Downsizing a shower caddy and other stories

Lettuce vs Spring Greens

I used to buy spring greens.  I know, they’re expensive.  But they seemed so convenient, they were just ready to go when you opened the container, and they were tasty!  Not so convenient, though, was dealing with the disgusting remains in the container when it inevitably went bad before I could eat it all.  What a waste, not to mention the container itself!  Then when I went on my crazy Caesar salad kick I remembered hearing somewhere that if you keep lettuce in the salad spinner it’ll keep for a long time.  Boy does it keep!  It’s awesome!  If you have the fridge real estate to devote to the spinner, give it a try.  

 Swiffer Replacement Pads

I bought a Swiffer years ago to take care of the minimal mopping I do.  In my quest to reduce waste, I stopped buying the Swiffer wet pads, but I didn’t have a plan for what I would replace them with.  Looking at the Swiffer pad, you can see that any cloth would fit into those little spots on the top, so I shoved a micro fiber cloth in there, and tried spraying the floor directly with my vinegar mixture.  And guess what- it works just as well, costs much less, and leaves no faky clean smell!  Success!  They also work pretty well as a sweeper pad replacement when you use it dry (Spencer does this for me sometimes and calls out “Swabbing the deck!”).

Any cloth will do!

Downsizing in the Shower

Change has come to my shower, but I’m not done yet!  I started to write all this out, but I thought it might be easier as a table:

Products I used 2 years ago	Products I currently use	Products I’d rather be using
Sisal bath mitt	Homemade sisal scrubber	Homemade sisal scrubber
Skintimate shaving gel	Reject conditioner	Bulk soap
Venus razor	Venus razor	Safety razor
Oil of Olay soap	Bulk soap	Bulk soap
Liquid face wash	Aveeno face soap bar	Bulk face soap
Suave shampoo	Suave shampoo	Baking soda rinse
Suave conditioner	Suave conditioner	Cider Vinegar rinse
Method baby shampoo	California Baby shampoo	Bulk soap, solid shampoo
Method kid shampoo	Reject shampoo, bulk soap	Bulk soap, solid shampoo

So you can see what I’ve switched out in my attempts to simplify.  Some change comes slowly, since it takes a while to perfect a routine, and I first need to use up all the crappy conditioner and whatnot I have in my cabinets.  My method for using it up is to use bad conditioner as shaving lotion, and use bad shampoo on the kids (well, just Spencer, Elizabeth will be using her California Baby shampoo till it’s gone, which might be another year at this rate!).  I’m really interested in trying out the no ‘poo method of washing my hair, but I’m waiting till summer when I don’t have to look as presentable since I hear there is a transition period where you look terrible. 

So there are three of the ways I’m trying to reduce my waste and simplify my life these days.  What about you?  What change have you made that makes your life easier?