Project Beauty in Nature Part 2...

11. We try to only run a full dishwasher. We don't ever have enough cups and glasses, but we do fill the upper racks with bowls, spatulas and spoons.

12. We re-fill our plastic water bottles with filtered tap water (via a pur filter) several times before recycling them. My husband drinks a lot of water, so this is important.

13. I conserve on a lot of things, including soap. Liquid soap is easy to overuse (especially if you have kids), teach them to only use about a pea's worth and run water only when necessary, or run some 'rinse' water in the sink to help save the environment! I also use the smallest amount of detergent. My clothes always come out clean.

14. Plastic plates and utensils are no-nos in this house unless severely strained in brain and body. We have a dishwasher (hallaleujah) so it's just as easy to load a plate as to throw one away.

15. I use washable dishcloths instead disposable sponges. They go into the wash with the towels.

16. I use dishtowels to dry my hands 99.9% of the time. About half the times that I clean my bathroom sinks, I use the damp hand towel or wet it a bit, and wipe up the sink of toothpaste, stray hairs, etc. I still use cleaning supplies about the other half of the time. I am working on this.

17. We take unusable goods such as clothing that no longer fits, etc. to the Salvation Army or Goodwill, so that someone else can get some use out of it.

18. We donate our old eyeglasses to the Lions Clubs. There are often drop boxes for such purposes. They refurbish the frames or re-use the lenses if possible.

19. We use washable plastic containers for freezing, lunch-taking, leftover keeping, etc. as much as possible.

20. My husband takes a travel cup of coffee and uses that instead of styrofoam cups at work.