I have a HUGE passion for reusing and recycling – something that I am hoping I can instil in Sprout as he grows up. However, I have to confess that I was not always as fastidious about reusing and recycling as I am today, it pains me to say this but I was just too lazy.
My love of reusing everyday items came after my 1st tentative steps into reusable nappies and I’ve been hooked ever since! As sad as it may sound, I love the little tingle of joy that I get when I have found a new use for one of those mundane household items!
East Things To Recyle
One of my favourite things to reuse (and it saves me a fortune!) is tea bags! You can get WAY more than one cuppa out of those little suckers and then off they go to the compost to help with next year’s veggie growth! Soon I am going to be working on a beautiful little table for my hall made out of an old pallet, I have been desperately seeking a *very* slim but tall table for my hallway and can’t find one anywhere in the dimensions required but the other night whilst browsing Pinterest (who doesn’t love a browse on Pinterest!) can across a great tutorial for the perfect table!
Pallet Tables
The beauty of reusing for me, is taking something no one else can see the beauty in and transforming it into something that is just perfect for my needs and giving whatever the item is a new lease of life – or at least prolonging it’s life for a tiny bit longer!
There is one thing that makes me sad about reusing and that’s the attitudes of others, specifically my generation. Despite all the hype in the media about ‘upcycling’ – I really dislike that word – and the way it has been made fashionable, I still think there is a stigma around reusing and recycling whether you are talking about nappies, my teabags or that beautiful pallet that will become a gorgeous new table! Sadly I think too many people want new –new this and new that and see those who choose to buy second hand or reinvent something that is no longer of use as being somewhat inferior.
For hundreds of years, our ancestors reused and made do with what they could find and had a happy existence doing so and I really hope this will once again be the way future generations choose to live their lives. I strongly believe that change is afoot and future generations are starting to see the benefits of reusing – both financially and environmentally. With a bit of gentle guidance and a tentative shove in the right direction, future generations will see reusable nappies as the norm, they won’t think twice about reusing the bones of their Sunday Roast meat to make a beautiful stock or (I hope) getting the most out of those pesky teabags!
So, I will be teaching Sprout all about the best ways I can think of to reuse and recycle and turn the ‘junk’ in our home – and yours – into something beautiful and hope he gets the message that some of the best things in life are free and with a bit of TLC they can become some of your most treasured possessions.
This article was written by: Gian MIller – Full-Time Writer, Baby Whisperer & Dad of 3.
Gian spends a lot of his time writing. A self-proclaimed baby whisperer, Gian has been through it all with his own children and is passionate about sharing his hard-won wisdom with other parents. When he’s not writing or changing diapers, you can find him playing the guitar or watching baseball (or preferably both at the same time).
