Inspired to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

I ran across this video from Yahoo a few months ago. It is about the Johnsons who aim to live a zero waste life. Bea, the mom has a blog, The Zero Waste Home where the tagline is

Refuse. Refuse. Refuse. Then reduce, reuse, and recycle (and only in that order).

Really you got to see this; it is only 3 minutes. This family of 4 shows what their trash is for 4 months. . a handful!!

The video inspired me. If you are getting this post in a reader or in an email, you will need to click the title of this post to be taken to my actual post where you can watch the video.

Wow! Now I am not ready to go completely there, but I am motivated to take baby steps.

Such as recently we started using cloth napkins. Each person in the family has 2 colors so when one is in the wash, the other can be used.

Anna has the greens, David has the blues, Brooke had the pinks/reds, J has the purples. That way we do not have to wash them after every single meal. . .we all just use our personal napkin until it is too gross to use again.

The colors match their water bottles.


These napkins and water bottles have not only helped us reduce waste, but have simplified life a little.

Plus how fun to set the table with the rainbow of colors. I am currently looking for some rainbow checkered fabric so I can make some napkins for our guests that coordinate with our family's napkins.

And if bright colors are not your thing, how about numbered napkins or even napkins with each person's initial embroidered on it. . .and your guests could just have ones with no embroidery.

Tell me, what are some ways you reduce, reuse, recycle?? Got any easy to implement ideas for me and my family?

Click here for Bea Johnson's list of 79 tips to help you reduce waste in your home. Tell me, do you do any of them?