Going Green is Fun and Cost Effective

Going green is a fashionable pursuit nowadays and many people are sincerely motivated to preserve our environment. Even those who are skeptical about whether global warming is true wouldn't object to "green" activities if they saved them money or time. Yet for the average American it seems that going green is often limited to separating paper from plastic in recycling bins and using compact fluorescent light bulbs. You might be wondering if there are any other, less boring ways to adopt an eco-friendly lifestyle while staying within a budget? Happily there are.

Many of the best ideas for recycling come not from some high tech research laboratory but from our past. No self respecting pioneer family would ever dream of just throwing something away just because it had outlived its original purpose. During the Great Depression, nails were hammered straight and put away to be reused and belts became strops to sharpen kitchen knives. Today many of these old ideas are experiencing a comeback.

For example, the process of making sandals from old rubber bicycle tires is very popular in many parts of the world and tire sandals used to be popular among surfers who would get huarache sandals from Mexico. The craze went away for awhile but now more and more people are wearing sandals with tire tread soles.

The key principle seems to be one of attitude. If you're willing to explore ways to reuse items you would normally throw away; you will likely find many outlets and opportunities to be creative. It's an excellent opportunity to teach children about not being wasteful and if you could even make a game out of who can find the most creative ways to recycle things instead of throwing them away.

Your old t-shirts can have a new life as quilts, shopping totes, skirts and of course rags to wash and dry your car. Children's jeans no longer have to be thrown away if they're full of holes, they can be transformed into purses, pillows and of course shorts. If you are one of the last remaining people with cassette tapes in your basement, you can probably make a living doing this and selling the product at local flea markets and thrift shops.
Here is a short list of items which can be recycled to stretch their useful lifespan:
Seat belts
Jeans
Jerseys
T-shirts
Plastic juice container
Tires
Boots, books, doors and tablecloths

If you want to get in on the creative recycling craze, there are numerous guidesavailable on the Internet which show the layperson how to make their own tire sandals and lots of other fun crafts. The directions may seem intimidating but just remember that most craft projects require time and patience. The worst that could happen is you won't make a tire sandal and you can just throw away the rubber or your jeans with the hole will have more holes in which case you've lost nothing and gained some valuable experience for the next time you try the project.
Sources:http://www.instructables.com/id/T-shirt-tote-bag/http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=96492.msg913776#msg913776http://www.tipking.co.uk/tip/5837.htmlhttp://www.trendhunter.com/trends/cassette-belt-buckles-a-tape-for-your-waistline/http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1461257/ecofriendly_furniture_coasters_make.html?cat=24http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/792189/no_cut_no_sew_technique_to_turn_ordinary.html?cat=7http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1193391/turn_your_unused_tshirts_into_reusable.html?cat=46http://www.hollowtop.com/sandals.htm
http://adzines.com/Interior-Decorating/New-Uses-for-Old-Items/56284
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/columns/article_1326647.php