USE IT UP-WEAR IT OUT-MAKE IT DO-OR DO WITHOUT

Am I going green or am I a hoarder?

Now that life has slowed from a sprint to a steady run, I have been using the extra time to do some much needed house cleaning. I always feel much more equipped to tackle the challenges ahead when everything is in order. Or, I am just procrastinating by cleaning rather than the work I should really be doing. Either way it is nice to have a clean house.

Amidst my top-to-bottom scrubbing and total reorganization I made a startling observation. I think I am a hoarder.

I hoard garbage.

How else would you explain the stockpiles of cardboard, glass jars, yogurt containers and 112 egg cartons? Apparently we eat a lot of eggs.

Clearly I have issues throwing things away.

But that is only because they cannot be recycled, will not be recycled and I hate waste.

So I hold on to them. Clogging my house rather than the landfill.

Just about the time I am ready to call the hoarders’ hotline, I find a use for some of that garbage.

Use cardboard and newspaper for an easy weed-free garden.

The piles of cardboard and newspaper make for an easy weed-free, no-dig garden through sheet mulching.

yogurt container trophy cups

Yogurt containers and solo cups are transformed into trophy centerpieces for a sports banquet.

glass jar centerpieces

Empty spaghetti sauce jars are perfect vases when you need a lot of centerpieces on a budget.

scrap paper flower centerpieces

And scrap paper can be repurposed into floral centerpieces when you have no budget.

Sometimes, when the mountain of crap becomes overwhelming, I just want to pitch it all and have nice clean shelves again. But as I hover the item over the trash bin or recycling receptacle, I stop and think… I just might be able to reuse this some day.

And that is how I end up with 112 egg cartons.

Rebecca Jean

Tagged as: GREEN YOUR: CELEBRATIONS {DECOR}, USE IT UP WEAR IT OUT MAKE IT DO OR DO WITHOUT, YOU CAN DO IT: GOING GREEN, YOU CAN DO IT: SUSTAINABLE LIVING {WASTE REDUCTION}

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DO WITHOUT {Week 2}

Two weeks meat & shopping free!

Two weeks down, four to go. How did you do? Have you settled in yet? Are things getting any easier?

I’m a bit late posting this update. The event season is in full swing and keeping me busy. Which is a good thing. It leaves little idle time for shopping! Mister and I enjoyed a date night last weekend. Dinner and a play. More like breakfast and a play.

Last week I bemoaned the lack of vegetarian options whilst eating out, well, this week I’m going to moan some more. Unable to come up with a suitable place with meat-free offerings we decided on Perkins. I though at the very least I could order soup and a grilled cheese.

The menu was full of delicious sounding soups. All containing meat. There was one called loaded baked potato that particularly piqued my interest. It was all good until I got to… bacon. Damn. I finally found one – ONE! – that had no meat. And then I realized that it wasn’t the soup of the day. WTF? I can only have meatless soup on Tuesday? Ugh.

That left the only meatless options to be cold salad, which by the way all contained meat, but by request could have the meat removed or breakfast. I guess breakfast it is. I ordered a build your own omelette with every non-meat option they had.

broccoli
asparagus
mushrooms
onion
tomato
green pepper
cheese
topped with Hollandaise

It was filling, but it wasn’t dinner.

Going meatless at home is much easier. Here’s what we had last week:

Wednesday 16 – leftovers
Thursday 17 – Spinach & Ricotta Stuffed Shells
Friday 18 – leftovers
Saturday 19 – breakfast at Perkins
Sunday 20 – Mediterranean Veggies with Navy Bean Penne
Monday 21 – Cauliflower in Cream Sauce over Penne
Tuesday 22 – leftovers

I’m beginning to realize that we a lot of leftovers. Seemingly more as of late.

Spinach & Ricotta Stuffed Shells

With the absence of meat I have added greens to our meals. Miss M. and I have a salad with every meal. It has really cut down the portion size of our main entree, resulting in many leftovers. I need to start adjusting the amount I make to account for this.

I’ve got little say on the clothes shopping front, because there hasn’t been any. I did order several Round A Belts.

Love that it's plastic free!

I plan to spend my shopping hiatus organizing what I already own. I’ve already discovered several things I forgot I even had! Nothing like shopping in your own closet.

I look forward to reading about your week. Link up below!

So you’ve missed fourteen days. That’s okay. There’s still time to join the Do without challenge! Better late than never. If you haven’t already done so, make your pledge by adding your name/blog name and what you are giving up under the “Make the pledge” tab. Check out the rules and grab a badge too! Then write a post on your blog and link up weekly. The “Participating Posts” linky is a bloghop, so feel free to add the link list to your posts. Just grab the code.

You may also add your blog name under the “UWMD Challenge” tab for participating. This is a running list of all blogs taking part in the UWMD Challenge throughout 2011. CLICK HERE for full challenge details.

Participating Posts

Made the pledge and have a post to share? Add your link below!

The Rules

The mini-challenge will run from March 9 to April 23.
Decide what you will do without and make your pledge.
Blog about your experience, be it good or bad.
Every Wednesday I will do a “Do without” post and offer a linky for you to link to yours.
Grab the “Do without” badge for your blog or your posts about the topic.
Link back to this post so others can join.

Make the pledge

For forty days and forty nights, I pledge to Do without…

Grab a badge Link to this post: http://midnightmaniac.com/post3277

Link to the UWMD Challenege: http://www.midnightmaniac.com/UWMD-Challenge/

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UWMD Challenge

These people/blogs are participating in the “Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, or Do without” in 2011 Challenge. Join us by signing up below!

CLICK HERE for full challenge details.

Tagged as: DO WITHOUT, GREEN YOUR: KITCHEN {FOOD - EAT LESS MEAT}, USE IT UP WEAR IT OUT MAKE IT DO OR DO WITHOUT

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DO WITHOUT {Week 1}

One week down, five to go. How did you do? Were you full of optimism and it was a breeze? Or consumed by angst and just stumbled through? I’m a bit of the latter. Not that week one was difficult by any means, but I was less than prepared, in the meat department anyway. We [...]

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Do without {And so it begins}

Today is the first day of our Lenten journey. Are you nervous? Excited? Cantankerous? For those of you giving up coffee it may be that last one. We skipped Meatless Monday this week so the family could indulge in their final meat requests. I’d like to say it’s the last meat we will eat, but [...]

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Wait. Me? In the New York Times?

Guess who got a shout-out in the New York Times? Me! squeeeeee It was a quick mention on my guest post at Pepperoni Is Not A Vegetable about going meatless (not vegan) for Lent. I’m way too addicted to dairy to go vegan. If I were stranded on deserted island, the two things I would [...]

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Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, or DO WITHOUT!

With Lent just around the corner I think it’s time to get this party started. Catholics traditionally refrain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent, hence the birth of the Friday Fish Fry in Wisconsin. We’re not Catholic, but for the past two years my family and I have given up meat, all meat – [...]

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Clean Out the Cupboards Challenge continues!

Well January has come and gone and taken the Clean Out the Cupboards Challenge with it. How did you all do? Referring back to my pantry list at the start of this challenge here’s what we’ve used: popcorn – I’ve refrained from buying chips and have been snacking on this instead. I even discovered that [...]