Quick and easy tips to loving where you live

The following take minimal effort to reduce waste and go a little further beyond recycling. Can you imagine if everyone did this?

Opting out from receiving phone books

When first moving into our home, I come to realize the unnecessary number of phones books we received.  Why is this still a thing?  So I opted out by going here.  Enter your zip code and after a quick registration, you will be well on your way to stop having these vestigial structures land on your doorstep.

Even though we’ve opted out, not everyone gets the memo, so on rare occasions now, we’ll still receive a phone book, but it’s far fewer than what we once received.  And when you do receive one, you can make that elusive paper mache unicorn (or find other uses at this link).

Opting out from catalogs, unwanted mail, etc.

So I have to sort each piece of mail that comes into our home to make sure it truly isn’t important or a coupon I can use.  Therefore, if it’s junk mail, not my mail, or a catalog, I would much rather have it not enter my house at all.  I know I can and will recycle, but I would rather prevent killing of trees in the first place.  There’s a one-stop shop to help manage your mailbox – DMAchoice.org.  There’s a $2 processing fee, but once registered, you can select all the direct mailings (catalogs, credit card offers, etc.) that you wish to no longer receive.  I took it a step further and registered the previous owner of our home as deceased after finding her obituary in hopes of receiving less of her non-forwardable mail and catalogs.

No more Styrofoam or to-go containers

Near my work, there was the best deli ever (organic, fresh, quick, cheap, best bakery – so much so that after discovering this place, I refused to eat at our work cafeteria because it paled in such comparison.  I could go on and on but that’s not what this post is about).  After talking to the owner about our mutual love for the environment, it hit me that I could help the environment out and her at the same time.  The next time I went to her, I brought my own glass container for my to-go order.  She wasn’t using Styrofoam, but her bio-degradable to-go packaging was a big cost for a small local business. So from now, I try to keep a glass container or other reusable container in my car for times we go out to eat and want to take some leftovers home.  Plus, the next day my lunch is then all prepared and ready to be heated in the microwave.  Not only does this reduce waste, but also keeps costs down for the business owner.  Additionally, I travel with a reusable container, because we have small kids that don’t seem to eat their dinner at the restaurant and are inevitably hungry an hour later in the hotel room.

Hosting a Garage Sale

Ok, so this does not fall in the category of minimal effort, but if the goal is to repurpose your items and put a little extra cash in your pocket, then I have some Garage Sale Tips.

Also, I offer tables and a clothing rack for rent using loanables.com. Although my items for rent would be location specific, you can search this site or or similar rental sites to see if your area has tables for rent.  I also recommend this site for any item to rent as a way to reduce your carbon footprint – rent and reuse – don’t buy.