{Living Simply 2013}

At the start of this year, I asked what you have done, are doing and/or hope to do to live more simply in 2013.  I will be featuring a different response in the upcoming weeks/months so we can all learn from each other.  Feel free to email me at simplylife1@gmail.com or leave a comment on this post with your response to be featured (you don’t need a blog to participate)!  Here are the previous posts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Our next response comes from Blackswan, who states “I live simply by recycling products.”

I really liked reflecting upon this creative comment and found that it is true; when we recycle products, we are choosing to live more simply.  To be resourceful and appreciative of what we already have is definitely one way of living simply.

This made me think about what products I already do recycle and where I could improve.  As far as reusing items goes, the first thing that comes to mind is the tupperware I use for my lunch nearly everyday.  I pack my lunch in this bag and also bring reusable “snack bags” to avoid wasting ziploc bags.  They’re easy to clean and definitely save money in the long run!

However, on the other hand, one thing I am way too wasteful with is to-go coffee cups.  This is something I really want to get better at!  I typically drink a cup of coffee at home in a mug that I’ll wash and reuse.  However, what happens more than I’d like to admit, is I’m out-and-about and decide that a bit of caffeine would be the perfect pick-me-up.   I stop in, order my drink, and leave with my energy boost in hand.  Within about 30 minutes, the empty cup goes in the trash and I feel a slight twinge of guilt.  I already have plenty of travel mugs that would be perfect for these occasions but have a hard time getting in the habit.  Reflecting on this comment has motivated me to try and get in the practice of doing this!  My new goal: to use a travel mug everyday for one week!

Oh, two other things I reuse over and over?  My pizza stone and a good recipe.  Yeah, you probably can tell by the amount of pizzas I post, that our pizza stone definitely gets used quite a bit.  And this is one of my favorite pizza recipes to use it for: White Pizza with Peppers and Artichokes.  I followed the recipe pretty closely and just added black olives.  The mixture of ricotta and mozzarella cheese are so comforting, and the vegetables give it the perfect medley of Mediterranean flavors.

~What do you reuse and/or recycle?