Ways to reuse school supplies

I hate wasting school supplies.  Those broken crayons, filled notebooks from last semester, and the empty pens can really add up to a lot of trash if you don't get creative.  Here are a few ways to reuse or repurpose some of those useless school supplies.

•  Broken crayons = Toddler crayons   Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.  Line a mini muffin pan with mini muffin liners.  Place broken crayons bits into the liners. You can sort by color or make rainbow crayons.  It's up to you!  Place the muffin tin in the oven for 10 minutes.  When the crayons are melted, remove the tin and let the crayons cool completely.  You can pop them in the freezer for an hour or so to speed things up.  You can also pour the melted wax into candy molds to make shapes or into ice cube trays for a different shape.  I find the mini muffin shape is great for little toddler hands since it is big and chunky and easy to grip.
• Empty pens can be used to store tiny craft beads for your budding crafter, to mark spring seedlings in the garden, and as craft sticks for preschool art projects.
• Use old notebooks for science projects!  Use the paper to make papier-mâché projects.  Shred the old notes and look up "how to make paper" online.  I also use the cardbaord front and backs for toddler art projects like a painting canvas, cardstock, and ornaments.
• Broken or too short pencils make excellent wood compost for your spring garden!

Happy reusing!  

Does your community encourage recycling?

My community is very lucky to not only have free recycling, but residents actually get REWARDED to recycle through RecycleBank.  It's a great program where you earn points based on the weight of recyclables collected.  You earn 2.5 points for each pound recycled.  RecycleBank also offers electronics recycling so all those old gadgets don't end up in a landfill.  The points can be traded in on their site for gift certificates, store discounts, and coupons.  They have everything from groceries to restaurants to clothing.  It's really a great program that rewards people for doing the right thing!

In my community they only offer this program for paper.  Our plastic and metal recycling profit is turned over to our local government and they use it to keep our taxes low (another great way to encourage recycling).

Does your community reward your recycling efforts?  I have heard you actually have to PAY for recycling in some places.  Is this true?  How does it work in your area?

I'm back from outerspace.

Goodness it has been a stressful and exhausting few months.  I'm glad that my family is healthy, happy, and all around boring again.I am especially glad because it lets me get back to my routine - blogging being a large part of that routine.

So, it is HOT here in New Jersey. I think all of July was one giant heat wave.  I have been a slacking Greenie because I have had our air conditioners running non-stop for about a month now.  Luckily, they are new models which have energy saving settings and automatic shut off.  I haven't seen much difference in the electric bill, so I think we found a decent solution to beating the heat.

The plus side of all this heat is that my veggie garden is exploding with fresh produce.  I have tomatoes and cucumbers filling up my kitchen.  I am actually going to pickle some cucumbers this year!  I'm very excited to try it and see how they turn out.  The tomatoes barely make it past the front door before they are gone.  I rinse them off, slice them and eat them right off the cutting board.  Fresh tomatoes may be my favorite food in the world. 

So, I am working on ideas to change an area of my home into the designated daycare area.  I am trying to find eco products to do this.  If you see anything adorable, green, and available, let me know!

It's so nice to be back, I hope to "see" you all around again!

Winners!! I have winners!!!

Thanks so much to ChildOrganics.com for sponsoring this very useful and green giveaway of Extreme 18x Laundry Soap.  Our winner was #14 - Cindy! 

Cindy said... I commented on the blog here: http://childorganics.blogspot.com/2010/03/guest-post-motherless-motherhood.html#comment-form

 

Congrats Cindy! 

And the lucky winner of a fun and fabulous shirt from WestMamaDesigns is #11 - Goddess Amaunet!

 

 

Goddess Amaunet said... I would love one of her born at home shirts! Either for my little one on the way that better take after her older sister with no complications homebirthing, or one for the older sister who is 2 years old! :)

Kimberly really doesn't make anything I don't love and some even the cuttlefish is growing on me. LOL
I am bias though, I have at least three of her items already!

Congrats Goddess!!

I will be in touch with both of you today to get your info!  Thank you all for entering!