Help me find a use for these and win a free ecourse

The contest is now closed. Thanks everybody for all the fabulous suggestions. I'll pick a winner in the next day or two and post the name :)

Have a lovely weekend!


This is a picture of some empty formula cans.

Somehow I can't bear to throw them away as I'm positive I can recycle them and put them to good use.

Only thing is, the babies have sapped my creativity and I'm all out of ideas.

This is where you come in - I'm looking for ways to use these cans, keeping in mind that Connor goes through one of these every 14 days. Kendra's on the tiny yellow/ orange tins in the top left of the picture so I don't mind throwing those away.

This is what I already do with some of them:

1. a wastepaper basket in the smallest bathroom in the world
2. catch water under the leaking tap

So here's how it works:

• Leave a comment with your suggestions and your email address
• Competition closes this Sat 12pm EST
• I'll pick a winner and post the person's name.
• The person chooses 1 of 3 e-courses.

Hopefully in the not-too-distant future I'll do a post showing you what I did with them.
Come on, put your thinking caps on!

3 quick ways to go green and stay organised

Today is World Environment Day and I'm going to share 3 quick ways how being organised can make you more green

1. Stop printing mindlessly
Remember the more paper you have, the more you have to organise and file it. Rather stop and think about whether you really need to have a paper printout of something before just hitting that print button.

My printer ran out of ink about two years ago which forced me to think about what I really needed to print (it seems not very much at all). It's still unplugged and I have less paper to file and think about. Win-win!

2. Declutter regularly and re-use where possible
This is a great way to keep your own things organised and help other people to not go out and buy, buy, buy.

Donate clothes and food to shelters.

Don't throw file folders out if they're in good condition - donate them to schools or re-use them in your own office.

Use the back of paper as a scrap pad jotter.

3. Only use cloth shopping bags
When you make a decision to only use material shopping bags, it automatically forces you to be more organised.

You stop just "popping in" to the shops and start mindfully shopping, which means you only go to the shops when you have your material shopping bags and your shopping list.

And you know when you use your shopping list you're a more organised and healthy shopper.

What other suggestions do you have for going green and being organised?

Some other posts you may enjoy

Going green

Recycling paper

Control the paper clutter

Does this picture look familiar?

Or maybe all that paper is on your desk or kitchen counter tops?

I love my lists as much as the next paper-loving person! But all that paper piles up so quickly and judging from all the emails I get, I'm not the only one.

Guess what I do now?

I laminated my monthly and weekly lists, and I write on them with a dry erase marker so I can keep re-using them.

This tip definitely works for me.

You can use this tip for anything you use often, from travel checklists to master to-do lists to monthly event planning lists.

Read more paper-controlling ideas here.

How do you keep the paper under control?

A new, green use for old business cards

If you have old business cards lying around your home or office and they're blank at the back, use them to jot down your tasks.

This works very well if you're a visual person like me (you'll learn about your organising personality in 7 easy steps) and if you like to recycle stuff.

Here are some pictures that I took from **Angela's post on all the planners she's ever used (by the way, Angela, I loved this post).

**Angela Yee wrote "I'm Not Neat But I'm Organized!"

WFMW - Going green to save money

Have you ever checked out my sidebar?

I have a link under my Organise your Finances heading called Simple Savings. It's an Australian site but the financial principles talked about are applicable all over the world!

I have a fair amount of Aussie readers (hello Tina, Kin and Ali) who might know about this site already but if you don't, go over and get their Simple Savings newsletter. That's for everyone, not just Australians!

Just based on my own experiences when we visited Australia in 2004, the Aussies are way more advanced than South Africans with regard to eco-friendly programmes. I'm by no means the most eco-friendly person but I do my best with what I do know.

As an aside, Oprah did a "going green" show that was aired here last week and I was amazed at the simple things we can do, like switching appliances off at the wall, using less serviettes (napkins), using those long-lasting lightbulbs, etc. The one lady said she saw an electricity saving of US $50 in one month (that's R350! or Aus $58).

I've just received my October Simple Savings newsletter and as well as the great savings tips, there is also a link to their free going green 2008 Simple Savings calendar which they have said we can freely pass along to others, hence this blog post.

Each month talks about how going green will save you money. For example...

1. Limit your impulse buys. Impulse buys are always things we can do without.
2. Only buy essentials. Leave the extras on the shelf.
3. Learn the difference between a 'need' and a 'want'.
4. Re-use everything. Before you throw anything out, try and use it one more time.
5. Fix things when they break. Don't buy a new one.
6. Be a creative cook. Learn how to cook from basic ingredients. [there are some great vegetarian recipes in this month's newsletter too - I can't wait to try the vegetarian chilli (yum)!]
7. Live in the smallest space possible.
8. Buy in bulk for better value and less packaging.
9. Grow your own food. Food is free when it comes out of the ground.
10. Reduce your power consumption. No need to pay more than you have to.
11. Reduce your water consumption.

Please go download the calendar, sign up to the Simple Savings newsletter and start saving money! I've already downloaded mine and it looks great!

For more WFMW posts, head on over to http://rocksinmydryer.net