The forty bags of recyclables are adding up in the back of my car! It's astonishing how much we humans can consume. By about 3 p.m. i'll be walking around with an average of 2-4 plastic bottles in my purse just waiting to hit the recycling bin at home. But until i saw the "can be recycled" sign on our school "wet floor" cone, i never realized how many daily utilized items could be replenished.

Here's some more i bet you haven't tried to fit in your neighborhood recycling bin

-Little Tikes wagons
-Watering cans
-Target shopping carts
-Milk crates (If you still own one...)
-Paint buckets
-Cable bags
-Dry detergent scoops

I know recycling can be time consuming, especially when it comes to that Target shopping cart, but reusing materials is an easy alternative in order to do our part in cutting down waste.

Here's some creative ideas for everyday, reusable items:

-Paint plastic bottle caps red and black and use them to replace missing checkers
-Use chipped coffee mugs as small window-sized planters
-Buy reusable metal or cloth coffee filters vs. the plastic ones
-Find out if your local dry cleaners will accept metal clothes hangers to donate
-Use old yogurt containers to store left overs or pack lunches

The simplest thing we can do to help cure mother nature is reduce how much we take. The thing that prevents most of us from reducing our waste is
the difficulty of breaking bad habits

Here's a few easy things we can do to cutback:

-Buy a battery recharger
-Ditch paper towels and napkins
-Keep your car tires properly inflated.
-Keep your lawn pesticide free
-Turn the lights off when they're not needed

Simplicity is everything. The more raw, original, and simple we can keep our earth, then the better our souls can harmonize in it. Remember to REDUCE.REUSE.RECYCLE. - Love Jess

For a recycling center near you, click here http://earth911.com/