What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[TropicalBabies]

I am currently staggering partial rows of carrots, radishes and beets. My greens (several varieties) sort of survived the last big freeze and I am starting a few replacements in the house. I confess that I get tired of greens...but have started finding new ways to cook them and use them. (Mixed greens & eggs skillet, anyone?)
Sometimes I just want bad for me, bad for the world fast food.
I have to conquer the cravings

I hear ya! I talked my dh into take out Chinese last eve. I brought my own bag to carry out food and will go back later asking for rice bags to sew into useful bags but the first thing I thought was... 'Now how am I going to reuse this container...' . Fortunately & unfortunately we don't go out much lol

 

[TropicalBabies]

I read about a guy who saved and then compacted/melted his plastic waste into blocks then made his goat house out of it. Fumes from burning the plastic notwithstanding, that sounded awesome.

I heard of surfers in Indonesia doing the same but building homes! brilliant! We need something useful out of all that darn plastic to be made.

 

[TropicalBabies]

People using pallet wood really should line them, they are absolutely treated with non-food grade chemicals. Generally, since I often use recycled woods, I prefer not to trust the chemicals they add to prevent rot and keep them straight... But even on flower bed woods, I prefer to line them because they just last longer and it stops soil/water from getting through the cracks and aging the wood. It slows down the rot and keeps the surface clean, reduces the fast drying of the soil in summer as the water stays in the container. It helps me direct the run-off of water, I can send it where I want it to drain.

Pallet are marked with what they have been treated with. Best to get the HT or heat treated ones and avoid the blue and .... one other color can't remember so again, refer to the stamp on pallet. Lining planters with plastic and reusing as water dishes I would also think of BP leaching into the soil or water... that is splitting hairs I know.... we are all gunna die of something. I'm trying to avoid death by plane crash myself.

 

[Sally PB]

When we moved into our house 29 years ago, it had an oven and a dishwasher, original to the build in 1980. They're still going.

I have to fill the dishwasher for every cycle, so I know exactly how much water it uses: 4 gallons. We've replaced the burners and heating element on the stove. DH said the next time the burners go, it's time for a new stove, as the couplings (or whatever they are) are getting too brittle to handle.

We needed to buy a fridge, and also got a washer and dryer. (Ya gotta have a fridge nowadays, and the other two were a package deal.) Those three appliances, bought used for $500, delivered and installed. The fridge is still going strong, and so is the dryer. The washer lasted about 10 years, and I said when it went I wanted a front loader. It gets the clothes cleaner, and spins them much drier that the old machine did.

I gotta say, that fridge has to be 40 years old, or more. I bet it really sucks down the electricity, but I'm dreading the day it finally goes. It does not owe us anything. But I keep reading/hearing/seeing how the new models don't last.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I used to spin dog hair into yarn...

I am constantly teasing my spouse (the dog came into the house as his from a prior relationship) that I could make a new dog for how much she sheds! The woman he was living with made him take the dog when he left due to her shedding, even though the dog was her adoption when they were together.

(Seriously)
I do knit but at the moment my home is a crazy jumbled mess of construction materials so I am too frazzled to consider any more projects. For now the hair is going to the garden, and I suspect I am lining the beds of field mice with it, but it does serve to have the dog's smell warn off any critters that wander nearby. The fur-machine is sleeping near me at the moment, so I am looking her over for inspiration but she is a Bull-Mastif and her fur is not long (1.5"), but very stiff, it would not be great yarn.

Does the yarn smell like the dog? She is terribly smelly, I wonder if her fur would wash clean if it were not attached to her. I tell myself that chicken-predators smell her easily, as a form of 'bright-side' logic... There is little to do about it even if I did not have a bright side.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Look up fabric recycling. I found GOBS of links... in the UK

HMmm, good suggestion, I had not heard of that, I'll see if I have any. I tend to wear out clothes on yardwork to the point strangers tell me it is time to put them out of their misery. So they are no use to thrift stores. Then I make them into rags, be amazing if they had another stop after that!

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I was thinking about how I have made a few sub-irrigated planters with a water reservoir in the bottom. One of the major costs to that design is that you need to use a heavy rubber pond liner or plastic liner to make the waterproof reservoir. I was thinking a feed bag, or two, could be used to line the bottom and sides of the wood planter to smooth out any rough edges or splinters in the wood, then put the plastic liner in on top of the feed bag(s). That should allow you to use a less expensive plastic liner, which should last longer on the smooth feed bag surface, and save you more money.

I was day dreaming something like this for next year. In my version I want to buy those super cheap leaky garden hoses they sell at the dollar+ store and using it in garden containers I have lined w plastic run a loop on the bottom of the container. I don't know how much water you need to keep contained, but pond liners feels like an expensive option. I suggest: Try a recycled version made with old bags & such as your prototype so you use the liner on a 'perfected' version. (Sorry to be cheap with your money, that is my nature)

Post some pics when you start working on it we are all voyeurs here you know.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Speaking of the dryer, I don't use it during the summer. A clothes line will pay for itself very quickly!

I hang things to dry in the bathroom, it is the room I which I put the budgie in winter (small, well insulated room) so I keep it stable warm, the rest of the house is old and drafty so it is only basic heating.

I don't have a dryer, I wash all the comforters and blankets in the fall, and they don't get washed again until spring when they can go on the outdoor clothes line. They go in old feed bags waiting for spring once they are ready for washing. It means having a lot of blankets, but I have been collecting blankets for years, so I have enough to last all winter.

I try not to do too many loads at one time, so the bathroom doesn't become too packed. Since it is a dry room (due to electrical heating), most things dry within a few hours. I put things on hangers when they come out of the washer so it is easy to dry them. I washed my spouse's work shirts today, they took less than an hour on hangers in the bathroom. Tomorrow when he goes to get dressed the shirt will be warm and clean. It makes less fuzz and less damage to fabric to not go through a dryer. Less dust in the air... I love my clothesline, but it is more work than a dryer and if I had kids at home, I would not love it so much

 

[gtaus]

Would you mind posting a link to the video for us?

OK. I have watched a number of solar videos lately, but I think this is the one the I was talking about. Also, if I got a few facts mashed together, please forgive. Anyway, the just of the is video is saving a ton of money buy installing a "grid down power" system instead of a complete house solar system. Consider the concept of using battery power and a generator. He has a sale's pitch for his equipment at the end of the video, but basically it's a battery and generator setup to save lots of money.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I also have a clothes drier from the 70s and a washer from the 90s. They both work decently, but we have to tinker with them.

Is it more economical / better for the environment to get new, eco friendly appliances even when it means more waste with trashing/recycling the old ones?

What are your thoughts?

The dishwasher does use less water than 'some' people's way of washing dishes, but it uses electricity. If water consumption is not an issue, I wouldn't change the kitchen for an appliance.

For your washer/dryer you can see how much they consume by checking out the speed your electrical meter spins before you use it, then when you turn it on. Where I am the electrical company gives me access to an application that shows my consumption per hour of the day, so I can see how much it jumped when I use something.

When the time comes to change your water heater check out the ones that don't have a tank. You may have to install two one after the other if they are not very strong and you expect it to be responsive. There are two savings: the electricity it uses, and your house insurance. Tanks can break and flood so insurance costs more if you have a tank. Also, because of insurance contracts you are required to replace it every 10 yrs even if it works fine, but tankless don't have this requirement.