How to ReCycle, ReUse and ReNew

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I’m going to share a few ways to recycle, reuse and renew. We are all about taking care of our Earth at this small house!

Bed Swing with Vintage Door Back
Our bed swing is made with a vintage door for the back!

Recycle

We have large bins that get picked up every week. One is for recycling, one is for yard waste composting and the other is for garbage. I’m proud to say that the recycle and yard waste compost are always filled and the garbage maybe has one or two bags in it.

This spring when we started working on our gardens, I used the cardboard from all of our packages as a weed barrier. It works like a charm. It’s a great way to feel good about all of my Amazon boxes.

Speaking of Amazon, Prime Days are June 21st and 22nd. I will be posting my favorite things on my Amazon page, my storefront, and on my Instagram Stories. You can click on my Amazon Deals in the categories at the top of this blog. If you aren’t an Amazon Prime Member, you will want to sign-up for a 30-day FREE trial today.

We have a compost bin behind our chicken coop and that’s where some of the yard and kitchen waste goes. Our chickens are also happy to recycle our kitchen scraps and their poop goes into the compost bin. We use the compost in the soil of our veggie garden. The food that is grown in that soil feeds us, and in some cases, all year long. We literally have our own little ecosystem going on here.

ReUse

I consider myself a professional recycler. If you’ve followed me here for any length of time or on my social media platforms, you know that I am a lover of vintage. A lot of the decor that we have in our home is something that was used in the past. I especially love my old items if they have a story. If they don’t, I make one up. I find more pleasure in things of the past than brand new.

Picture of the corner of our family room book shelves filled with vintage decor
Almost everything in this picture is old. I love and collect vintage.

We reuse jars and bottles when we can. The bottles I use for vinegar are reused lemonade bottles from Trader Joe’s. I have replaced almost all of my plastic with glass as it is better to store food in and it lasts forever – or until I break it. 🙂

When I do buy new, I shop responsibly. Sustainably sourced items are available at many retailers. My ReNew

Many of my pieces of furniture are old and I, of course, buy things that I love no matter what the condition. Sometimes all it needs is a good cleaning, but there are times when I have to paint or stain. I absolutely love chalk paint because you don’t have to do a whole lot of prep to the piece to be able to put a beautiful new coat of paint on it. “Handy”, on the other hand, loves to sand, stain and seal things, so he takes on those type of projects.

Upscale Recycling, ReUsing and ReNewing

Next weekend, when we host our daughter’s wedding, I am using a ton of vintage. Much of the tablescape will include vintage depression ware. I also have mismatched vintage salad plates and silver (which were purchased in England over 40 years ago). It was old when I got it back then, so I believe it would be classified as antique now. I also have touches of vintage in all of my wedding vignettes and it’s going to be lovely.

Wedding Tablescape with Vintage Glassware and plates

We truly are a family who embraces the concept of doing our best to help our planet. Who knew that my love of old things would ultimately be something that is saving our earth along with bringing us joy?

I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about how we recycle, reuse, and renew over here at our house. If I can inspire you to try at least one of my tips or ideas, I will feel like a job well done! Together we can make changes to become more sustainable and make our home unique with the precious pieces that we buy for our homes.

Peace,

P.S. The day that this will post would have been my Mom’s 93rd Birthday and her 11th Birthday in Heaven. Next week, when Annie gets married, would have been her and my Dad’s 73rd Wedding Anniversary. When my Mom turned 20 years old, she got married the following weekend. She planned it that way because she didn’t want to be a teenager when she got married. Annie has had this wedding date planned for a very long time as a tribute to my parents. You can read more about this love story HERE.

Peace,

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4 Comments

  1. You and I are cut from the same cloth for sure! We are so similar in our thinking and ideology, why buy new and there are so many excellent good things to be reused out there! Thank you for sharing, I loved all of this post it was very touching to know that your daughter is going to be married on your parents wedding anniversary that’s so sweet! Big hugs and thanks for writing this!

    1. Thank you for your kind words Dee. I’m so blessed to get to know you and call you my virtual friend. I can’t wait till the day I get to meet you in person 🙂

  2. Cindy Rust says:

    One of the reasons I love vintage furniture and upcycling home decor is to keep it out of the trash heap! So many good pieces just get tossed when all they need is a little love 🙂 Great post Lynn!

    1. Repurposing old furniture is such a joy for me! I love that other’s junk can become my treasure.