#EarthDay Recycling Ideas #CareToRecycle

        O.K. everyone of my readers should know by now that I try my hardest to live the most eco-friendly lifestyle as realistically possible.  Of course this isn't always easy at times having a family of five but we try our hardest.  The easiest way to do so I've found, is through recycling and up-cycling.  Kids (or at least mine) love doing crafts of any kind which is why I try to turn any kind of waste I can into a project for us to work together on.

        The bathroom is an area I think a lot of people don't really think about as much as say maybe the kitchen.  With Earth Day being tomorrow, Johnson and Johnson has an amazing program I wanted to share with you called CARE TO RECYCLE®.  "CARE TO RECYCLE® believes that recycling in the bathroom can be a fun family activity; a way for parents to have a teachable moment with their kids and even do some fun projects together."  So I want to share a few ways our family reduces our waste while saving money.

        When you think about it, there truly are tons of ways to reuse different objects around the house ESPECIALLY in a small room like the bathroom if you garden or have children let alone anyone trying to reduce their eco footprint.  Because I am big on starting my own seeds indoors during the winter months, the kids know a lot of these crafts are dedicated to gardening.  When working with the brands I do more than once and on a regular basis, I usually try to come up with ways to stretch those products lifespan out OR ways to upcycle all the packaging I receive.  It is a way of both helping reduce waste and helping me feel better about all the deliveries I get.

So overtime I've come up with a few ways to reuse each item I can:

• I take my empty diaper tub/containers  and use them to plant each of my herbs into.  They make for an adorable pattern and colorful garden display!  To learn more about how check out my Upcycled Wipes Herb Planter Tutorial.  
• We reuse ALL of our toilet paper rolls for a huge variety of things.  For example several go into our cricket keeper to give them places to hide and climb.   I fold the bottom portion up to make seed starters and even to help organize a drawer.  Lastly if I can't find any other uses, I will tear it up into pieces and toss it into my compost.
• We reuse clear shampoo and conditioner bottles as greenhouse domes over seed starters
• The colored bottles get used to water plants or for the kids water and sand tables.  They can also be rinsed and used to store other products (homemade or store bought) to organize or avoid more waste.
• Old toothbrushes get set aside for detail cleaning.

        Everything else in the bathroom for which I cannot find a use for, gets put in the recycling bin like the empty AND clean plastic bottles as well as the lids and caps.  Join me in the #CareToRecycle Twitter Party on April 22 @ 12 p.m. EDT where you can learn about other fun recycling tips, DIY crafts, and a chance to win some awesome prizes!

Prizes: During the chat, we’ll be giving away five prizes to randomly selected participants who correctly answer the trivia questions tweeted by @TMChatHost.  Four (4) winners will receive one (1) prize pack of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies health and beauty products.  One (1) winner will receive one (1) partner prize pack including a $100 gift card to onetwine.com, courtesy of Recyclebank, and a family pack of t-shirts made from recycled content, courtesy of Keep America Beautiful.
This post was brought to you by CARE TO RECYCLE® and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own and I hope you enjoy them.
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