If You Give a Moose a Muffin

I think I'd get along really well with author Laura Numeroff because it's as if she knows me and is writing her books about my pick-up and organizational forays around our house. 

Just as If You Give a Moose a Muffin is the sequel to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, by Laura Numeroff, over the weekend I felt like I was living the sequel to my "Mouse" day.  Luckily I didn't feel as big as a moose, but the day sort of progressed a bit like Mooses' If You Give a Moose a Muffin book.


It began pretty tamely...by swishing and swiping 2 of the toilets without chemicals, but with a little leftover liquid soap (I call it swishing and swiping in honor of Flylady of Flylady.net who recommends to swish and swipe daily).  Bathroom number 2 got the bonus round because I also swished and swiped the sink, faucets, and counters.  Now I wish I could brag that I swish and swipe daily, but even every few days makes a huge difference.  Flylady has also made me a believer of  "soap is soap", so why use cleaning chemicals daily when you don't need to?  Using leftover soap is a great way to reduce harsh chemical use, and also use up leftover soap you don't like or use up the end of the bottle...you know the one that no one wants to bother with?  Just add some water to get it all out and use it up.

After the swish and swipe, I ended up in the laundry room with the hand towels from the bathroom (you can never switch those out enough), and while I was in the laundry room, I spied some laundry to go up to Rhody's room.  Which I delivered, and decided to put away since the last batch was on his desk.  While I was putting away the clothes I noticed 3 pictures that needed hanging, soooo that lead me back to the laundry room to fetch a hammer and some hooks.  Back to the bedroom, tap tap tap, 3 pictures up and off the desk and table.  I surveyed my work and decided they looked nice.  Back to the laundry room to put away the hammer and hooks, and drop off the bag of dirty laundry from Rhody's room.  Moved laundry from washer to dryer, and put in the new load of dirty boy clothes.

While I was in the laundry room I spied my sewing machine, which reminded me that I needed to sew on some Boy Scout patches, mend a blanket, try to take in some pants, and fix a book cover.  I relocated the machine, the thread and the items to work on to the dining room table so that I could spread out.  I have NO idea how I distracted myself from the sewing, but I think I made a conscious decision to sew in the evening when it's cooler because the blanket to repair was unappealing in the heat.  At any rate, somehow, some way I ended up watching a few interesting minutes of TV with Rhody who had on the Science/Discovery channel about how things are made.  And while I was watching TV I noticed one of the kid's laptops was not put away neatly.  So I investigated why that might be and discovered that there wasn't really room where the laptop was supposed to be.  Soooo, I took a moment to survey the TV cabinet, and decided that the barely accessible, rarely used CDs (everyone has moved to digital music) could be moved to the newly cleaned out bookcase where they'd be much more visible and possibly more used (remember the episode of  If You Give a Mouse a Cookie the other day?) http://alacartegreen.blogspot.com/2012/08/if-you-give-mouse-cookie.html.  With the relocation of the CDs completed, there was plenty of room for the laptop where it was supposed to be.  I digressed a bit more and labeled the power supplies, and attached velcro devices to the cords to keep them wrapped neatly instead of the wild tangle of cords that seems to develop when I'm not looking.  http://alacartegreen.blogspot.com/2011/02/eat-your-greens-with-modern-twist.html Special bonus:  with things nice and neat in the TV cabinet, some photo albums fit in just beautifully!

While arranging the photo albums I discovered 2 more books that were in need of a new home...which of course lead me to my computer, and then to Swap.com.  If you haven't checked it out yet, I highly recommend it! http://market.swap.com/  It's a great way to get rid of what you want, and get something you do need or want in return...and the best part is that each party keeps something unused, unwanted, and unloved out of the landfill.

A previous episode of me reorganizing and deleting resulted in a large pile of 2 blankets, comforters, and a quilt.  Somehow I managed to make it to the playroom today, and bagged those up for a friend who will get them to her church, thereby helping me to de-clutter, and get the items to some folks in need.  The blanket de-cluttering was long overdue since the armoire they'd been housed in was SO jammed packed with sheets, pillows, and blankets for sleepovers that after a night of snacks, giggling, and sleep-not, the tired crew never seemed to be able to put things away neatly the following morning.  Now there is no excuse for sleepheads ;)

Is anyone hungry for a muffin?  Maybe I should head to the kitchen and see if we have something muffin-ish to eat...but wait, what was I supposed to be doing next?  I think hubby is beginning to think that I suffer from cleaning ADD, which is entirely possible, but as long as I'm productively decluttering, donating, and cleaning as I go does it really matter?  Stay tuned...I'm sure there will be a sequel to my If You Give a Moose a Muffin episode of green decluttering. 

So I got to thinking...

So I got to thinking about yesterday's blog and how my family is doing on the list of 15 Totally Recyclable Materials That Most Of Us Keep Forgetting About (yesterday's blog).  How are you doing with the 15 materials?  Here's how we stack up so far...

✔✔ We already recycle aerosol and aluminum items.  And we have been good about recycling crayons too.  Crayons can be reused by melting them down and making multicolored crayons using molds, but my favorite use for them is as fire starters for a campfire (I know, I know, campfires add to global warming, but I justify my campfires as a small vice that help me achieve serenity in an otherwise chaotic word, and offset it with the other green choices!) 

As for asphalt shingles, I haven't had the need to recycle them, but hopefully roofers know about this option :)

✔We've always been good about recycling or passing along VHS and DVD to the library, cousins, or schools.   CDs have been used in many craft projects along the way for scouts and schools.  If you need some craft ideas for CDs check out this cute fish craft:  http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/mcdfish.html  We've done this one several times and it comes out very cute.  Other craft ideas for reusing CDs in crafts can be found at this link http://www.dltk-kids.com/type/cd.htm  What I learned from the 15 Totally Recyclable Materials Link is that Best Buy has  in-store recycling kiosks for VHS, DVDs and CDs!  

✔Check, we also recycle eyeglasses OR just the lenses via the Lions Club.  The Lions Club has boxes at many libraries and eye Dr's offices to make it easy for everyone to recycle eyeglasses and help out others in the process.

✔Check on recycling metal AND plastic hangers.  Either we recycle them and use them for our clothes, or they get recycled in our bins.  

Hmm, as for fishing nets, we don't have reason to recycle those, but it is cool that there is a resource to do so! 

✔As for hotel soaps, we don't spend much time in hotels, but when we do, I do slip them into our luggage and finish them up at home, so we don't leave them behind as trash, so I think we get a check mark for that too! I do think is great that the nonprofit group Clean the World offers the unique recycling service by sanitizing leftover soap bars from 80 Orlando, Florida hotel rooms!  Now for other states to jump on that bandwagon!  

✔Around here, household paints also get recycled into projects such as Cubscout pushmobiles, and Destination Imagination projects as well as other school projects.  But I also like the idea of helping out others and donating to Habitat for Humanity and high schools!   

✔Check! Our automobile oil is recycled when we have an oil change, and the fee to do so is included :)

✔Styrene packing peanuts...well I've already blogged about these babies, I hate them!!!  BUT, I do my part and they are recycled into outgoing packages, and I've also been known to use them in the bottom of flower pots to use less soil in a larger pot.  The downside of that is if you go to reuse the pot and need to empty it, then you have dirty packing peanuts that can't be recycled, so I stopped doing that.  If you ask me they should be outlawed, as I've already indicated I'm in favor of the biodegradable type, NOT styrene packing peanuts!!!  http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/04/talkin-trash.html In my opinion, they make a mess, they come from petroleum, and there are other eco-friendly alternatives. 

We don't surf, so I guess that is one less item for us to recycle!!!!  But, I'm glad to know that those that do surf have options for recycling :)


✔Tyvek envelopes...well, I'd have to give myself a check on this one because I recycle them by reusing them.  I did not know they are made of flashspun high-density polyethylene fibers.  If this is the case I wonder if they could go in the recycle bin?  But I did think it was VERY cool that there is a group that recycles them, who would have guessed!  However, to encourage recycling, I think they should provide mailing labels at no cost like Terracycle does :) 


✔ WOW, I had no idea that 52,000 tons of wine and champagne corks were generated and go into landfills!!!  No WAY I'm gonna give up my wine, another vice that keeps me sane....BUT, I've been recycling my own corks, and those of family and friend for awhile.  I have made them into beautiful wreaths and corkboard strips under my desk cabinets, and my sister-in-law has made some very nice trivets (which will be a future project for me).  They can also be used for craft projects like this cute santa and reindeer http://www.craftideas.info/html/wine_cork_santa_b.html, http://www.alleventsadviser.com/holidays/How-to-make-a-Cork-Reindeer-Ornament-182.php It is also a handy way to use a razorblade to clean off cooktops and paint off windows; if you make a slit in the cork, you can use it to hold the razorblad during your task, then turn the blade around when you are done so that the sharp blade is in the cork (to prevent yourself from getting cut unexpectedly). I did know about Terracycle's cork Brigade too, but so far I've found too many uses of my own to send them into Terracycle :)  


So let's see how my family is doing with these 15 things... Out of the 15 totally recyclable things, my family uses 11, and out of those 11 we either reuse or recycle the items...WOWZA, not too shabby!!!