No More Wasting Food…Brilliant!

I got inspired. Inspired to get involved and inspired to dig up the ol’ Achiever Beaver.

Mr. Beaverelli forwarded me an article talking about a new app called OLIO that will reduce the waste of food. As you all know, I HATE waste and do everything I can to prevent it.

The company was started by by a woman in England (notice the spelling of some words) and an American woman from Iowa with the following idea in mind:

“OLIO is a free app connecting people with their neighbours and with local shops so surplus food and other items can be shared, not thrown away.

If you love food, hate waste, care about the environment or want to connect with your community, OLIO is for you.”

I immediately signed up to not only be an ambassador, but to also be a Food Waste Hero (FWH). I’m volunteering to spread the word about the app…after all, the more participants, the better…and to be matched up with local food vendors, bakeries, food grocers, restaurants, etc. A FWH then brings these items home and posts them to OLIO to distribute to those in need/want.

ADDED BONUS: It isn’t all about food. You can give away non-food items for free…or even better yet, ask for donations to then give to your favorite charity. I love this idea! How often are you trying to collect donations for that 5k and are struggling to meet your goal? How about those items you haven’t taken to the thrift store yet? Why not post them requesting a donation and meeting your American Cancer Society goal at the same time?

So take a moment to join the revolution…OLIO

Don’t Have A Really, Really Free Market Where You Live? Start One!

You don’t have a Really Really Free Market in your city or town? Then it’s time you took matters into your own hands. You ask, “what the heck is that?” Well, you can read all about the San Diego Really Really Free Market here.

What a great concept! My biggest regret is when I have items I don’t want or need anymore, but I cannot donate them. Here are some ideas for items that you can take to the Really Really Free Market

New or partially used bottles of cleaners
New or partially used toiletries
New or partially burned candles
Cords and cables
Trinkets/knick knacks
Full or partially used paint cans
Wood pieces
Canned or boxed food
Leftover supplies after home repairs
Offer goods and services from your business (baked goods from a bakery, haircuts, put on a little concert)
The possibilities are endless!

Why not pick a day, go to a park (check to see if you need a permit) and advertise to all of your friends? Start with social media, put an ad on Craigslist, start a blog…endless possibilities! Sure, it will be small at first, but make it a goal to do it quarterly. If you build it, they WILL come!

Yes, You Can Buy Used Shoes…

You just have to clean them up…and I suggest you do. Once upon a time, I wouldn’t even consider buying previously owned shoes, because I feared the dreaded athlete’s foot. I needed a pair of sandals for a Halloween costume and went into a thrift store that happened to have the perfect pair in my size! I wear a 5.5, so this is NOT an easy feat. I wore them all night at the country western bar party, and sure enough, I got athlete’s foot. It’s gross to have it anyway, but to think I got it from some grimy idiot that had peeling feet and still thought it was a good idea to donate her old shoes. *shudder* Many, many more years went by (at least 10) before I got smart enough to buy them anyway and then disinfect. Duh.

I do it one of two ways: with rubbing alcohol or Lysol. I prefer rubbing alcohol, because even though I like the smell of Lysol, I don’t really care to walk around with my shoes smelling like it.

I picked these gold wedges up from AmVets for 50% off the ticketed price, so these were $6.50. It looks like they’ve been worn 0-1 times. Not too shabby for next to brand new shoes. I chose rubbing alcohol for this simple job.

If a shoe has a slick insole area, then I douse a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol and rub it over all areas that will be touching my hind paws.

I use the Lysol for shoes that do not have a slick inside. Sneakers, for example, will work much better with a spray on disinfectant.

That’s all there is to it…so what’s stopping you now?

Good ‘Til the Last Drop

No, I’m not talking about coffee here. I don’t need drugs to get me through the day. I’ve got a natural high (or I just tough it out). I’m talking about buckypaste, or better known as toothpaste.

This is a photo of my and Mr Beaverelli’s toothpaste. Our vanity consists of 2 sinks, so each side is stocked with our own personals. I’ll give you one guess on which tube belongs to whom.

You guessed it, the neat one on the left is the Mister’s. Not what you expected?! Yeah, I wouldn’t have guessed it either.

It is now time for me to take a tip from him on the waste front…not to mention the tidy front. I think it’s pretty self explanatory: grab a bobby pin (that is probably already laying at the bottom of a drawer in the bathroom somewhere) and nicely roll up your tube, moving it down as you go.

This is a good representation of just how lazy I am. It really doesn’t take that much effort to make sure the tip is cleaned off. In fact, I probably ultimately work harder because I have to twist and turn the tube to get the paste out.

I will try to be more non-wasting next time.

Trash or Not? Save ALL Those Plastic Bags You Bring Home

Okay, so yeah, plastic bread bags actually ARE trash when the bread is gone…but they don’t need to be thrown away just yet.

Do you ever have that awful, spoiled food smell in your garbage can in the kitchen? You don’t notice it at first. You go off to work, then you come home to the lodge smelling like a dumpster? There aren’t a whole lot worse smells that I can think of.

I also take the produce bags and save them separately to use for discards when I’m cooking. We normally try to keep bread from entering our front door because Mr. Beaverelli will go through an entire loaf in a sitting if he isn’t monitored. His folks were visiting, so we bought some for them and this is what was left in the end. I filled it up with the Beaverelli’s Healthy Breakfast Cheeseburger Casserole discards, tied it up and threw it away. No more rotten food sitting in the garbage to make us gag!

Really REALLY Free Market

by Really, honestly, truthfully…everything’s free! What a wonderful concept! Why half of San Diego wasn’t at the San Diego Really Really Free Market is beyond me. I still can’t decide whether I was more excited to get rid of things and provide someone with my old “treasures”, or acquiring my own special finds.

I dragged Mr. Beaverelli into this adventure too. “Honey, let’s clean out the ENTIRE house, k?” We didn’t quite make it through every inch of our place, but we’ll be sure to get it done before the next one in June. We donate a lot of stuff to thrift stores (mostly Amvets and Goodwill) and while doing taxes this year, we discovered that a lot of the odd items can’t be written off. Well heck, I’d rather give it away to someone free. There are also items, like food, that you can’t really donate to a thrift store. They had a food drive going too! How about those half used lotions and body washes? The kind you realize kind of stink…someone’s going to want your old crap, I can assure you. The most beautiful part was when Mr. B cleaned out the messy one car garage. There were full paint cans that he used before he moved into our place 10 years ago and a roll of linoleum that just hung out in a corner for 10+ years…ALL GONE!

Here’s some of the old stuff we got rid of. After being there for about 2 hours, 90% of our stuff was snatched up. I know it looks like a big, giant mess, but let’s be real, I wasn’t selling this stuff. If I were to take the time to put everything out nicely, other people were going to take off with the stuff that I was about to throw into my own bag.

Beaverelli’s finds! What a lot of fun finds: a corset that made my tiny beaver bumps look like a boy’s chest, a biker babe top, new plates, greeting cards, scrap book paper for my auntie, and shoes my size (I have tiny hind paws)!

You don’t have a Really Really Free Market in your city or town? Then it’s time you took matters into your own hands. Why not pick a day, go to a park (check to see if you need a permit) and advertise to all of your friends. Start with social media, put an ad on Craigslist, start a blog…endless possibilities!
by

Achiever Beaver

The Buck$ $aved Here

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