1. Popsicles: Save the juice from canned fruits and the pulp and juice from fresh fruits. If you have one of those popsicle forms that have the metal top into which you stick the popsicle sticks, you already know that it’s almost impossible to get the metal top off once the juice is frozen (unless you’re obsessive about your sticks being perfectly perpendicular to the top), so toss the metal top. Place the juice and/or pulp in the plastic popsicle form and stick it in the freezer for one hour – by that time the juice/pulp will be firm enough to hold the sticks in a vertical position (set a timer for one hour because it’s somewhat difficult to hammer popsicle sticks into frozen juice). After the popsicles are frozen, remove the popsicles from the plastic form and place in the snack-size Ziploc bags, and stick them in the freezer. Make sure the kids throw the bags and stick in the sink when done – both can be cleaned and reused.
2. (refer back to #1) Don’t have a popsicle maker? By some unflavored gelatin and mix it with the fruit juice. Custom flavored Jell-O.
3. Lip gloss: When buying paints for your kids, try to get the kind that are in those little plastic containers that have the snap-top plastic lids so they can be reused. When the paint is all used up, wash the containers well, and, if they’re connected to each other, snip them at the plastic connector. Now you have a bunch of little plastic containers which are great for your daughters’ (and their friends) lip gloss. To make lip gloss, simply heat up some solid vegetable shortening (like Crisco) until it’s melted. Pour in some lemonade mix, or any flavor Kool-Aid mix. Once the flavoring is dissolved, pour into the containers, and let cool until solid. Then let the girls be girls.
4. The Crafts Box: I always tried to encourage my kids to be creative, so I take a good-sized box, and just started putting stuff in it that would otherwise be thrown away, such as toilet paper/paper towel tubes, pieces of ribbon, pieces of colored paper, empty tissue boxes, popsicle sticks, broken toys (as long as no sharp edges) – one is limited only by your imagination. If he kids get bored or if the weather is crummy - Craft’s Box Time! Dump the box in the middle of the floor, give the kids some scissors, tape, glue and crayons, and you’d be amazed at what they’ll create (if you have a rug in the living room, that’s probably not a good place to have them be creative with the glue).
5. Kids need to understand the importance of recycling everything that recyclable, but it’s difficult for a six-, seven- or eight-year-old to understand the rationale for recycling. All you need to do is explain that if no one recycles, by the time that they are adults:
- there will be no place to put their garbage because the landfills will be filled up, so they’ll have to keep your garbage in their garage (you may want to take them on a “tour” of the local landfill so they can picture what one is)
- they won’t be able to watch anymore television because all the oil had been used up, so electrical power will have to be limited to only important things.
- they’ll have to ride they’re bikes or walk everywhere, because gasoline will be so expensive
- you’ll be able to think of a plethora of other reasons to encourage your kids to recycle.
6. Got stuff the mail, from school or from work that has a blank side? The kids can color on the blank side (just be sure the printed side has no personal information), then, after the pictures have been on the refrigerator for several eons, you can toss them in the recycle box (or file them in a box and pull them out years later on a rainy day. Kids love looking at stuff they had drawn when they were younger)
7. You get junk mail all the time where the paper is folded into thirds. If the sheet of paper has a blank side, crease the folds a few times, and then tear it into three pieces. Now you’ve got a perfect size of paper to write your list of things that need to be done. When you’re done scratching off all your projects, you can toss the paper (in the recycle box, of course), and the paper has done double duty. Again, make sure there’s no personal information on the printed side.
8. Plastic drinking bottles can be rinsed out when done (don’t forget the lid) and reused a number of times before they are crumpled beyond use. Or stick them in the dishwasher (top shelf – it lessens the chance of warping because the water is a little cooler). Since the summers where I live are torrid, I put the kid’s names on four bottles each day and stick them in the fridge. This serves several purposes: a) if any bottles are left in the fridge at the end of the day, I know that he or she hasn’t drunk four bottles of water, and b) if I find a bottle lying around in the garage or in the lawn, I’ve got a name.
9. The lids from the plastic containers of instant lemonade mixes (such as Country Time) make great snack bowls. And if the kids are running amok in the neighborhood with their munchies in such a bowl, I won’t freak out because I know they’re not running amok with, and possibly lose, my Tupperware bowls.
10. Remove the labels from large containers such as bulk trail mix, spices (like oregano and parsley) and use for bulk storage. The labels come off easily with something like “Goof Off”
11. Margarine bowls make great food containers. They’re also handy in the garage to hold small items when working on a project
