A Simple Step

While doing a lot of reading on living simply, as well as going green, a certain tip kept appearing: get rid of or reduce your use of paper products. For some reason, our culture has decided we need a multitude of various kinds of paper for all the different jobs around our homes.

Tissues (there are tissues with lotion, colored tissues, boxes, individual packs for our purses...whatever happened to using tp or a hankie?)

TP (Some of the blogs I read promote using homemade cloth tp and washing it. Sorry folks, I'm not that frugal!)

Paper towels (different absorbency's, various prints, sizes, etc.)

Paper napkins

Paper plates & cups

Keeping your household in constant supply of all these products might be costing you more than you know. As I began to strive to create less waste and save money, I simply stopped buying things when I ran out (other than tp!) And you know what? It was a small adjustment, but I don't miss them! We use rags to clean up messes, real plates and cups when company comes over - after all, that's what the dishwasher is for - and cloth napkins. Cloth napkins can usually stand up to more than one use, just have everyone sit in the same spot at the table and reuse their napkin at the next meal. My cousin even made cloth napkins for her wedding by getting the cloth in bulk at a discount; she saved the cost of renting them and the waste of paper.

So try it and tell me what you think: it's a simple, small step to saving money, but it all those small changes add up!