Five for Friday

My husband shared this video with my after watching it in one of his MBA classes - www.storyofstuff.com/. It's a very simple look at how much stuff we consume in our country and, while I have to say that it's a bit simplistic and I don't agree with all of the politics (regardless of your view on Bush, he did pray and mourn with the country after 911, not just tell us to go out and buy stuff), I've really been thinking about my role as a consumer all week.

So here are the five ways I'm going to work on consuming less...

1. Sewing. This is a great way to reuse materials. Sewing Green has fabulous ideas for making pajama pants out of old sheets, making produce bags you can take with you to the grocery store...and I just got some reusable sandwich and snack bags for my son (thus the dinosaurs) from Ann at Burst of Color. I have to admit, I'm the queen of Ziplocks. But it's terrible to throw them away every day! I've started putting my kids' snacks in these and then just wipe them out with a towel. Less waste - yea!! Not to mention how cute they are...

She also made me a diaper and binky tote (yes, I put my diapers in a ziplock - see, I told you!) I know, I know...those are disposable diapers in there. One thing at a time, sheesh!



2. Cutting down on paper with my photography business. I've actually been working on this over the past year when I realized how many forms I was having people sign, and printing marketing materials and cards for prices, etc. I still print my business cards and a brochure (which I think is going online next year), but this year I started using an online booking form and .pdf of my pricing, which cuts down on tons of paper. My online gallery cuts down on proofs I print out. It's impossible to go completely paperless as a photographer, but there are so many things that don't have to be printed.

3. Mom Swap - I have lots of friends with children similar ages, and we trade maternity clothes and baby clothes, but they aren't always the right season or size. So my MOMS group is going to do a mom swap in the spring, where we all bring in our unwanted maternity and children's clothing and pick out clothing that fits our needs. Any left over items will get donated to a local pregnancy center.

4. Scrapbooking supplies - I think I've already mentioned this, but I'm going digital! Ok, I'll do a scrapbook for #3 to be fair, but then I'm giving away all those papers and scissors and stickers and doing digital albums. Not only will this make me more sane and my bedroom less cluttered, but I'll only print one album for my shelf, and not be throwing away paper scraps and the little backs of photo stickers. I can't wait!!

5. Toys! This is a big one for me. With baby #3 approaching the number of toys in our house is verging on insane! We've really tried to encourage grandparents to give things like money for college, or time with the kids (taking a class with them, or a lunch or something) in lieu of toys, but it isn't always easy. Some toys are great - legos, Lincoln Logs, tinker toys - the ones that you can build with, don't require batteries, and don't break after the third time you play with them. I know some moms keep only a limited number of toys out at a time, and rotate boxes of toys so they're "new" every few months. Anyone else have good ideas for keeping toys to a reasonable amount?

I'd love to see any ideas you have for cutting down on the "stuff" in your life - post a comment, photo or link so we can all see!