Zero Waste Kitchen Ideas - Paper Towels, Microwave Mat

A big way to cut down on kitchen waste is to stop or limit the use of paper towels. Since they are  a one use item, I can go through a roll of those really fast. So what I did was to purchase enough dish towels and bar mops for each day of the week so there are always fresh ones. That way they can be washed and reused. I delagated my paper towel roll to the cupboard under my sink so it isn’t the first choice anyone grabs to clean up a spill or dry something off. I haven’t needed to buy a new roll in over a year! That’s a real money saver. I love to get something off of my shopping list! 

Paper napkins are a real waste of money and trees. We use cloth napkins at my house. I am not above cracking out paper plates and napkins for a party though. I used to use paper plates quite a lot in the microwave but I bought a silicone mat that you can put food directly on, eliminating the need for that.

Here’s some on Amazon:

Zero Waste Ideas: Reducing Waste in the Kitchen With Reusable Coffee Filters

Continuing my series about reducing kitchen waste, I would like to address the concept of single use items. That is items that are only intended to be used once and thrown away. I will be talking about a lot of these things we use every day without giving it a thought. Replacing single use items with reusable ones greatly reduces the amount of garbage we create. 

So today let’s talk about coffee filters. If you are using paper ones that are intended for single use, we can reduce waste by purchasing a washable, reusable one. Even if you are composting your used filters, they still come in a box usually with a plastic window that has to be ripped off and put into the trash in order to recycle that box. Basically a reusable coffee filter eliminates the need to continually buy disposable ones, thus saving money. 

You can obviously still compost the grounds. I like to dump the grounds directly in my house plant pots as it feeds nutrients to the soil. I also occasionally put them down my garbage disposal with some lemon wedges to give them a good clean.

Here’s the one I am using with my Mr. Coffee and the link to Amazon.

Zero Waste Ideas Reducing Kitchen Waste

In my previous blogpost I talked about the advantages to reducing the waste created in my kitchen on a daily basis. Not only does it lower our carbon footprint, but it saves us time, effort, and money. One of the things I found myself to be tossing out a lot were two sided sponges for scrubbing dishes. I was constantly buying new ones at the dollar store every week because they just didn’t last. Then one day I was watching a YouTuber called the Vegan Athlete who has an amazing backyard garden, and he was growing loofahs that he used to wash dishes with! First of all I thought loofahs came from the ocean, but they actually grow on vines in tropical regions. So I had to check this out. 

So, I checked on Amazon for loofahs to wash dishes with and sure enough they were there! I have been using them for a few months now and I will never go back to those nasty old sponges I used for years, (one less item in my shopping cart and in my trash can.) The loofahs are great at cleaning dishes and pots and pans. If you have a really burnt pan you may need to use something stronger, but these really do a great job replacing those two sided sponges. They come in a pack of five and so far I have only used one. To keep it clean I just rinse with dishwashing liquid and hang it to dry on my faucet. You can also run it through your dishwasher or pop into the microwave for 30 seconds. This product is 100% natural. So if it ever does wear out, it can go into your home or community compost. I just love the fact that I could buy something as natural and inexpensive as these loofahs are and they are going to last me literally years! 

Click here to find them on Amazon.

Minimalist Kitchen Tips for Food Storage

I am always looking for ways to cut down on the waste produced on a daily basis in my kitchen. I especially hate throwing away anything plastic because we all know that it takes forever to biodegrade and much of it ends up in our oceans. In this upcoming series I will be talking about ways to cut down on this waste. Many people don’t think much about the garbage they produce other than to recycle as much as they can, which is great, but creating less garbage in the first place is better. It’s great to have less garbage in your kitchen which means it takes up less space and requires less trips to the garbage can. If you reduce your waste enough it may even save you money on curbside pickup if you can use a smaller can or switch to less frequent pick ups. For me, being a minimalist, less is usually better.

In this post I want to talk about food storage.  I store food in mason jars and reuse zip loc bags over and over, which helps a lot,  but recently I found these great lids on Amazon. Once you have these you no longer need plastic containers that can leach bad chemicals into your food. No need for plastic wrap either. These stretchy silicone lids are great because they fit over a variety of bowls, jars, cans, and even plates! These turn all of my odd ball sized bowls into legit storage.

Stretchy Lids on Amazon

Upcycled 70's Vanity

Here's the 70's vanity with the hardware added. The hardware was a bit hard to install. It was hard to line up the drill holes with the handles and the screws were the wrong length. So, I had to buy new ones.
I am very pleased with how it came out.

Renewing an Old Vanity

In my small powder room the vanity that is original to our house built in the seventies had been painted white. The counter top was tiled in black granite with a new sink and faucet by my son. I decided to paint it a matte black to match the tile. I really like the way it came out. I plan to add new handles to match the satin nickle faucet.

Some other details:
The agave plant needs little water and light. The refillable liquid soap dispenser (from Pier One,) saves money because I can buy the liquid soap in bulk. It is placed on a small glass candle holder to catch the drips.

Returning to My Post

It's back to blogging! I have moved yet again, this time to our treehouse in the west side of Portland. So I am embarking on creating yet another minimalist home. We are painting, remodeling, and landscaping. So, I will have a lot to write about.

I will also be writing about ways to save time and money.

Upon returning to the land of blogging, I went through all of my favorite blogs that I had listed and was shocked to see how many were no more. Some stated that their space was for sale, some were just not found and some were just replaced by ads.

So I have updated my blog favorites and added some more I think you'll like. So I hope you'll follow me on my latest journey. Cheers!

Minimalist Thanksgiving

So today is Thanksgiving. How does one keep one's cool among family, friends, and the pressure of entertaining? First of all, I have divided the two groups. We are having an intimate meal with just family at 1:00 and then have invited a variety of friends and neighbors to come over at 4:00 for horsdorves which will be sort of a Thanksgiving antipasti with turkey, crostini, and a variety of stuffed olives, and the sort. So by the time the friends arrive, Thanksgiving dinner is completely cleaned up and restructured into antipasti trays. For me it's the best of both worlds. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Primary Storage, Secondary Storage, Long Term Storage

My dear friends just recently moved from a big country house into a rather small city house. They had to move rather quickly though so their things were packed in a hurry and just put down basically anywhere in the new house. So when I walked in there were boxes piled everywhere and with my friend's husband at work, she decided to just try to set up the living room. We did this pretty easily once we go started by just removing what didn't belong. After a rest and a chat, we were motivated to attack the kitchen. Here's where some real decisions had to be made. Since my friend's husband is a professional chef, he has tons of pots and pans, serving platters, and kitchen gadgets - and I mean all of them! Well this is a tiny kitchen.

So we started making decisions using the three storage categories that I am sure every professional organizer knows: primary storage, secondary storage and long term storage.

Primary storage is for the items you use every day and should be stored right where you use them: cutting board on the counter, glassware near the dishwasher, etc.

Secondary storage is for things you use once a week or so. They can be stored in higher cupboards like crock pots, serving platters, etc.

Long term storage is for things you use once or twice a year such as holiday decorations, certain tools. etc. these things can go into the garage or somewhere where it may take time to get them out.

Back to my friend's kitchen - the amount of secondary storage items in this situation would never fit into this kitchen. So I thought where would you store all of this stuff if you were in a big house? A butler's pantry!

So we took a big shelf and put it in the garage which is right off the kitchen and created a place for all of these over sized bean pots, steamers, mixers, etc. There's even an outlet if he wants to plug one in right there to do some slow cooking without taking up space in the pantry.

So he has his butler's pantry. With the two main rooms done, the others are quickly being organized and I know they'll be happy back in their little city house - especially because they're my neighbors!

Drip System Heaven

Now that I am back in downtown Portland in my townhouse again, I spent some time revamping my drip system. If you've never used one, I must say they are so worth the initial set up. Mine's on a timer and connects to two misters for my small front flower garden and then goes around the yard and up to the second deck to water my flower baskets. It's really hot up there, and I know from experience that they would soon be dead without being watered every morning. 

The most expensive part of the system is the timer, which pays for itself in saved water costs. The rest is just 1/4 inch tubing that you puncture with an awl- like tool and little connectors that go into wherever you punch into the tubing. 

I had a lot of fun putting it together. I bought a small kit and was on my way to saving time, money, and the planet - my favorite things!

An Easy Way to Free Up a Kitchen Drawer

Here's what my kitchen utensil drawer used to look like. Lots of junk and with so few drawers in my kitchen I knew I needed to put something up on the counter, even though I have zero tolerance for clutter.

I realized that most of the utensils are stainless steel. Some of them have black handles so I just hid the handles in the bottom of this canister that I already had on the counter. I think it looks great, I have everything I need right at hand and I freed up a crowded drawer!

Still Digging Out!

I am still digging out from this move. Our last renter finally moved all of his stuff out on Friday, but unfortunately we still have lots of extra furniture that won't fit in this smaller house. One would think I'd have everything put away by now, but I of course, consider each thing I have and weather or not I really need it. 

We also decided to repaint in a new light chocolate shade that looks very contemporary. Being as busy as we are right now, my husband spends about an hour a day painting and it's really coming along. 

I've always had the attitude that any big job can be done a bit at a time. So I try to unpack one box each night when I get home from work and do one load of laundry. We'll get there. 

If you're facing a big dig out from clutter or any kind of disorganization, check out the Fly Lady's site. No matter where you are in your process of getting it together she has figured out systems to keep you progressing. Her basic philosophy is the same as mine, and I'm a big fan of hers.

Downsize, Downsize, Downsize...

Well, now that we finally got everything out of the big house and the new renter has moved in, it's time to unpack. Of course, some things will be put right back where they were, but I am taking a fresh look at the house one room at a time. My sister was saying she should move so she would be forced to get rid of stuff. Believe me, that's not the easiest way to do it! However, starting with an empty place, does let you see it afresh.  

Even living out of a suitcase for a week got me focused on what I really need on a daily basis. They say we only wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. If we could just know which ones we are going to need on a regular basis, imagine how much money and closet space we could save? I am afraid that I'll have to leave that one  left up to the fashion gods, as it will always remain a mystery to me! But when you have to choose the essentials to wear for a week or so, it jumps out at you.

So I'll be paring down as I unpack and will be changing some of my minimalist organization. I hope you'll follow me on my journey!

A Shocking Thing Happened on My Way to Minimalism

So here I am, back in my minimalist's row house but, a shocking thing happened on my way to minimalism.... Apparently, while in the huge flip house we accumulated more stuff! I am shocked at just how much stuff! Much of it is attributed to remodeling left overs and stuff left there by our son and his crew who lived there while they remodeled. I knew it was there and we cleared out a lot but, my mistake was not clearing out enough on a weekly basis. I was so busy keeping the house looking showroom perfect, that I neglected to keep up my minimalist habits! 

Now that I'm unpacking, I'm thinking.... what was I thinking? Why do I have this much stuff? Believe me, it's not because I buy it! My sister loves to send my serving dishes for Christmas for some reason, enough that I could start a catering business! My mother in law likes to send my husband food home with him when he stops in to visit. So, those dishes and Tupperware pile up. We have all of these odd mismatched glasses... remember the gas station glasses? We inherited some of those and remember the Flintstones jelly jars people reused as juice glasses? Well, at least I didn't have any of those!

Luckily, unpacking is a great time to recognize what hasn't been used in the past year and all of those empty boxes make it easy to cart things off to charity too. So with: trash, donate, relocate, and sell boxes at the ready, we unpacked our kitchen last night and purged a good fourth of it!

Our kitchen was second only to the garage mess in sheer bulk that we had to move. Of course, the row house kitchen is about a fourth the size of the flip house kitchen. I guess we really spread out there!

So, it's back to my good habits which are: going through drawers and closets on a regular basis, keeping a box handy for items to go to charity, and going through one kitchen cupboard and one refrigerator shelf a week. If I had done more of this the six months before I moved, it would have been much easier on us!

Thankful to be a minimalist!

I apologize for neglecting this blog but it seems everything has changed rather quickly. In the past month here is how our lives have changed:

1. The substitute teaching job I described in an earlier post turned into a long term position until the end of the school year, (the third week in June.) More on that later in another post.

2. After months of the doldrums, our remodeling company has landed quite a few bids thus, my husband and son have been working their tails off for the last two weeks! Of course, the business picked up right after...

3. my husband took a job as a crisis intervention counselor.

4. We found a renter for our house that isn't selling and decided to move back to our minimalist town house next weekend.

No wonder I'm so tired. And yes I am blogging at 3:00 in the morning....

All of these changes are positive financial changes. However, they all require energy, and the hardest on the list is the move. Luckily, my little family all believes in minimalism. How else could we play musical houses when we need to? Our son will move from the townhouse to another house we own, the renters will move into the flip house and we will move to the townhouse. Here's the plan:

Will I have a garage sale before I move? No.

Will we be donating stuff before we move? You bet ya!

And although I don't really have that much stuff to get rid of, there are always things that no longer serve us. There is no point in saving this stuff because you might need it one day and you don't want to buy it again because most likely, that day will never come. So tomorrow I'll start packing and purging.

I have learned to move anything I cherish in my own car myself i.e. fancy dishes, technology stuff, art supplies, basically, breakable stuff. I have made a list of where I want everything put in the townhouse and will label each piece of furniture and box. My son and crew will likely move us while we are at work, so this is a must! Moving is no easy task no mater how organized we are, so wish me luck! Did I mention we just moved here in September?

Moving in the Future? Start packing now!

Knowing that moving again is in my near future, either because we get this house sold or rent it out, I find myself thinking about what to do to make the move easier. I know the worst thing to do is to jumble things together in hopes of sorting it all out on the other end. I also know that anything that isn't in a container is difficult to move. So, I've decided to tackle packing way in advance by getting things into containers as much as possible and planning which containers to use where. 

1. Clothes: I already got rid of our dressers in exchange for plastic drawers that are stored in our closets. These are so great when moving because they're already packed. I'll need some tall moving boxes for hanging clothes and shoes.  (This is probably a good time to pare down my shoe collection.)

2. Cosmetics and toiletries: I haven't gone through this stuff in at least six months. I'll need to do that, and then locate some large zip lock bags to pack it all in. Then it can all go in my suitcase.

3. Office supplies: I think I'll use the zip lock method here as well.

4. Filing: I am unusually behind in this department. This will be my largest task. I need more folders. I hate too keep buying file boxes. I think I'll rubber band and pack up old files in a plastic storage box and set up new ones. It's the loose papers that need to dealt with.

5. Kitchen: This is the worst stuff to pack because it is so breakable. I think this time since I'm moving such a short distance, I'll just take it in my car. Wine boxes with inserts in them are helpful too. I'll ask my local pub owner.

6. Garage: This is by far the worst area to pack. Ours is filled with our construction company's tools. I've decided to leave this to the guys!

Wow! I feel better already. Now that I have a plan, I can tackle one area at a time and then when it''s time to move, I'll be ready to go.

Keep it Simple!

The current economic conditions have created the need for me to substitute teach, but I am actually having a great time! I keep getting long term situations where I really get to know the kids and really get to experience real teaching. I just spent the last week in second grade and the kids were just so sweet! I did however, walk into quite an organizational mess, which I of course, took upon myself to sort out.

There had been another substitute for the previous two weeks.  The desk and teaching table were piled high with junk mail, notes from parents, corrected papers, uncorrected papers, and long  notes from the previous sub and the teacher in no specific order.  I spent most of the first morning sorting all of this out, I got some folders from another teacher and just put like items together - a basic organizing strategy. 

There was no way to decipher from the previous substitute's notes where the kids had left off and there were no lesson plans as the regular teacher was really sick, so I simply asked the other two teachers on the team where to go next and we were off. After school, I corrected the six inch tall pile of homework left by the previous sub and filed them in the kids' take home folders. 

I was there for a week. When I left, I pulled out all of the teachers editions and put post its where the returning teacher would likely continue, I left a one paragraph note and a grid that showed exactly what we did, when. So now, all of her systems were back in place. She could just walk in and teach without reading a long note from me or looking for things.

That's keeping things simple. It's not hard. Folders are a great way to organize a messy desk. You don't have to decide what to do with everything, but at least then you can find something if you need it.  And, short concise communication is always best in any business.  It's difficult to get important facts from a long narrative. A chart or list is always easier for the reader. 

So be a filer, not a piler and keep it simple!

When Minimalism is Really Needed!

We are now trying once again, to sell our flip house that didn't sell last summer. The difference this time is we have moved into it. So, now it is staged with our furniture. Our realtor told us that at our open house people kept saying, "Oh wow, this house has been staged," and he kept telling them, no the owners live here, this is how they live. That is what a life without clutter can do.

I have a zero tollerance for clutter. Instead of decorating with items, I try to see the beauty in a shiny stainless steel fridge or the colors I choose to paint the walls. I chose my lamps as art pieces instead of choosing plain lamps and adding nick-knacks on the tables underneath. Small everyday items can clutter a room too. A decoative box for example, is a great way to hide all of the remotes, reading glasses, etc. that get left out. Another trick is to thread a surge protector through the back of a secertary type desk. Then you can charge your cell phones, cameras, etc. out of site yet, still right at hand.

At any rate, I am happy that my minimalist philosophy is working. Now if we can just sell this house!
Here are some pictures:

It's a New Year! What will you throw away?

So we've had time to adjust to a new year. We now remember to write 2009 on our checks and are looking toward spring. What changes will you make? What will you let go of to make room in your life for new things, thoughts, ideas, people?

An easy way to start is to unburden yourself of things you no longer need. That can be as big an idea as cleaning out a storage space or garage or simply cleaning out your purse or the glove compartment of your car. Space in itself is a gift you can give yourself no matter how small a space you live in. You could actually live in a huge house but have a cluttered night stand or bathroom sink that makes your life a hassle everyday! Clear those spaces and feel the joy of a place to set a cup of tea or a book you're reading, or a candle.

If you need an emotional clean out, try going through your boxes of pictures. You don't have to save every picture of everyone you've ever known. You may find pictures of people you no longer associate with. Why do you need their picture? You were there anyway. Who needs the picture?

Isn't it time to stop beating up on yourself about your weight? Often, once we accept who we are a healthier self will follow. How about your age? Perhaps throwing out clothing that you probably won't fit into again and may be too youngish a style, ( belly shirts,) are something you should let go of. Give yourself a break! Buy something that looks great on you that you can wear today.

Then there's your health. How about a good look into your freezer. Throw out the mystery food and eat something fresh. You deserve it!

Now let go of your limitations! Enter your painting in an art show, go dancing, join a book group, sing Karaoke, whatever! Add something valuable to your life. You won't regret it.

Minimalist Mom

I was thinking back to when I was a young mom and how I was such a minimalist even then. I refused to carry a diaper bag, just a big purse. I had a car seat that doubled as a baby seat. As for a stroller, I had a lightweight umbrella stroller that I could fold up and dangle from my arm. That's how I rolled, unlike today's moms with their expensive strollers hauling tons of baby items. Here's a cute one from Target.