The other night my husband commented that he goes to the recycling centre less frequently now that I am not around. Back in Singapore, I was the main contributor to our recycling bin - with milk cartons and cornflake boxes. Other than recycling, more importantly, if we can cut down on the amount of things that we use or purchase, we can “save” more. Thus, I seldom purchase things unless I really need them – clothes, accessories, cosmetic stuff, shoes, can/bottled drinks, things with excessive packing etc. When my husband made the comment, it made me think if I could have made wiser choices in my purchases.
Especially, being here in Golden Gate where there are no recycling facilities nearby, I have been feeling strange when I had to throw away things like can be recycled. Moreover, I can see my recyclable trash accumulating rapidly (I have been keeping some stuff with the hope that I can one day put them in a recycling centre, or perhaps have some use for them), and I don't really have space to store them anymore.
Thus, I have started to be even more cautious about what I buy, and think twice before I buy things with packaging i.e. i try to buy more fresh food. It's more healthy too! Also I try to use the same thing at least twice before I really throw it away. So, here are some ways that I have tried to be creative with the accumulated “trash” that I had.
Especially, being here in Golden Gate where there are no recycling facilities nearby, I have been feeling strange when I had to throw away things like can be recycled. Moreover, I can see my recyclable trash accumulating rapidly (I have been keeping some stuff with the hope that I can one day put them in a recycling centre, or perhaps have some use for them), and I don't really have space to store them anymore.
Thus, I have started to be even more cautious about what I buy, and think twice before I buy things with packaging i.e. i try to buy more fresh food. It's more healthy too! Also I try to use the same thing at least twice before I really throw it away. So, here are some ways that I have tried to be creative with the accumulated “trash” that I had.
- Hot Chocolate Cans (I took them from the Education Centre kitchen trash) – useful as mini dustbins for tissues, cotton wool etc, and also to put plastic/paper bags. The other one I use a can opener to create some holes in the bottom and use as a drainer.
- Chocolate Bar Box (also from the Education Centre Kitchen) – useful to place cooking stuff. The box is nice too!
- Milk Cartons – Unfortunately, it's hard to find a cow to milk for my daily calcium dosage, thus I still accumulate a lot of of milk cartons. Was looking at the sunset one day, and was suddenly inspired. It's now decoration for my kitchen.
- Top of Milk Cartons – felt bad to throw away the rest of the carton, so used one box top to put my spices, the other to put rubber bands.
- Plastic tray from purchase of fresh mushrooms – usually, i keep these trays to defrost my frozen meat a few times before throwing them away, took one to use as a drainer for my sponge (with some holes in the bottom that drains water into the sink).
But honestly, I feel that it is also because I do have a lot of time on my hands. There are no distractions in terms of television and internet. At home, at this time I would be hooked on to the net or the tv, and not writing this blog or thinking of ways how to be creative with “trash”. Anyway, the pros & cons of having the tv and the net deserves a blog entry on their own (tbc). Hope that this entry can help you to also trigger off some ideas of your own. Do share any other new ideas as well.
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