Guest Spot – Lisa Thomson

April 27, 2011 View Comments (1)

GUEST SPOT – Lisa Thomson

I am a mother, wife and passionate advocate for living a healthier, more sustainable life. I am far from perfect in my approach to living a healthier, more environmentally responsible life. I don’t believe that everyone has to do everything but I do feel that if we each commit to at least one act, consistently, then we can all contribute to leaving a healthier planet behind for our children.

Re-Purposed, Up-cycled Storage Solutions

I have always been drawn to the idea of being perfectly organized. I love to go into the container section of home stores and ogle the multitude of color coordinated, multi-sized bins, baskets and various other organizational tools. I fantasize about bringing home, and using, a very large assortment of these things that are supposed to make my house look and feel as though everything is in its proper place and perfectly under control.

But the truth is I always leave empty-handed, I feel as though the containers are mocking me because, as I stare at them, I have absolutely no idea what I need or where to start. So I come home and look around, determined to make a list of what I need until I finally realize that in my own way I do have things organized, maybe (no, definitely) not as perfectly as they could be, but organized nonetheless.

I may not use fancy color coordinated plastic containers (although I do still love the look of them) but my way does the trick in a simpler, less expensive and much more environmentally friendly way. These are a few of the uncoordinated, non-color coded, re-purposed, up-cycled storage solutions that you can find around our home.

Flower Pots

Just about everyone I know has unused terra cotta flower pots of some kind hanging around. We use one of ours on the counter to hold our compost scraps and then transfer them daily, to a repurposed 5 gallon paint pail outside our patio door.

If you have a large enough flower pot you can use it on the porch to keep gardening tools, gloves and hats handy during spring and summer. It works just as well inside, for hats and mitts during the winter months.

Magazine Holders

There was a time, before we started thinking about their environmental impact, when we received several magazine subscriptions. Now that we’ve eliminated all of them we are left with several unused plastic magazine holders. They work great for holding construction paper and coloring books. They can even be hung on the wall, sideways, where they’re easily accessible but also out of the way.

If your desk is in desperate need of a little organization and de-cluttering you can hang a couple of these above your desk instead of the usual desktop trays.

Hang one by the door to keep your mail organized and all in one place.

Flat Mailboxes

Not the kind of mailboxes you see on the side of the road in the country but the flat ones that attach to the house, can be used in a lot of the same ways as the magazine holders. Hang one (or two) inside the door for holding mail and other miscellaneous papers or hang them in your home office to keep papers organized and off your desk.

Glass Jars and Plastic Containers

Reuse your pasta sauce, baby food or empty Mason jars as food storage. Plastic has been pretty much banished from our kitchen so everything gets stored in jars even in the freezer. Make sure when using glass jars in the freezer to never fill higher than half an inch below the curve of the jar. Real Mason jars are best for freezing as they are made of heavier glass.

Just because those empty plastic containers can’t be used in the kitchen to store food doesn’t mean you have to get rid of them completely. Plastic baby food jars are perfect for storing all kinds of little things from hair elastics to Barbie shoes to left over paint. The larger plastic raisin or yogurt containers can be used for marbles, crayons and other craft supplies.

The round containers that those very handy all-purpose wipes come in are the perfect size for keeping all of your extra canning lids under control. They also make a great holder for rolls of ribbon used in sewing and crafting. Stack the rolls inside, pull the end of each roll up through the top of the lid for easy access without having to remove the cover.

Wine Buckets

While we do drink wine quite regularly, we never used our silver wine bucket so, instead of shipping it off, I removed the very short handle, replaced it with a longer ribbon and it now hangs on a hook by the front door. We use it to store the dog’s leash, brush and nail clippers handy but it would also be useful in the summer for keeping sunscreen, hats and sunglasses easily accessible.

Plastic Linens Bags

The plastic bags that sheets and blankets come in make for excellent storage in kids bedrooms and playrooms. The medium-sized zip cases that sheets sets usually come in are the perfect height for Barbie dolls. Some of them even come with a handle making them easy to transport. The comforter/duvet sized cases work well for containing the collection of stuffed animals that all children seem to amass.

The larger cases are handy for keeping the dust off of extra pillows and blankets as well as storing seasonal clothing.

Old Bureau Drawers and Suitcases

Instead of splurging on storage containers for under the bed you can use old bureau drawers instead. If you don’t have an old bureau kicking around that has seen better days then you can probably find one at the second hand store for a few dollars. Add some felt pads to the bottoms of the drawers and slide them under the bed (or sofa).

If you prefer something closed in then old suitcases will do the trick. These are also available, if you don’t have any of your own, for next to nothing at second hand stores and yard sales.

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Your Guide to a Greener, More Natural Life