4R’s for Better Living

Do you follow any of the 4R’s? I try my very best to live by the 4R’s, REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE and REPURPOSE. I think it comes naturally to me as I am a vintage lover, hunter, collector and seller.

Besides simply buying vintage and using and repurposing I try to reuse things whenever possible. I’ve just recently completed a project that has been on my list for a while now and I am kind of obsessed. You will see that post in my annual 12 Days of Christmas posts (stay tuned an announcement on that will be coming soon).

In the meantime here are some of the ways I follow the 4R’s….

I REUSE tea bags….whenever I drink tea I save the bags you can put used tea bags into a pitcher of water, let it steep a bit and then water your plants.  Tea leaves are packed with nutrients and plants just seem to love tea (especially roses).

Sprinkle tea leaves into the litter box.  Let the tea bags cool and dry then cut them open and put the used and cooled tea leaves into the litter box. The odor absorbing properties of tea will keep things smelling fresher longer. No need to buy a product to do this for you when you can reuse your tea leaves and save some money and have a happy cat.

Don’t throw out your apple peels!!

 

Did you know that apple peels can  be used to remove stains from aluminum pots and pans?  Add some water to the peels in the pot or pan and simmer for roughly 30 minutes. It’s amazing how it works!

Make your house smell like fresh-baked apple pie by simmering the peels on the stove with a little water and a cinnamon stick, add more water as needed. If you have the room in your freezer the peels can be frozen and then simmered when you are ready to enjoy their fruity scent, like at Christmas!! Here is a picture and a link to a recipe for potpourri from Mommypotamus – I wish I had smell-0-vision.

For anyone that follows my annual 12 days of Christmas posts you have seen the tree ornaments I made with recycled toilet tissue tubes check it out here.

I have also recycled toilet tube rolls as a way to give the gift of money to some special folks in my life. I wanted it to be just a little bit more creative than just putting the money in a card. A wee bit of scrapbook paper, ribbon, plastic wrap, a tag and Voila!

I always reuse my plastic bags from the grocery store. I’ve just recently started storing them like this (because I had an empty container I wanted to repurpose). Here is a link to a 37 second video that shows you how easy this is to do.  You could also use an empty tissue box as well.  This is much easier and quicker than the folded triangle method I use to use.

4R’s for better living,  It’s A Wandaful Thing

Tell me how you incorporate the 4R’s into your life.

You can  follow me at all these lovely places:

Twitter @awandafulthing, and don’t forget to check out my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/awandafulthing/ my Pinterest page https://www.pinterest.com/awandafulthing/and my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/awandafulthing/  selling page https://www.facebook.com/groups/WTtrinketsandtreasures/

Thanks for stopping by….until next time.