I’ve disclosed a lot about my personal life this month, and thought I’d finish May by sharing just a few more things that I do. They’re nothing major, but they are cheap, healthy, easy and help the environment, too.
- Last year I switched to glass storage containers for our food. I LOVE them. It’s pretty handy to be able to microwave leftovers in the storage containers. I started out with two sets of Pyrex dishes with lids, but now I’m adding to my collection. I also use glass canning jars. And in an effort to recycle a bit more, I’ve been repurposing glass food jars. As soon as I’m done with our jam or olives or salsa, I wash the jar and lid and use them for leftovers, too. I love how they’re free and come in such funky shapes and sizes. If they end up breaking, I won’t be sad.
- Speaking of repurposing food jars, I’ve also been saving the plastic jars from my grated parmesan cheese. Once I wash them out, I can store some of my powdered cleaning supplies in them, like Borax, baking soda and Super Washing Soda. I can sprinkle them easily when it’s time to clean.
- I use cloth napkins. All the time. When I was engaged, I registered for cloth napkins because I thought they were so romantic. Then I saved them for special occasions. After having children, I kept forgetting to buy paper napkins at the grocery store, so I dug out my cloth ones. The habit just stuck! They’re easy to use, easy to wash and I can cut a few pennies every week by not buying paper. I’m doing my part to save a few trees, too.
- I use cloth kitchen towels, too. I do keep paper towels on hand for those cleaning chores that require something disposable. But for the most part, I try to wipe down my table and counters with cloth for the same reasons I purposely use cloth napkins.
- I’ve recycled some of my old T-shirts that I never intend to wear again by turning them into cleaning rags. I actually cut a few so I have small sizes of T-shirt squares. I love to do my cleaning with these, because I can scrub grungy spots and then throw the rag into the wash. Even if it is a little stained, who cares? I’m just going to continue to dust or scrub with it, anyway.
- Recently I’ve been reusing old aluminum foil to scrub dirty pots and pans. Personally, I think scrubbing sponges are a little nasty – whenever I scrub out a pan of stuck on scrambled eggs, little bits of egg get stuck in the sponge and then it’s just gross. A wadded up piece of aluminum foil scrubs just as well as a scrubber, but I can dispose of it after the gunk is scrubbed off my pans.
How have you been making simple, greener choices in your home?
P.S.
A big congratulations goes out to Andrea D. and Amanda H., winners of the Maia’s Mineral Galaxy giveaways! (And a huge thank you also goes out to Maia’s Mineral Galaxy for their generous donation.)
Photo credit
nuchylee/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
nuchylee/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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Hilary Kimes Bernstein is a Christ follower, wife, mama, and journalist. She writes about making healthy decisions that honor God and happen to help the environment at Accidentally Green. Short and sweet - like her writing - Hilary is the author of several healthy living eBooks.
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You gave me cloth napkins as a wedding gift! :)
I buy inexpensive glass baking dishes at Goodwill and use them whenever I have to take a meal to someone. They can keep the dishes, and I didn’t waste my money on throw-away aluminum pans.
I love the parmesan cheese shaker idea!
We keep most glass jars, also (with a recycling purge every now and then, because they seem to multiply!).
I have been wanting to get cloth napkins for a while now. Maybe I will check Marc’s like Jacquelyn suggested. :)
I had been scouring thrift stores for depression era glass refrigerator dishes to no avail! Finally found two sets in an antique shop for $60 each! (which obviously STAYED at the antique shop…one was a beautiful amber colored set, sniff sniff…) THEN I discsovered my mom had some in her cupboard and I struck a trade deal with her! If you’ve never seen a “set”, one is a square, one a rectangle, and then two smaller squares. They have glass lids too.
oh, and I also use cloth napkins all the time! I must have at least 60 of them. I’ve found great sales at Marc’s…I so much prefer them to paper!!
Does the foil scratch your pans? I’m very protective of my new stainless steel pans and I don’t like using sponges either. I have a nylon brush that I use. If I have a particularly icky pan to clean, I soak it a few minutes with some water and a little Bar Keepers Friend sprinkled in, then I use the nylon brush and I don’t have any problems getting them shiny again!
I’m trying to convert to glass food storage for the freezer. I always make extra for dinner, then divvy up the leftovers into containers to freeze, so my husband just has to grab one for lunch. So many of the jars I see don’t work for meal proportions. I’d really love to find ones in the same proportion as the gladware ones. Any ideas?
I’m excited for all of today’s comments! Thanks for sharing the secrets to your success. :)
Jacque – I’ve bought some of my cloth napkins at Marc’s, too. Such great deals! Regarding the aluminum foil, I haven’t tried it on my stainless steel pots and pans yet because Bar Keeper’s Friend works so well. The foil definitely works on glass baking dishes, though, where I usually have baked on, burned on messes to try to get rid of.
Kristy – What a FANTASTIC idea about buying glass baking dishes at Goodwill instead of foil ones! I totally love this idea.
Jen – When I found my Pyrex baking sets (glass containers and plastic lids) a few of them are pretty small. The sizes have been perfect for our leftovers. Anchor Hocking also sells a lot of smaller sized glass containers and plastic lids. Hope that helps!
I’m glad you mentioned that you use the foil on glass, because I could definitely use that tip!
Realized how many paper towels I was going through wiping my daughter off after (messy) mealtimes, (dish rags were to gross of course!) so got a set of cheap washcloths at Target for post mealtimes. And they are sort of a color code, to know they go in the kitchen, just for her. Use cloth for wiping up counters, kitchen table now too. Good idea on the foil. I usually use the little plastic scraper that comes with pampered chef stoneware (or for $1 or 2 purchased separate). Cleans so many things without scraping up the surface!
Thanks for sharing, Tori! Over the past three years I’ve discovered that it’s wise to choose a dark colored washcloth for mealtime clean-up … I chose light green and yellow, and they’re very stained by now. :)