Do you want to help the environment? With these easy tips you'll find that recycling takes a minimal amount of time.
1. Keep a recycling bin handy and make it easy to recycle. It takes only seconds to toss an empty bottle, plastic container or can into a bin. Keep it in a nearby closet or in the garage.
2. Recycle paper. Use paper grocery bags or cardboard boxes to hold the paper. When going through the mail toss unwanted junk mail into the recycling box. Reuse blank sides of paper for notes, or grocery lists.
3. Reuse plastic grocery bags. Many grocery stores now offer an incentive to customers who bring in their own bags, offering cents off per bag. Keep the bags in the car for easy access.
4. Old bed sheets or blankets make great drop cloths for painting, arts and crafts or household repairs.
5. Spread coffee grounds and fireplace ashes in the garden to add extra nutrients to the soil.
6. Grind lemon rinds in the garbage disposal to keep it smelling fresh.
7. Plastic fruit cups can be used for small jobs around the house such as painting, cleaning or polishing.
8. Don't throw away clothing or household items that are in good condition. Donate them to charity. Many charities will pick up your items.
9. Use plastic containers from margarine and whipped topping for leftovers.
10. Worn cotton items such as towels, washcloths or socks make perfect cleaning, dusting or polishing rags
Fun Crafts for the kids from Recycled Materials
Recycle your broken crayons into fun shapes and create brand-new crayons for your kids! You can also attach them onto gifts as a colorful decoration.
What you'll need:
Several old crayons
Assorted cookie cutters or candy molds
Old sauce pan or tin can for melting crayons
Aluminum foil
How to make it:
Take the paper off of the crayons and put them in an old saucepan. Or put the crayons in an empty tin can and place the can in a saucepan filled with water.
Melt the wax by turning the stove on low heat.
Place the cookie cutters on a sheet of aluminum foil. Pour the melted wax into assorted cookie cutters. You may need to hold the cookie cutters down to keep the melted crayons from running out.
Wait for the wax to set, then cool, and pop your brand new crayons out.
Stuffed Thanksgiving Turkey Toy
What you'll need:
Glove (who has lost its mate)
Sock (that has been outgrown)
Stuffing (old socks, scraps of felt, or torn up old clothing)
Pencil
Tacky glue
Scissors
Two wiggle eyes
Gold or yellow felt
Red felt
How to make it:
Let your kids stuff the glove using old socks, fabric, or felt scraps. Use a pencil to get the fabric up in the fingers of the glove. These are the turkey's feathers.
Let your kids stuff the sock until the stuffing reaches the heel. This is the turkey's head and body.
Push the end of the sock up inside the glove.
Bend the stuffed end of the sock so it looks like a head is looking at you.
Spread tacky glue on the back side of the turkey body and then push against the palm of the mitten. (see picture)
Let your kids cut out the beak and feet out of gold felt, and the wattle out of red.
Glue the beak, feet, wattle, and two eyes on the turkey.
Let dry.
Easy Booklet Binding to Create Journals, Drawing Pads, Or
School Projects
What you'll need:
The papers you want to bind --there shouldn't be any more than you'll be able to staple together at once. (For a blank book you could recycle paper that is printed only on one side by folding it in half so that the printing is on the inside. Then arrange the papers with the folded edges on the right and the top and bottom edges on the left so they can be bound in the binding.)
Optional--cardstock/ recycled cardboard pieces or other paper for a front and back cover. It's easiest to put on your title or cover drawing before assembling the booklet.
A matching or contrasting strip of paper for the binding. It should be as long as the bound edge of your booklet will be, and about 1 1/2" (3-4cm) wide.
A stapler, scissors, and glue.
How to make it:
Stack the papers and the covers in the order you want them to be. Lay the paper binding strip right side down on top of the front of the papers, with the edge lined up with the edge of the papers. (For those of you familiar with sewing, this is like putting on bias tape.)
Holding the papers carefully, staple 3 or 4 times along the edge of the papers about 1/4" to 1/2" (1cm) from the edge.
Fold the loose edge of the binding strip back toward the stapled edge along the row of staples. (The right side of the binding strip is now showing and the staples are covered.) Continue folding the binding strip around to the back of the booklet and crease where necessary. If the strip extends beyond the top and bottom of the booklet, cut off the excess.
Turn the booklet over and fold under the free edge of the strip so that it covers the same amount of the cover on the back as on the front. Glue the strip to the back cover or last page.
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