This is Day 44 of the Green in 365 series!

We’re moving into the kitchen; a room that can be very overwhelming when it comes to going green. We spend a lot of time in our kitchens, and our family life usually revolves around our three meals a day. Don’t worry though, we’ll be making small changes and taking baby steps over the next few weeks as we move toward a more eco-friendly kitchen.

Six years ago, when I first started on my green journey and began to make changes, I started with things in the kitchen like cleaning supplies and cloth towels, both of which we’ll talk about this week. It wasn’t until we moved into our current house, almost four years ago, that I really started to think about the amount of waste our family was creating on a daily, and weekly basis.

I did a garbage inventory, writing down everything that I threw away in one day, and keeping it all in the same bag so I could weigh it at the end of the day. I’ve tried to do one each year so I can keep up with whether our family is increasing, or decreasing our waste. Doesn’t that sound fun? Keeping a record of your trash?

While it may not be the most exciting thing in the world, it is the best way to get a handle on how much, and what kinds, of trash your family is creating on a regular basis, to help you come up with ways to throw away less and reduce your waste.

Reducing our waste is an important part of protecting the planet and living a more eco-conscious life. The average American produces 4.6 lbs of garbage per day. (source) PER DAY! And that’s just for one person! So our family of five could produce 23 lbs of garbage a day. Yikes! Let’s be honest, that’s just not a sustainable trend for our environment and our world!

I want to encourage you to do a garbage inventory one day this week; writing down everything that your family throws away at home, and keeping it in one main trash can, or bag, so that you can see your total waste at the end of the day. Once you’ve finished your inventory, I’d love if you could come back here and leave a comment, letting us know how it went!

Then, when your inventory is complete, look over your list and see if there are things you could find a reusable alternative for, and stop throwing them away.  Here’s a quick list to get you started.

9 Ways to Reduce Your Waste

• Paper Towels – Cloth Towels
• Kleenex – Flannel Hankies
• Disposable diapers or Pull-ups – Cloth Diapers and Trainers
• Disposable plates, silverware or cups – Traditional, reusable dinnerware
• Plastic containers, aluminum cans, glass bottles, cardboard, paper, etc. – Set up a recycling bin in your kitchen and recycle as much as possibly can.
• Single serving food wrappers or containers – Making homemade or buying in bulk to reduce food packaging. 
• Junk Mail – Register with the Mail Preference Service on the Do Not Mail list, and OptOutPreScreen.com, to receive less junk mail, or even contact companies directly and asked to be removed from mailing lists.
• Food Scraps – start a compost pile or give them to a friend with backyard chickens.
• Anything else – Reuse and re-purpose anything else that you possibly can for organization, art supplies, or any other use you come up with!

Can you commit to doing a garbage inventory this week? Be sure to come back and let us know about your results! We’ll also have a garbage inventory discussion on our Facebook page, I’m sure it will be riveting! Here’s a free printable from Life You Way, if you’d like to have a pretty page to write your garbage list on (be sure to use the back for scrap paper before recycling it!)

What kinds of things do you think you throw away the most? How can your family reduce your waste by throwing away less?

Find all the Green in 365 posts.

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I have to share the Bundle of the Week this week with you, because it’s all about Natural Living! If you want to get started with making your own beauty products, homemade remedies, and natural health, this is the perfect bundle for you.

I have 4 of the 5 ebooks, and can tell you that they are totally worth it! Simple Natural Health alone is 130 pages packed full of great information. The cost of the Bundle is less than two of the four books I have, and I’m sure the 5th book is great and just a bonus! Head over to Bundle of the Week to get your Natural Living Bundle today!

Linked to: Healthy 2Day Wednesdays

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