Four Family Strategies for Encouraging Eco-Friendly Life Habits

Do as I say, not as I do.  That’s what I should be saying to my children when I use the phrase, “Reduce, reuse, recycle.”  Yep, I’ve got a guilty conscience today.  Why? ‘Cause I spent the day cleaning out the garage and the attic and could not believe how much STUFF we have in this house that we don’t use.  Just ridiculous.

I sorted through so many old toys, random house decorations, and tossed aside furniture that we no longer use.  We had a massive Goodwill drop-off, a call to the bulky item local pick-up service, and now have an overflowing trash bin.  It’s time to hunker down.  I’m not a hoarder.  I don’t want to accumulate.  I don’t want to fill up my city’s dump with wasted consumer products.

I will make an effort to do as I say.  I aim to Reduce, Reuse, and Recyle!

Here are some resources I hope to employ in my efforts:

Thredup:  Online consignment shopping for kids! Browse thousands of like-new kids clothing items, which are hand-selected and certified for quality, including popular name brands.  When your child outgrows clothing, simply fill up a thredUP bag and put it on your doorstep. thredUP covers the shipping, and pays you for every item that can be handed down to other moms.
http://www.thredup.com/about

Craigslist: Whether I need a toddler bed or a chaise lounge, the first place I’ll be hitting up is Craigslist.org.   I’ll also be saving product information for things I buy so I can re-sell consumer items that we end up not needing.  You can get ANYTHING on craigslist.org.  Seriously.  Why buy new when you can get it for so much less?  Why send it to the dump when you can sell it?
http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites/

Baby Plays: Does your kid love a toy for the first month and then buries it in the toy chest? Ever thought about renting toys? Novel concept, right?   Think about the storage space you’ll save! The plastic you’ll save from the dump!  The joy your kid will have when the next shipment of rental toys shows up!
http://www.babyplays.com/

Eco-Friendly Paper Products: I was most over-whelmed by how many boxes and boxes of mix-matched paper plates, napkins, and various half-empty boxes of plastic utensils I found in my attic and garage.  What if I just picked a neutral color and purchased biodegradable and compostable party supplies for my events and decorated in other ways?  It would save so much waste!  I found several awesome websites:
http://www.sustyparty.com/ & http://www.greenpartygoods.com/

What are some easy ways your family has found to cut back on waste?