Empty formula cans either end up in the trash, or start stack up in the kitchen. Can you recycle formula cans? The steel cans are recyclable, with other steel food cans.

Most other cans, the kind made of cardboard, are actually made of composites of different materials, and usually can’t be recycled. So what do you do with them? Here’s some ideas to save your formula cans from the trash.

• Reuse them in the kitchen. The insides wipe clean and then they can be used to store crackers, pasta, rice, and other dry goods. Peel off the outer layer of cardboard or the label and then you can label them with the new contents. One crafty blogger made labels from the packaging of the product going in the can to customize them.

• Use them for art and craft projects. Peel off the outer label then decorate the outsides. Challenge your toddler to paint on a curved surface. Or use them to store art supplies like crayons or paintbrushes.

• Reuse them as toys. One formula can plus one wooden spoon equals a drum. Cut a hole in the lid for baby to put things through. They stack nicely too, show baby how to build a tower. Then knock it down!

• Storage containers for little toys, marbles, pacifiers, coins, screws or nails in the garage, or whatever little objects you have.

• Make something out of them. One blogger made christmas gift containers from formula cans, and here’s a storage unit made from several formula cans. This is my favorite – beautiful containers for make up brushes and other bathroom supplies.

Do you have any fun, crafty or pretty ideas for empty formula cans? Please share!

Have you ever shrunk a sweater on laundry day? Or just can find it in you to donate your child’s favorite sweater that no longer fits him? Planet Green has a wonderful idea for these situations. Turn them into a quilt! Not only is this a green choice, because you are avoiding contributing to the landfill problem, but you could also end up with a keepsake that you will cherish forever, perhaps even an heirloom.

Head on over to Planet Green to read more about it.

As a new mom who unfortunately falls into the category of “low income” and “below poverty level”, when my daughter arrived I was very concerned about our finances and how we were going to afford all the bells and whistles that come with a new baby. My first attempt at finding frugal buys was to turn to an old fallback, good old Craigslist.com. This is a GREAT place to look for gently used items at garage sale prices without leaving the comfort of your old faithful couch. I was very pleased with the few items that we purchased off of Craigslist, and after talking to a few of the families we were buying from also made some friends and were given additional items from those families and from other families they knew. The most important thing to remember is that you have a common bond with all of the people who are looking for or selling baby items, and it is very easy to connect to others in your area who are also in the same band wagon. If you receive from those in your community, make sure to spread the good karma and give back when you are in the position to.

After finding some amazing deals on Craigslist I posted a help message on my myspace page asking for advice and help from those in my friends’ list. I was first turned on to the yahoo group called Freecycle, which you can check out yourself at www.freecycle.org, by a friend of mine that lives across the valley. What a blessing! I can NOT gush enough about how wonderful this group is, the Freecycle network literally has changed my life and enabled us to give our baby a great new start!
The Freecycle network is a social network run through yahoo that is committed to keeping the earth a greener place by giving away unwanted items to others in their community that are in need instead of throwing them away, keeping our landfills from getting out of control! With groups all over the world you are sure to find a group that functions near you. The idea is simple, give away unwanted things to those in need, find things that you yourself may be in need of, and help save the environment at the same time! The best thing about Freecycle is… IT’S FREE!!!!

It is easy to join, and once you offer an item up for freecylcling you are allowed to request up to five things a month. You can either receive emails of new posts or scan them on the group site, but either way the person who ends up getting your item is up to you. If you have an item someone else needs they will contact you and you can arrange for them to pick it up or meet you someplace! This is also great because you make connections with other people in your community that have kids or share interests with you! And most of the time people who have one item up for freecycle also have other things to give or know others that do.

Thanks to freecycle we have made many friends in the Las Vegas area and I have started attending a new moms’ group at the community center. This is a GREAT way to meet other moms and widen your “baby” base to people from all walks of life. From this group alone we were given a swing, two car seats, a walker, a bassinet, formula samples, diapers, baby clothes, a play mat, a sling, a diaper bag, a stroller, and a myriad of baby toys that would have ALL cost us a fortune to buy individually. We are so thankful for those in our community that have donated items to us and we are actively involved in returning the favor. It’s amazing what the power of community can do.

If you are a mom in need or know of a family that needs help, PLEASE REFER THEM TO THIS GROUP. It is a blessing and filled with people just like you who are ready to help! Spread the word and spread the good, and remember to help out others less fortunate to make this world a better and greener place! Cheers!

Http://www.freecycle.org

According to the Environmental News Network, housewives are more ecologically aware and more likely to recycle than college students. Apparently moms have better attitudes toward recycling and are willing to do it. College students see separating glass and lugging the items to recycle bins as a hardship.

Moms more willing to pick through the trash, gather up nasty bits and lug things…Yep, sounds about right.

They regularly go through trash for lost binkies, blankies and retainers, are willing to scrutinize poop diapers for evidence of health and that missing earring, and they have no problem with various partially chewed bits of food, in fact, they are often wearing some.

Moms also have a more future-oriented outlook than the “right here, right now” view students hold. Moms are the same people who scope out new neighborhoods for their school system when they are only 3 months pregnant and who research college costs for their preschooler.

Go moms, Go!

In a story first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, Ari Derfel of Berkeley, California, saved all of his trash for a year to see how much he actually generated. Final tally: 96 cubic feet. He has plans to donate it to a sculptor once the experiment is over.

In his own words from his blog http://saveyourtrash.typepad.com/, “I started the project for my own edification – my own learning, my own discovery, my own experience.” Project Trash Retention called for him to keep every piece of garbage including tissues, receipts, food wrappers and plastic bottles to show that when we dispose of something, “There’s no such thing as ‘away.’”

In addition to learning just how much trash he accumulates, the experiment taught him to observe his life in a different light. He is a much more positive person than he was a year ago.

Source: USA Today and The San Francisco Chronicle