#61 What to do with your brushes and rollers in-between coats.

What do you do with your roller and your cut-in brush in between paint coats? Wash them? If so, you are wasting a whole lot of water! I wrap mine up in a plastic bag and put it in the refridgerator. It will keep several days that way (if you're like me, and with the kids around sometimes I just don't get around to finishing it when I want to.) Then you can take out your brush and/or roller and continue painting! I'm honestly not sure if this is a "normal" practice for a lot of people. But if you do any painting, you should try it! When your done with your roller, wrap it back up in the bag and toss it! Of course, you should wash your brushes.

Pros: Saves a LOT of water and paint from going down the drain. It also saves time and energy.

Cons: It requires the use of a disposable plastic bag. Requires some fridge space.

#60 What to put that paint in!

I discovered another wonderful thing while working on my painting, and now I can't do without it! It's a non-stick paint tray. You don't wash it, you just let it sit and dry. Then you can peel the paint off and, voila! It's ready to use again.

Pros: NO water used to wash your paint tray, and you are also saving all that paint from going into the water treatment plant. No plastic liner needed.

Cons: It doesn't exactly peel off so nicely like in the picture, but it does come off pretty easily. A bit more expensive than your average paint tray-- but it will pay off in the end.

#59 Recycled Paint!

Where has the month gone? I really have been so busy with canning and remodeling projects that it has been very hard to find time for blogging. But I have in the meantime found some more ways to do green remodeling. When I was in Seattle for weekend in July I went shopping at a place called Second Use. They have a line (called MetroPaint) of recycled paint! Available in different colors! It really made my choice much easier by limiting it. There are so many paint colors that it is usually really hard to choose. I couldn't find a great picture of the walls, and can't take one right now because that would mean I'd have to clean up first (still remodeling!) But here is one with my daughter in front of it:

You can find more information on it here

Pros: 100% recycled paint, and you can choose your color! Now that's using materials wisely! It painted on so easily and seems to be very high-quality. Well under EPA's limits for VOC's. Oh, and did I mention it only cost $16 a gallon??

Cons: Limited colors and finishes (or this could be a pro!) Limited availability-- I have to go to Portland or Seattle to get it.

#58 Don't waste the v-bag

Vaccuum bag, that is. I was vacuuming the other day and realized that my vacuum was not working very well. hmmm, maybe that was because it was completely full and filling up the hose part! Yikes! Being a usually prepared but somewhat forgetful mother of 3, I realized I had no extra bags. Oh no! What to do? The Frugal Zealot came to the rescue. I had read her books a while ago (the Tightwad Gazettes) and remembered a tip that I thought at the time that I would probably never bother with. She cuts the bottom off of her vacuum bags and empties them that way and then tapes them back up for reuse. Well I was stuck so I guess I had to give it a try. Guess what? Easy, little mess, and much money saved! Yea! So until I can afford a good bagless, the old reuse-a-bag will have to do.

Pros: Saves time and energy, and saved me a trip to the store. Less waste.

Cons: After a couple of cuts the bag will be too short to use. It's a little messier than just being able to throw out the whole bag.

#57 Cookin' Solar

We had a serious heat wave a week or so ago. There were several days that were over 100 degrees. Doesn't sound too bad if you're in Arizona, but in the northwest that is unheard of. We have no air conditioning, and normally little need for it. But it was hot. And we had guests coming for dinner. We came up with a dinner that we could make completely outside using the grill, crockpot, and this lovely solar oven. We made brownies in it-- and they were almost cooked after a couple of hours (we needed to get them in an hour sooner!) My second attempt at using the solar oven was much more successful with making cookies. A great way to make use of all that heat! I'll have to get adventurous and try some new things in it.

Pros: Cheap materials (cardboard, aluminum foil,

and glass.) Doesn't take any electricity or fuel. No heating up the kitchen!

Cons: It has to be sunny. It takes some real planning ahead because the cooking time for most things is very long.

#56 This mower is REELY great.

This summer I decided I was fed up with my big old clunky smelly gas mower. It was really heavy, really noisy, and not in the greatest condition. It used to be that mowing was the man's job around here, but well, I guess I've just kept my hubby a bit too busy with other things (ie remodel) and it's fallen into my lap.

I went for a cheap ($20 on CL--woohoo!) no frills reel mower. I don't have a huge lawn and this little mower really isn't hard to use at all. The main difference is that instead of using muscle to push a big heavy mower I am having to move super fast to keep the blade spinning and cutting well. I never realized how much pollution an old gas mower could create until I read this article by the EPA. It makes sense.

Pros: Easy to use, no pollution, no noise, low maintenance. I can mow with my kids in the yard and not worry about flying debris, and my 7-year-old can even use it (and thinks it's fun.)

Cons: It doesn't cut grass that has gone to seed very well. I haven't yet figured out how to sharpen the blades. Little pieces of stuff sometimes get stuck in the blades and bind them up.

#55 Don't pay for hot water you're not using!

Wow! It's been a month since I last posted! It has been a very busy month and I've been gone for a lot of it.

Sometime back in March (I remember because I had just gotten back from somewhere) I read a suggestion to turn off your water heater when you are gone from your house for an extended time. What a great idea! But of course I couldn't post about it until I put it into practice. It's simple, just flip the electrical circuit for the water heater before you leave on vacation, and you won't be using electricity or paying for hot water that will just sit there. I don't know for sure, but I'd estimate that you need to be gone for at least 2 days for this to be an effective money-saving method since it takes quite a bit of energy to heat up the entire water tank once it's all cold.

Pros: Simple, effective, money-saving

Cons: You have to remember to do it before you leave. You will have to wait an hour or so after you get home (after you remember to turn it back on) before you have hot water.