Here, we try to find ways to reuse virtually everything instead of just throwing it away. I keep things like milk jugs, grocery bags, cardboard boxes, plastic kitty litter bins, beer/ wine bottles, corks/ bottle caps, baby food jars, egg cartons, toilet paper rolls and  much more. These items can be reused or can be manipulated to serve other purposes depending on your needs.

• Use plastic detergent or kitty litter bins for planting or composting or just for storing things. We have various types of animal feed in these bins right now, we also have put gardening tools and even kids toys in them for storage.
• Use old wine corks to make your very own cork board. These can be cuite cute too.  You an repurpose bottle caps by making a fun retro belt or use any number of these creative bottle cap ideas.
• Use milk jugs for plant watering and liquid storage, use the top portion of a milk jug as a funnel and the bottom portion to plant in or just buy milk that isn’t coming in plastic containers and recycle/ compost the cardboard.
• Grocery bags and cardboard boxes can be reused for several times. Every package we send is sent in a reused box, even with reused packing materials. 
• We pay our bills electronically and still get paper bills. We don’t toss out those return envelopes inclosed in the bill, we have a whole container full of them and we reuse them when we need an envelope.
• Cardboard egg cartons, cereal boxes and toilet paper rolls can be used to start seeds in. Then you just plant the cardboard in the dirt where it will break down and compost while the plant grows.
• Glass baby food jars can be used to store small items like thumbtacks, paperclips, nails/ screws, dried herbs, seeds and much more!
• Ditch the paper product and reuse your old clothes. Here I’ve turned old cotton clothes/ receiving blankets to clean up spills (aka paper towel replacements) and even as *gasp* “snot rags” for the kiddos. I’ve even made swiffer clothes from old shirts. We just wash them and reuse them till they fall apart. Then they go to the compost.
• All the paper we use in our office printer has already been printed on the backside. 
• Most kitchen waste is great for composting and replenishing garden soil. Things like coffee grounds, tea bags, vegetables, fruits, egg shells, paper towels and egg cartons can be composted and later added to garden soil. I set aside one of my old plastic kitty litter bins (with a lid of course) for all my chosen compost items.
• Old window frames are perfect to repurpose! With glass intact you can build a “coldframe” for your garden with them. Frames with the glass removed can be lined with chicken wire and used to make a chicken or rabbit run. You could even make trellises for the garden with theses.

Other ways to get rid of or score great things for repurposing:

If you have old clothes, appliances, or any other reusable items you can always donate them to charity, goodwill or just give them away! As a last resort you can even set the items out next to or near the trash can with a note that says “free”. Anything is better than throwing them away…

-Visit http://www.freecycle.org/ if you are looking for stuff or if you have stuff to give away. Here in my town all you have to do is post what you have to get rid of and all the members of freecycle in your area will get emailed. If someone is interested they will contact you, you can set up a meeting or you can simply have them come to pick up the stuff you are giving away. It is super easy, convenient and best of all FREE!!

-Also http://craigslist.org/ is a great resource for getting or giving away stuff.

The majority of everyday household items can be either be recycled, reused, composed or given away to cut down on wastes. Try it, you will be surprised how much you really can cut down on wastes. A small change can make a big difference! Our trash can is the proof.

Now tell me, in what ways are you repurposing, recycling or reusing to cut wastes?

Need a washing machine upgrade?

You can “pin to win” a new washing machine if you got a clunker that needs an eco upgrade! Enter the P&G #EverydayEffect Pinterest Giveaway by filling out the form here: on.fb.me/ZMyucH

This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks & P&G

The post Reuse and repurposing: Our goal- Throwing less into dumps appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

This makes my mouth water, I’d love to scarf a few Auntie Anne’s pretzels right now! Unfortunately, my belly doesn’t share this sentiment now that we are gluten intollerant.

However, that is no reason why my gluten eating followers should miss out on a sweet offer for some free Auntie Anne’s pretzels in celebration of their birthday…

Dust off those party shoes and get ready to celebrate as Auntie Anne’s celebrates its 25^th Birthday! Another year older and wiser, Auntie Anne’s is celebrating by rolling out a new hand-rolled soft pretzel, Honey Whole Grain, to its variety of gourmet freshly-baked favorites. At under 300 calories, the whole grain, better-for-you pretzel feels responsible, but tastes reckless!

Like to try some free Honey Whole Grain Auntie Anne’s pretzels?

They are having sampling on:

• Saturday, Feb. 2 2013 (tomorrow!)
• Saturday, Feb. 16 2013
• Saturday, March 9 2013

At the sampling, they will be giving free samples of the new Honey Whole Grain pretzel and other fun in-store prizes.

Win 25 free pretzels!

One lucky reader will win 25 free pretzel cards from Auntie Anne’s.

Enter here:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you like giveaways, you can get twisting in the Twist and Win online sweepstakes at www.pretzelperfect.com for a chance to win. The Twist and Win sweepstakes ends until March 31 2013. Prizes include:

• $25,000
• the all-new Apple® iPad® mini
• Coca‑Cola® beverages for a year
• or a $25 Visa® gift card!

Join the Auntie Anne’s celebration on Twitter

The Twitter party is on on Tuesday, Feb. 12 from at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m PT if you’d like to join the fun @AuntieAnnes search #iheartwholegrains.

Now, the big question… What will you do with 25 free pretzels?

The post Auntie Anne’s is celebrating 25 years! #pretzelperfect appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Is your holiday shopping complete? I am happy to report that ours basically is, except for stocking stuffers (the bane of my existence!). We don’t do lots of sweets here so filling the stockings with candy isn’t the ole fallback. Instead we really have to get creative about things.

Like a typical mom, I toss lots of necessity items in the mix for the holidays. You know, socks, undies, clothing, new shoes for the baby and such… especially in the stockings! Do you?

I’ve been doing some online shopping today for odds and ends to fill the stockings and felt it would be timely to share a special P&G coupon code and promotional offer that was just shared with me. Here are the details for you…

When ordering from the P&G Estore you’ll get:

• 15% off on a first-time order from a new customer, using promo code: A9Z-MN5-KY3-ISA So really fill that cart up and take advantage!
• Free Shipping on orders over $25
• Plus, Free Samples with every order!

Some of the items that I think would make great stocking stuffers from the P&G Estore are…

A Braun Personal Care Product, like a trimmer ($19.99 right now) or shaver (starting at $69.00 right now). What guy doesn’t need to groom?

In our house batteries are a must have for the stocking! In the P&G store you an get a giant 28 count battery pack for just $17.99 right now. Combine that low price with the 15% off coupon code and you’ll affordably fulfill those endless requests for batteries this holiday season!

Plus, you can enter the Duracell Bundle of Batteries Sweepstakes for a chance to win a $100 prize pack of Duracell Batteries to power you through the holiday season!

Another product we use and would recommend for the whole family (maybe a functional/ make hygiene fun gift?) is an Oral-B Electric Toothbrush to really keep those teeth clean after all the holiday indulgence.

It’s better than socks or undies in the stocking right? Seriously though, my 3 year old LOVES getting to have her teeth brushed with Mom & Dad’s special electric toothbrush (we have the Professional Care SmartSeries Toothbrush), you’d think it was disneyland or something!

You can even get yourself some Covergirl Makeup for your own stocking if you are the makeup wearing kind and the P&G Estore has online coupons you can apply to those items you are buying for extra savings. Who doesn’t like to save some money? I sure do!

So, what items are on your stocking stuffers shopping list? Got any ole standbys that you always fall back on? Care to share them with us? I need some good ideas!

The post Holiday Stocking Stuffers Anyone? #pgstocking appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

No matter what your motivations, if you are an iPhone or iPad user, the WannaBeWell app is something you need to check out! Click here to check it out now.

WannaBeWell is a comprehensive wellness resource that educates, activates and motivates those who are looking to lead a healthier lifestyle. It is based on the three pillars of health at the core of the Life…supplemented program (lifesupplemented.org)…

Healthy Diet + Supplements + Exercise.

The majority of people that set out to improve their wellness don’t succeed because they have nobody/ nothing to hold them accountable and to remind them to stay on track.

The WannaBeWell App  solves this problem. It allows users to:

• create a personalized Wellness Coach by choosing from a roster of customizable characters who will deliver daily motivational and educational messages.
• Receive ‘Healthy Mission’ tasks given by the Wellness Coach and collect trophies for accomplishing the tasks.
• Explore the Supplement Resource Center, which offers users information about vitamins and other dietary supplements in a simple and easy to understand format.
• Access thousands of articles and insights to make informed dietary decisions.
• Set up reminders to take — or restock — your supplements.

Looking for more online tools to empower and educate you to improve your health and wellness? Check out:

• The Supplemental, a blog that provides a forum around healthy diet, supplements and exercise from an expert panel of bloggers. The Life…supplemented panel of experts share a variety of fresh and innovative perspectives to inspire you to make smart choices.
• The Supplement Resource Center houses thousands of articles and insights that help users make an informed decision about dietary supplements.

A wellness improvement is totally within your reach, you just need to commit and to surround yourself with support and encouragement. I know because we’ve managed to undergo a gluten, MSG & chemical sugar detox this year as a result of Adalyn’s sensitivities and we feel better… Plus once you get on the right track, success is much easier to maintain.

So, check out the WannaBeWell app and see if it can help you with your wellness goals!

“I wrote this blog post while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Life…supplemented. As a thank you for participating, I received a $25 promotional item, and a $25 donation was made on my behalf to Vitamin Angels.”

The post On a wellness journey? Get this app for support & help! #wannabewell appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

It’s thick, corse, curly in areas and typically long (unless I am particularly annoyed with it’s weight at any given time). As a youngon I used to spend over an hour each day straightening or taming the mane when it was worn down.

Now that I have kids it’s mostly tied up in a knot on top of my head. Another reason for my lack of hair doing is the Indiana humidity… Humidity and my hair don’t mix and I’ve yet to find a product that makes my hair manageable and somewhat straight, without the use of a hot iron and lots of time spent.

This is why I was interested in trying the new Dove Damage Therapy Conditioner. Plus, I’ve always enjoyed the Dove advertising approach compaired to other beauty products. I like that they try to keep women more “real” in their ads than other beauty product makers.

So I tried out the “Intensive Repair” conditioner in my mane of tangled insanity. It smelled nice but I wasn’t particullary thrilled about the number of chemicals in the product. I’d much rather have a plain smelling product than an overly scented super chemical one.

I typically use chemical free herbal shampoo and conditioner and am typically pleased with the results I get. I am always willing to test out something more conventional with the hopes that it might calm the locks of hair and make them easier to manage.

I should also mention that I am NOT a daily shampooer when it comes to my locks. I find that less regular washing allows my hair to remain hydrated and appear less frizzy. Of course, I am very aware of oily hair and am careful to never let my hair get that way between washings.

So where the Dove conditioner was concerned, it did make my hair more silky feeling in the shower and also immediately following the shower but it definitely made my hair feel more greasy in the days following, which is a problem I typically don’t have with my more natural hair products.

The product did work well but isn’t likely something I’ll use daily (rather it will be an occasional/ special occasion product) as I found it left a buildup and made my hair more greasy feeling and looking between washings.

What is the most important quality to you in hair care products? Do you wash/ condition each day? If so, do you typically use the same products each shampoo or do you rotate them in and out?
Your answers to the above questions can be entered in the Dov contest below for the chance to win if you choose to enter.

Enter to win a $1,000 Spafinder gift certificate!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

COMMENTS TO THIS POST ARE NOT SWEEPSTAKES ENTRIES. PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR ENTRY METHODS FOR THIS SWEEPSTAKES.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Follow this link, and provide your email address and your response to the Promotion prompt

b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and then visit this link to provide your email address and the URL to that Tweet.

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and then visit this link to provide your email address and the URL to that post.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. Winners will have 72 hours to claim the prize, or an alternative winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 9/4/2012 – 9/30/2012

Be sure to visit Dove®Hair.com to get a coupon for $1.50 off Dove Hair Therapy products.

The post How does Dove conditioner work out in the Talina poof of hair? appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.