Frugal Is As Frugal Does
I've always felt that frugality and "green", earth friendly concepts go hand in hand. If we aren't frugal with our resources on a global scale, being frugal with our nickels and pennies isn't going to make much of a difference in the long run. As the St Patrick's day holiday approaches (which is a green holiday for an entirely different reason!), I've been reflecting on ways that I can be frugal with what I've been given in much more than a "spending as little as I can for the best quality I can find" way. I've come up with a short list of earth-friendly frugal practices and mindsets that I try to keep in mind as I make my way through this world.
1. Reduce is first, Reuse is second, Recycle as a last resort. In the Reduce Reuse, Recycle mantra, the first tenet is to reduce, meaning - find a way to not use as much of something, or not need to use it at all. Think outside the box. Do you really need that something, or can you adapt something you already have to the task?
2. Time is of the essence. I am in a lot of ways the queen of procrastination. But procrastination, which is the enemy of progress, is how I end up doing as little as possible as quickly as possible. If I procrastinate less and do more, I spend less of my time putting things off, and more of my time making headway. Using my time wisely gives me more time to do things that really matter and less time thinking about how not to do things.
3. Real feeling beats Hallmark cliches every time. Give a hug. Give a real honest emotion. Save the earth one less Hallmark card at a time. If you want to give a card, make one out of recycled materials and love.
4. Junk mail is the enemy. Get rid of the junk mail! Get yourself off every junk mail list you can manage. Here's a link to a list of places that can help you do that.
5. If you must write it down, use that junk mail to do it. No matter what you do, some junk will come - use it as scrap paper. Use it as compost if you can. Put it to use instead of simply putting it away.
6. Again - reduce. Create less waste. Make purchases with packaging in mind. Try to reduce the amount of trash that leaves your home on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
The earth is here for all of us to share. Treat it frugally, and the rewards will return back to you.
No related posts.
4 Responses to “Frugal Is As Frugal Does”
March 12th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
To true. I try to reuse and recycle all possible. Of course we want to have items packaged in less and less but that does not always seem to be the case.
A few simple reuse ideas from a country gal.
Those large dog/cat food bags are great trash bags. The plastic buckets that litter comes in can become holders for car toys, cleaning supplies or even small trash cans.
My previous MIL would take bread wrappers (save many) then braid them into “rag rugs” for the porch. Then when they wore out she would just make another.
Look around and see how else we can do these things.
March 12th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Speaking of junk mail, I have heard off someone who saved their junk mail to burn as fuel. I wonder what it would smell like…
Thanks,
Nate
March 14th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I shred my junk mail and give it to my worms who turn it into beautiful vermicompost, which goes into the soil, enriching it, to produce more food. How’s that for a perfect cycle?!
March 16th, 2009 at 6:12 am
I for one would like a way to stop receiving advertisement books, err, I mean phone books every year and from about three different phone book companies. Each time I hear one thud on my front step it feels like I just chopped down a 100 year old oak tree myself.
Leave a Comment