse)
10. 1 cardboard toilet paper roll (reuse) and paper wrapper for new roll (reuse)
11. 1 cardboard pad box (reuse, but of course the contents of the box have been put in the garbage)

Day 45

Collection

• Mail

1. 2 bills (file/return/reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. 1 2 liter bottle (reuse)
   
2. 2 pasta boxes (reuse)
   
3. 1 medication patch packaging (reuse) and patch (garbage)
4. 1 chip bag (reuse)

Reuse: I used a plastic lid, large tin can and my container of bottlecaps to make a toy/game for my son. I cut a hole in the lid and we dropped/counted/sorted the caps into the can. Hours of fun. Also, I am attempting to make my own sour cream. If successful, I could cut down on the packaging used for all those sour cream containers. I can use cream for this that comes in reusable glass bottles from my local dairy.

Day 44

Collection

• No mail
• Food and other packaging

1. 1 2 liter bottle (reuse)
   
2. 1 chip bag (reuse)
3. 1 candy bag and candy wrappers (reuse/garbage)
4. 1 receipt (reuse)
5. 1 egg carton (reuse)
6. 1 milk bottle seal (reuse)
7. 1 peanut container and lid (reuse)
8. 2 medication patch wrappers (reuse) and patches (garbage)
   

• Other: miscellaneous fabric scraps

Reuse

• I cut an old and ripped pair of pajama bottoms into rags for various purposes.
  

Day 43

Collection

• No mail
• Food and other packaging

1. 1 candy package and wrappers (reuse/garbage)
2. 1 yogurt seal (garbage)
3. 1 2 liter bottle (reuse)
4. 1 "biodegradable" plastic produce bag with holes (garbage)
5. 1 glass beer bottle and cap (reuse)
6. 1 receipt (reuse)
7. 1 beer box (reuse)
8. 1 small paper bag (reuse)
9. various small cardboard and plastic packaging bits for a small plumbing repair (reuse/garbage)

Day 42

Collection

• Mail

1. Computer ad/miniature catalogue (reuse)
2. Credit card offer (reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. 1 2 liter bottle (reuse)
2. 1 chip bag (garbage)
3. 1 receipt (reuse)
4. rubber bands/wire ties/plastic bags for vegetable packaging (reuse)
5. 1 glass soda bottle and cap (reuse)
6. 1 plastic bag for doggie treat gift (reuse as gift wrapping)
7. 1 muffin wrapping (reuse)

Day 41

Collection

• Mail

1. Magazine (read and reuse)
   
2. bill (reuse/file)

• Food and other packaging

1. 1 2 liter bottle (reuse)
2. 2 plastic produce bags (reuse)
3. 1 chip bag (reuse)
4. 3 glass beer/soda bottles and bottlecaps (reuse)

Day 40

Collection

• Mail

1. Magazine (read/reuse)
2. bill (reuse/file)

• Food and other packaging

1. 3 glass beer/soda bottles and caps (reuse)
2. 1 glass juice bottle and cap (reuse)
3. 1 glass olive oil bottle and cap (reuse)
4. 1 cardboard pasta box (reuse)
5. 1 butter wrapper (garbage)
6. 1 cheese wrapper (garbage)

Day 39

Collection

• Mail

1. Magazine subscription renewal form (return/reuse)
2. Water utility notice postcard requesting voluntary water use reduction (reuse)
3. Catalogue (reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. Milk carton (reuse)
2. Chocolate bar wrapper (reuse/garbage)
3. Plastic flower bag (reuse)
4. Rubber band (reuse)
5. 2 glass beer bottles and caps (reuse)

Day 38

Collection

• Mail

1. Ad postcard (reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. 2 glass beer bottles and caps (reuse)
2. 1 plastic medicine bottle (reuse)
3. 1 cardboard medicine box (reuse)
4. 1 plastic medicine seal (garbage)
5. 1 chip bag (garbage)
6. 1 wire twist tie (reuse)
7. 2 plastic bags (reuse)
8. 1 cardboard kleenex box (reuse)

Day 37

Collection

• Mail and other papers

1. 2 preschool flyers (reuse/file)
   
2. 1 insurance offer (reuse)
3. 1 credit card offer (reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. 2 coffee cups (garbage/reuse)
2. large cardboard box (reuse)
3. large plastic bag (reuse)
4. packing peanuts (reuse)
5. 2 toy packaging boxes, toys, and clothing (use)
6. 4 plastic packaging bag (reuse)
7. 2 candy bar wrappers (garbage/reuse)
8. 1 cookie box (reuse)
9. 8 plastic cookie wrappers (garbage)
10. 3 glass beer bottles and caps (reuse)
    

Day 36

Collection

• No mail
• Food and other packaging

1. 3 beer/soda bottles and bottle caps(reuse)
   
2. 1 pizza box (to hold leftovers--reuse if not too dirty)
3. 1 peanut container (reuse)
   
4. 3 receipts (reuse)
5. 1 botanical garden brochure (reuse)
6. 1 plastic produce bag (reuse)
7. 1 toilet paper roll and paper wrapper for new roll (reuse)
8. 1 buttermilk container (garbage--seems too dirty/filmy on the inside to wash without destroying the container, but ideas for getting around this are welcome as I regularly buy buttermilk)

In other news: I opted out of credit card offers online. This is part of my Month 2 focus on paper. More on that coming soon (on fr(ECO)logism)--I'm still catching up on everything as I reenter life following the recent illnesses in my family.

Day 35

Collection

• No mail!

• Food and other packaging

1. cheese packaging (garbage)
2. pasta box (reuse)
3. milk container seal (reuse)
4. 1 chip bag (reuse)
5. 2 tin cans (reuse)

Also...today I reused some paper scraps, cardboard scraps, and a wire to make a small notebook. It was a decent attempt, although I don't have a small enough hole-punch to have done it well.

Day 34

Collection

• Mail

1. 1 letter (save/reuse)

• Food and other packaging

1. 3 chip bags (garbage)
2. 4 take-out containers (garbage)
3. 1 tissue box (reuse)
4. 1 plastic bag (garbage--already reused once)
5. 1 plastic pharmacy bag (reuse)
   
6. 1 receipt (reuse)
   
7. 1 paper prescription bag and 1 paper prescription insert (reuse)
8. 1 doctor's appointment reminder card (reuse)
9. 1 doctor's appointment copay receipt (reuse)
10. 1 sour cream seal

• Other: One package from the grandparents for Valentine's Day containing 5 books (to keep and read), 4 book covers (to reuse, since my son is very clear about not wanting to keep them on the books), 2 stuffed animals (to keep and play with), 1 boxed game (to play with), 2 heavy duty plastic bags (to reuse), 1 hat and 1 t-shirt (to wear), 1 card (to save/reuse), and packaged in 1 box (to reuse)

Day 33

Collection

• Mail

1. Bank statement (reuse/file)
   

• Food and other packaging

1. 3 glass beer bottles and caps (reuse)
2. 1 chip bag (garbage)
3. 1 peanut container (reuse)
4. 1 cardboard tissue box (reuse)

Day 32

Collection

• Mail

1. 2 cards (save/reuse)
2. 1 tax form (file/reuse)
3. 1 newsletter (read/reuse)

Day 31

Collection

• Mail

1. DVD envelope flap (reuse)
2. donation request (reuse)
   

• Food and other packaging

1. 2 chips bags (reuse)
2. 3 soda bottles and bottlecaps (reuse)
3. 1 plastic bottle (reuse)
4. 1 half gallon milk carton (reuse)

Day 30

Collection

• Mail (all to file and/or reuse)
  

1. Tax form
2. Bank statement
3. Car ad
4. 2 Realty ads (one for me and one for my husband)
5. Sandwich shop ad
6. Bank ad
7. e-file tax ad/info

• Food and other packaging

1. 1 tin can (reuse)
2. rubber band from vegetables (reuse)
3. 1 bread bag (reuse)
4. 3 soda bottles and caps (reuse)

Other: I used some of the vegetable stock I made a couple of weeks ago to make soup. Combined a few ingredients (a dab of dish soap left in the bottom of the bottle, castille soap, essential oils and water) in an old dishsoap bottle to reuse the bottle and to make what I hope will work as dishsoap.

Day 29

Collection

• No mail!!! (Thank God for Sundays.)
• Food and other packaging

1. medicine plastic seal (garbage)
2. yogurt container plastic seal (garbage)
3. grocery receipt (receipt)
   
4. wire twist-tie from a bunch of beets (reuse)
   

Other

• Washed off the new window screen in preparation for papermaking whenever my son feels well enough for me to be off the couch for long enough to do this.
  

Day 28

Collection

• Mail

1. Subscription offer (reuse)
2. Local realtor ad (reuse)
3. Local realtor magazine (reuse)
4. magazine (read and reuse)
   

• Food and other packaging
  

1. 2 beer/soda bottles and bottlecaps (reuse)
   
2. 1 medicine bottle (reuse)
3. 1 medicine box (reuse)
4. plastic medicine dropper wrapper (garbage)
5. tissue box (reuse minus plastic; tissues themselves are in the garbage)
6. wipes plastic packaging (garbage, I think)
7. orange juice gallon container (reuse)
8. plastic cheese wrapper (garbage)
9. plastic bag and receipt (reuse) from grocery store run (our canvas bag didn't hold everything...)
   

Other

• Shopping: I bought new shoes for my growing son. I'll try to find a reuse for the plastic inserts and tag, and put the receipt in the reuse pile. I also bought an old window frame/screen to use for homemade papermaking at a local building supply salvage shop. Not sure what I'll do with the frame once the screen is out...
  

Day 27

Collection

• Mail

1. 2 magazines (subscription--read/reuse)
2. 2 bills (filed/reuse)

• Food and other packaging
  

1. 5 popsicle wrappers (garbage) and sticks (reuse)
2. tissue box (reuse, minus the plastic lining)
3. 2 soda bottles and bottlecaps (reuse)
4. notebook (to write in) in a plastic wrap (garbage) in a plastic bag--a gift for/from my husband that he brought back from a business meeting
   

Day 26

Collection

• Mail

1. magazine subscription renewal notice (reuse)
   
2. magazine subscription offer (reuse)
   

• Food and other packaging

1. 6 popsicle wrappers (garbage) and sticks (reuse)
2. 4 glass beer/soda bottles and caps (reuse)