In Honor of EARTH WEEK....A Funny Reminder!

Here's a cute Music Video with an important message.
Tim Minchin is an avant garde(sometimes risque)Australian Comic Musician. I got turned onto him 3 years ago. This video is fairly G-rated(maybe 1 questionable word, so view before letting the kids click on it)and it imparts an important message while poking fun at Bono in one fell swoop. What's not to love?lol




Sluggy

GREEN & THRIFTY THURSDAY-Being Frugal AND Environmental TIP #3

Today is.... GREEN AND THRIFTY THURSDAY!

That means it's time for another small tip on things you can do to save money AND help the environment. After all, being frugal is great but saving money & time is not so good, at the expense of our Planet!

This week's Tip is a quick one because I am trying to get all my receipts done so I can close out March on the books.
So this G&T Tip is about using water in the Bathroom.

Our Little Planet is quickly running out of Clean Water for evereyone in our world. We are blessed living in this country with all the water we can ever need at the turn of a handle, while a good portion of our world has to walk many miles to fetch clean water, if they can find a source for clean water at all.

It's so easy to get clean water, that we hardly ever think about the awesomeness of that fact! Taking clean water for granted leads to Unconscious Waste of this, one of our most precious and necessary natural resources.

So next time you are in your Bathroom, washing something or flushing your toilet, think about cutting down on running/using water unnecessarily in that room.
Here are a few tips on how to cut your water usage in the Bathroom.

1. Fill & cap a jug of water and put it into your toilet tank. The water displaced by putting an object in your tank will make each flush of your toilet use less water.

2. Before you shower, put a bucket in your tub right under the spigot. During the course of your shower, you will have filled this bucket with water that would have just gone down the drain otherwise. You can use this found bucket of water to flush your toilet once(just pour it into your toilet bowl instead of using the flush handle) OR take that bucket of water outside and water some plants. Plants enjoy a bit of bath water now and again, just don't use it everyday. And if you are on a city's water system where they chlorinate your water, let the bucket of water sit for a few days so the chlorine can evaporate before pouring it on your plants. Plants don't mind the soap generally, it's the chlorine that hurts them.

3. Don't run water while you brush your teeth. Wet your brush, turn off the water and turn it back on to rinse.

If you want to take this Tip one step further, do like Sluggy does. Keep a cup in the bathroom. Fill the cup with water. Dip your toothbrush into the cup to wet it. Brush. Spit the toothpaste out in the sink, then use the water in the cup to rinse your mouth. Any water left in the cup after you are done can go into the bucket in the bathtub/shower. This technique saves the MOST water when brushing your teeth!

Remember, every gallon of water you save, saves you money on your water bill or if you have a well, puts the cost of digging a new well when this one runs dry further out into the future.
Either way you are saving yourself money AND making this natural resource go further.

Sluggy

GREEN & THRIFTY THURSDAY-Being Frugal AND Green

I'm starting a Series of Thursday Posts here on "Don't Read This; It's Boring!", called GREEN & THRIFTY THURSDAY.

It will be a Post with a small tip on things you can do to save money AND help the environment. After all, being frugal is great but saving money & time is not so good, at the expense of our Planet!

The 1st Tip is about ink, paper and waste.

Since I've been printing coupons from the Internet, I found that I've had ALOT of paper waste and I run through ink like I'm bathing in it sometimes. I do use recycled printer paper as that's better for our world, or the Green Option, but it's NOT the Thrifty Option. Not having to use as much paper & ink IS both the Green & Thrifty thing to do.

Some sites print 1 coupon per page, some sites fill up the page with recipes or ads for the product below the coupon, & some sites will print multiple coupons on each sheet of paper. I like the last kind of coupon site, not so much the first two. But sometimes you just don't have a choice if you want certain coupons.

Here's what I do to save some paper and ink.

Most coupons/sites let you hit the back button and print each coupon twice. If I am only printing 1 coupon on a sheet of paper, after it prints, I put the sheet back in the printer turned upside down, so I can print another coupon on the blank bottom of the page. That way, I get 2 coupons on 1 page.

I also watch as the coupon is printing. If the printing process gets to the point where you can tell that the actual coupon has finished printing, but the printer is still now printing an ad(using all your expen$ive colored ink!)below the coupon or a recipe you have no desire for, hit the CANCEL PRINTING button to stop the printer. Your paper should immediately come out and you've saved both the bottom of the page to print another coupon and you've saved all that precious ink!

If all else fails and you find you can't avoid ads or recipes & waste of partial sheets of paper when printing coupons, don't throw those scraps of paper away after cutting the coupons out.

Here are some ideas for reusing those leftover paper pieces.

*Tear or shred paper scraps to compost with your kitchen scraps.
*Use it to make homemade paper if you are crafty. Google 'making homemade paper' to find some instructions.
*Shred it and use for small pet bedding(like hamsters, mice, etc.)
*Cut the paper scraps into notepad size sheets and use the clean backside for writing notes.
*Give paper scraps to your small kids for coloring or doodling.
*Any other ideas? Please leave them in the comments section below.

Sluggy