Tag Archives: Environment

How To Get Cute Gingham Cloth Napkins for $1

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by Texas Homesteader ~

I’ve always used cloth napkins.  I mean, why not?  They can even make a meager meal feel decadent!  It’s a smart financial as well as environmental move for me.  There’s no disposable plastic-wrapped paper napkins for me to buy over & over again & throw away! I’ve got cloth napkins that are over 20 years old.  They still look great & are serving their purpose quite nicely.

Recently I wanted some red/white gingham napkins.  But y’all know how much I hate to get rid of this whatsit to buy that whatsit.  It just seems like an environmental waste to me.  But I REALLY wanted those cheery red & white napkins!

I wanted cute red & white gingham cloth napkins. A small tablecloth and a few minutes at my sewing machine was all it took. #TexasHomesteader

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Eliminate Plastic Produce Bags

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by Texas Homesteader ~

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I don’t typically use plastic produce bags.  I mean, my veggies can usually play nice without being separated from each other by plastic.  🙂  But sometimes with bulk buying it’s just easier for the cashier to have like items all bundled together.  So if I buy 16 roma tomatoes to make Pico de Gallo for a family dinner, bundling them all together for the cashier just makes sense.

But oh how I hated to use that plastic bag.  I mean, yeah, I’ll make sure it gets reused somehow when I get home, but I’m trying to SHUN plastic aren’t I?

I don't use plastic produce bags at the store, but when buying in bulk it's helpful to bundle. I use see-through reusable bags! #TexasHomesteader

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5 Zero-Waste Products I Love

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by Texas Homesteader ~

‘Plastic-Free July’ is where folks around the world see how far they can go in shunning plastic in their day-to-day lives. Y’all know me, I’m all over that action!

I don’t plan to be able to achieve a 100% plastic free life. But I do plan to use this month to take special notice of the plastic that comes into our home & refuse it for better options when possible.  It’s more about the awareness than attaining perfection anyway. 

So c’mon – join the pledge with me and see what you can do to shun plastic for the month of July, ya wanna??  You might (like me) be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is & what other options you have. To celebrate plastic-Free July I’m sharing the 5 zero-waste products I love most that help me eliminate plastic from my life and from our environment.

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Solar Cooking: Hard-Boiled Eggs In The Solar Oven

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by Texas Homesteader ~

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I love my solar oven.  I’ve said it time & time again, I hate to fire up my electric oven during the heat & humidity of our Texas summers.  Not only does it cost fuel for the stove to operate, but boiling eggs adds even more heat inside our home.  That requires our air conditioning to work overtime cooling it back down, therefore costing even more money.

Several years ago I bought a solar oven and I absolutely love it!  What a great item in your Emergency Preparedness toolbox! Then at a Mother Earth News Fair I attended a few years ago, a solar-cooking seminar presenter told us how easy it was to cook ‘hard-boiled’ whole eggs in the solar oven without even using water.  Color me intrigued!

Solar-Cooking Eggs. I'm hearing that you can BAKE your eggs instead of boiling them. I decided to give it a try in my solar oven. Check it out. #TexasHomesteader

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5 Things I Did This Week To Save Money & The Environment

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by Texas Homesteader ~

We all wanna be gentle on the earth, right?  I mean c’mon, none of us open our sleepy eyes, stretch & yawn and stumble to the kitchen to sip our coffee while quietly contemplating how to single-handedly destroy the earth!  But sometimes the big picture is just so…  BIG.  “What could I possibly do to make a difference?” you might wonder.  Or you may have no idea just where to start.

Well let me tell you, it’s easy to start right where you are! Remember it’s the many little things you do every day that come together to make something big.  And here’s a very pleasant surprise – it often saves you a little cold, hard cash too!  Take my week for instance, here are 5 easy things I’ve done this week to save some money and the environment too!

Remember it's all the little things you do every day that come together to make something big. And here's a very pleasant surprise - it often saves you a little cold, hard cash too! Here are 5 easy things I've done this week to save money and the environment too! #TexasHomesteader

 

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Solar Light Feature Using Aged Bois D’Arc Wood

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by Texas Homesteader ~

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Y’all know that by making our gifts ourselves, RancherMan & I just feel we’re sharing our love more fully.  Yes it takes much more time & effort than just going out & buying something, but to us the effort’s well worth it. We make our own Christmas gifts and I often bring fresh-cut flowers from our homestead to loved ones in the hospital.  The gifts are always well received and the flowers are always gorgeous.  And a little bit of our hearts are always wrapped up in those gifts!

Recently RancherMan & I sat out to make a special gift for our daughter & son-in-law-to-be.   We wanted something beautiful that was also functional and personalized just for them.  Hummmmm…  They both love nature and are interested in woodworking, so we put on our thinking caps and came up with a great idea.  A solar light feature!

Solar light feature using old, aged Bois D'Arc wood and rustic old 1880's barbed wire, a metal elephant embellishment and decorative solar light. Perfect! #TexasHomesteader

 

 

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I Love Mother Nature, That’s Why I Recycle LESS!

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by Texas Homesteader ~

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Y’all know I have an environmental bend.  Back in my fledgling environmental days I was pretty darn proud that my recycling bin was full while my landfill-bound trash bin was only half filled.  A badge of environmental pride!  And recycling is good, don’t get me wrong.

But recycling is still dealing with trash.

And I was shocked to find out the recycling that you diligently separate & send off often ends up at the landfill anyway.  (gasp!) So these days I’m actually recycling LESS and helping Mother Nature much MORE!

Why I Recycle LESS. Yes I love Mother Nature, but I've found by recycling less I'm not only saving lots of money, I'm saving the environment too! #TexasHomesteader

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How To Make A Cute Gift Box With A Greeting Card

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by Texas Homesteader ~

Y’all remember last Christmas I showed you how to repurpose Christmas Cards into cute little Christmas gift boxes?  Well I thought I’d point out that you can use any greeting card to make these gift boxes.  A friend of mine was celebrating a birthday recently. I decided to gift her some homemade Lavender/Rosemary soap, but how to package it?

Quick and easy fix – I pulled the birthday card she gave ME last year and decided to turn it into a cute little gift box. Won’t that be the sweetest idea?  Plus it’s the perfect size for a bar of homemade soap!

You can repurpose a pretty greeting card into a cute gift box in minutes. It's easy and there's no waste! #TexasHomesteader

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Homestead Hack: Cardboard In Compost

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by Texas Homesteader ~

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Y’all know I have a compost tumbler and I’m a big advocate for making your own compost.  It’s healthy for your plants, cheap to make & a great way to make good use of kitchen scraps and paper trash that would otherwise just be wasted.  And it’s super easy too, you just make sure to have a proper mix of browns & greens.  Add a little water, do a little compost turning and BOOM!  Black gold for your garden. You can see my Compost Post Here.

For ‘greens’ you can use grass clippings, vegetable peels, etc.  And for ‘browns’ you can use dried leaves, paper, twigs, etc.  I often use corrugated cardboard boxes to fill my ‘browns’ requirement.  But ugh, tearing all that cardboard requires some elbow grease #amiright?  Come check out this Homestead Hack to see how I make it easy.

I use cardboard in my compost. But it takes lots of grip to tear up all that cardboard. Come see this Homestead Hack that makes it EASY! #TexasHomesteader

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Low-Waste Option: Snap Toothbrush

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by Texas Homesteader ~

As hard as I try to eliminate waste, there are some places where I just sigh & accept that plastic landfill-bound trash is just a part of my life. To eliminate the revolving trash of replacing my worn toothbrushes over & over, I tried bamboo toothbrushes.  I loved the concept of compostability, and was willing to power through a different experience for this lower-waste option.  But I had some issues with the bristles coming out in my mouth.  And more importantly I just could never get used to the feel of bamboo in my mouth.

Plus since it had nylon bristles, the toothbrush head portion wasn’t compostable.  So that meant at the end of the toothbrush’s life I either had to snap off the head and throw it away, or soak & pull the bristles out with a pair of pliers and throw them in the trash before composting the rest. Ugh…  So with a sigh I went back to traditional plastic toothbrushes sold in a big plastic package.  Eco-fail?

Then I heard about a more traditionally-styled toothbrush where you only replace the small brush head & reuse the handle.  Now color me intrigued!

I got to try a Low-Waste Toothbrush Option - replace only the worn heads and reuse the handle over & over again to lower toothbrush waste by 93%! #TaylorMadeHomestead

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