Wash Reusable Bags

My friend recently told me reusable bags are a breeding ground for bacteria and even E. coli. I did a quick search and found this article that talks about how 50% of bags in a study contained traces of E. coli and salmonella, bacteria that can cause food poisoning in humans. I usually wash mine once a month but in cold water. I just finished washing mine in hot water and will do that weekly from now on. I also am no longer going to put meat in a reusable bag. I'll use a store paper bag for that.

Happy Earth Day!

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. In honor of the day I thought I'd link some of my past "earth friendly" posts.

Make your own reusable snack bags. When I make more of these snack bags I am going to make them from a wipeable material so I can clean them out by wiping them rather than throwing in the washer.
Simple ways to protect the earth. Use reusable shopping bags, water bottles, recycle, and think before you buy.
Where to recycle those unusual items. This post lets you know where to take ink cartridges, batteries, tvs, pesticides and all those items you aren't sure what to do with.


Best organic produce to purchase.

Make your own cleaner.

I took a quiz at Earthbound Farm Organic to receive a free shopping bag. One of the quiz questions that surprised me was the following:

On average, which “green lifestyle” choice can have the greatest impact?

Turning off the lights when you leave a room
Bringing your own bag when you shop
Eating less meat
Recycling your printer paper

Answer: Eating less meat

Make your own reusable snack bags and giveaway winners!

If you are like me, you have lots of little plastic baggies like this
and this
in your purse, car, diaper bag, etc.

I decided that I waste way too many plastic baggies. I get a new one at least once a day. I always have to have snacks for my little guy whenever we go anywhere. So, to solve this problem, I decided to create reusable snack bags. These do not require great sewing skills. You just need to be able to sew a fairly straight line. I am not a seamstress by any means, but I can sew a somewhat straight line.

First you need to cut to squares of fabric to the desire size of your bag. I had extra cotton flannel fabric from some rag quilts I made, so I just used those. They were 6"x6" in size. Any cotton fabric should work well.Next, fold the fabric down on one side about 3/4" and sew the fold down using a zigzag.You now need to pin the right sides of the fabric (side with pattern) together and sew the three sides of the square together. Don't sew side with the folded down fabric.Next, cut iron-on Velcro to fit the size of the opening of the bag and ironed it on according to package directions.Flip the bag right-side out and the bag is complete! The Velcro is really strong and won't let anything escape!To show my appreciate to my followers, I have chosen a follower from this site and Facebook to using random.org to receive two of these snack bags. Thank you for following! All of you readers who haven't signed up to follow, please do! I will occasionally be doing giveaways for my followers.

The winner from my Blogger followers is:
JenM

The winner from my Facebook followers is:
Kimberly C.

Congrats! I'll get those snack bags to you soon!

Simple ways to protect the Earth

Happy Earth Day! Being "green" is definitely trendy right now, so there is tons of information on how to help protect our Earth. Below are some easy ways to go green.

Reusable shopping Bags
Last year on Earth Day I purchased six reusable bags to use when I shop. These six bags have a lot of room and hold up to 20 lbs. I easily fit my cart load of groceries into them. Plus, I get around a 5 cent discount for using them. Using 6 bags each week is a 30 cent discount which adds up to a $15.60 savings each year! I purchased these bags from Baggu. I liked them better than the canvas bags because they can all fit inside my purse in their little pouches and I don't have to worry about forgetting them. They are pricier than the canvas bags, but I think I use them a lot more because I always have them in my purse. I've also heard good things about ChicoBags.

I've also been thinking about all the small plastic bags I use when I purchase produce each week. Those add up! I've been starting to save those plastic sacks and reuse them for other uses and may start bringing them to the grocery store with my so I can reuse them. I know they also sell reusable produce bags, but I think just reusing the bag works just as well as is more economical.

Use reusable water bottles
We used to live in a town where I didn't feel comfortable drinking the water. It tasted funny to me, so I bought a case of individual water bottles each week! I thought since I was recycling the bottles, that it was okay. However, statistics show 90% of bottles purchased aren't recycled and end up sitting in our landfills. Recycling also takes a lot of resources so it is better to buy a water filter or buy those big water jugs that you can refill with purified water. Our fridge now has a filter that we use and I just fill up a reusable water bottle. It takes 1000 years for plastic bottles to even begin to decompose! More facts here.

Recycling
I am surprised how so many people don't recycle. I believe people just don't think before they toss something in the trash. I am constantly pulling things that can be recycled out of our trash cans because my husband didn't grow up recycling and he just forgets. I made a recycling bin for my fifth grade science fair and it was something my parent's encouraged at an early age. I believe it is important to get kids involved early so it become second nature to them. If your neighborhood doesn't have recycling pickup, you can check here to find the nearest recycling center. I don't have pickup where I live now, so every Monday I take my recycling to a center near here on my way to the gym. I found home trash can weren't big enough to fit all my recycling each week, so I bought a huge wicker hamper at Ross that came with a fabric bag inside and it has worked well for fitting our recycling and it easy to transport.
A couple months ago I had a whole post on recycling unusual items such as electronics, batteries, oil, and hazardous material. Click here to check out that post.

Think before you buy
Freecycle and Craigslist are great places to look for items before purchasing. Not only do you get a better deal, you are saving something from going to the landfill.

Also, consider borrowing rather than purchasing items such as books, cds, movies, lawn tools you won't use often. Purchasing music online in digital form rather than a cd also saves material.

Do you already do some of these things? Are you making any resolutions this Earth Day?

Recycling Unusual Items

Hopefully, you all are already recycling the basic items such as paper, plastic, tin, aluminum, & cardboard. I want to focus on the unusual items today. Many of you may have joined me during the “Get Organized Week” two weeks ago and may have items you want to get rid of but aren’t sure how to dispose of them properly. This post will give you the resources you need to do that.

The Environment, Health and Safety online website allows you to type in what you want to recycle and your zip code. It then lists the closest place to recycle your item. This is a great resource to use for each of the items I discuss below.

Batteries
Many people aren’t aware that they shouldn’t throw their batteries away (most states allow you to throw away alkaline but it isn’t good for the environment). Batteries need to be disposed of properly. Batteries in our landfills and trash incinerators can disperse heavy metals and other toxic substances into our air and water, which causes serious health risks to us.
I always take my regular alkaline batteries to Best Buy and drop them into their recycling bin.

Rechargeable batteries can also be recycled. Click here for a list of places to take them.

Recycling batteries in California is mandatory. Here is a page with info specific to CA.


Printer cartridges
There are several businesses that have drop-off bins to recycle your printer cartridges. I have seen them at Wal-Mart and office supply stores like Office Max.

TVs
Many cities have a recycling program that includes picking up your old television. To find out if your city does this do a search for “hazardous material [type your city, state]” and you should find your city website with recycling information. Check out this site to find the nearest drop-off location to you.
Hazardous materials
Hazardous waste is defined as liquid, solid, contained gas, or sludge wastes that contain properties that are dangerous or potentially harmful to human health or the environment.

A few basic tips when dealing with hazardous waste (source, Ohio State):
• First and foremost, never burn or dump any hazardous wastes on the ground.
• Do not dispose of any hazardous material "down the sink" unless you are sure it can safely be disposed into the sewer system. "Down the sink" includes letting hazardous materials run down the sewer system (draining an auto's oil into the gutter system or excessive water runoff from a pesticide treated yard) or down the toilet. If you have a septic tank, additional care must be taken.
• Avoid burying any containers or leftover chemicals.
• Do not mix hazardous wastes and do not collect containers and chemicals to dispose of them at one time.
• Solidify any liquid wastes. This involves using an absorbent material (sawdust, kitty litter, paper towels, rags) to soak up a liquid hazardous material. Do not solidify more than one chemical at a time. Using gloves, sweep or dispose of the material into a plastic bag, and then dispose of with other household garbage.
• Use this same process with any "empty" container other than an aerosol container. It is often good to "open" a non- aerosol container with wire cutters or scissors and air-dry; wearing gloves, swab the inside before disposal. Dispose of the rags or paper towels after they have aired outside.

For aerosol cans you need to turn the container upside down and depress spray button, with nozzle facing paper toweling, rags or any absorbent surface. When the spray has lost pressure, wrap the can in several layers of newspaper and dispose with household refuse.

Cleansers can be poured down a drain. If you have a septic tank, drain disposal should nearly always be avoided. If cleansers are designed to be used with water in a home or in sinks, showers, toilet bowls, and tubs, the material is probably drain disposable. Let the water run, rinse the container and slowly pour the water/chemical down the drain. Allow the water to continue running after the chemical is gone. Allow the container to air dry (or swab with paper towels), wrap in newspaper and dispose in household refuse.

Antifreeze can be flushed down the toilet if connected to a sewer system.

Pesticides, herbicides, oil paints, paint cleaners, and oil and transmission fluids should never be flushed into a water system or disposed of on ground or put into household refuse. Most cities Hazardous Waste Programs will take these products. Automobile batteries should never be added to a home's garbage. Some communities have hazardous waste material collection systems for some of these wastes.

Again, check out this website to find the nearest recycling center for any item.