Children grow entirely too fast and for those of us living in parts of the country where we see temperature swings from -10 degrees to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, children's clothing can amass in ridiculous quantities. I have saved all of the clothing from both of our children since their birth, but the amount of storage space required in our house to do so is becoming quite daunting. I have done so because we weren't sure how many children we might have and thought that it would be worthwhile to hang onto things for at least a few years. Several months ago my neighbor and I did a clothing swap. She took all my old girl clothes since my daughter is now 3 (she has a 1 month old little girl) and I took all her boy clothes (Her son is 3 and mine is 1). It was a great way to recycle or reuse clothing, saved us both hundreds of dollars on clothing that our children will wear for a very short period of time.
Excerpt from Guide to Recycling Infant Clothing & Gear:
There's nothing more beautiful than a baby, but if you're on a budget, there's nothing pretty about how fast they grow. Indeed, all too many parents have a drawer full of clothes that were worn only a few times before their little one grew too big. Add shoes, toys, and all the other early childhood equipment that becomes obsolete before its time, and chances are you've got a pile of like-new items that you can't use anymore.
For those with even the barest eco-conscience, it's a Brobdingnagian waste of Lilliputian proportions. Here's how you can turn your collection of outgrown items into a force for good:
- Buy only what you need!
- If you underestimate, you can always supplement later.
- Seek used items wherever possible. There is a wide variety of nearly-new goods available, and buying used lets you conserve everything from raw materials to energy. And you'll save money, too.
- Garage sales, consignment shops, and other local used clothing stores are great sources for pre-owned stuff.
- There are also several online resources. Check Baby Place for a long list of shops selling gently used necessities.
You can read more here.
Menu Planning Monday
This week's Menu Planning Monday is all about the Crockpot for us! Unfortunately our 20 year old range has decided that it's not going to work any longer . . . I kind of boiled over a pot and helped it along with it needing to be replaced. As you can imagine I am not totally upset about it as my new range will be delivered on Saturday. Yea!
My recipes for this week came directly from A Year of Crockpotting. I highly recommend this blog as I have found several great recipes here in the past.
Sunday - Crockpot Barbequed Chicken and Cornbread. I used Barbequed Pork instead since I already had it on hand from my monthly meat delivery from Oink Moo Cluck.
Monday - Crockpot Bean Stew Recipe. I did use split peas as instead of lintels.
Tuesday - Leftovers from Monday
Wednesday -Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings Soup.
Thursday - Leftover Buffet
Friday - The kids are off to Grandma's and we are spending an adult evening out. :)
Saturday - Depending on whether my new range is actually hooked up or not . . . TBD.
I’m an Organizing Junkie is home to Menu Plan Monday.
Electronics Recycling
Two weeks ago we joined many others in Central Ohio participating in the Columbus Zoo's recycling event.
If you live in Columbus (or Ohio) and missed out on the Zoo's recycling event, there are other resources available to you. If you live in another state, try googling "electronics recycling, your state here".
SWACO's website
Ohio Computer Recycling
Ohio eWaste Recycling
On that Saturday we successful recycled three computers, three monitors, two scanners, one printer, one non-functioning television, several cell phones and lots of misc. computer accessories no longer being used.
We have this ever growing problem at our house, we hang onto things until we can properly recycle them to the best of our ability. Let me tell you about the large pieces of carpet and pad that are in my basement...
