YOU CAN DO IT!

I'm sure I'm beginning to sound like a broken record,but every day I'm learning something new about how things work (or don't) outside the city limits. After filling our new recycle and trash bins to their limits this week we ran into our next hurdle: where does it go? In the country, you see, we don't have trash service! Apparently people compost or drive their trash to the local dump. I believe, however, page 77 of my car manual says, "do not drive this car to dirty dump" so that's out of the question! While Joe builds our compost pile, I'm thinking up creative alternatives for our pile of recyclables. Apparently the energy saved each year through recycling one ton of aluminum cans could light the city of Washington D.C. for 3.7 years. How can that be? So, I've decided to save both time and energy with these simple, easy decorating tips:

THINK OUTSIDE THE TRASH CAN:

After a thorough washing (cans of tomato paste, sauces, etc.) I've found fun alternatives (I'd never say "crafty" as that conjures up images of duck decoys, macrame pot holders and macaroni-covered jewelery boxes!)

1.) For smaller cans, I've wrapped them in wallpaper and holiday paper and place them next to telephones for pens, scissors, etc.

2.) I took ten soup cans, removed the labels, flipped them over and drilled holes towards the bottom (now top), strung a row of Christmas lights through them (bunching them up in each can) to create fun, interesting outdoor "can lighting"

3.) After bleaching out paint cans (and removing the labels) I use them to hold cooking utensils. They're aluminum finish looks hip, trendy and can certainly do the job!

TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: 10-15 minutes

COST: NOTHING

STRESS LEVEL: Figuring out what can be done: LOW