Make Your Stuff Last Longer
We write a lot here at Green Daily about reusing things and recycling things but what about the reduce part of reduce, reuse, recycle? It gets the short end of the stick sometimes because most of us are pretty ingrained consumers and getting more stuff is just what we do. What if you could make everyday things just last longer so that you don't need to purchase them as frequently? You could save money and reduce your consumption which is healthy for the planet.
Gathered from around the web, here are some tips to make your stuff last longer.
- Clothing - Line dry your clothes as much as possible. That lint filter you clean out all the time is full of bits and pieces of your clothes! Use cold water to reduce dye loss (and fading) even more.
- Jeans - wash them inside out so any dye lost goes back into the fabric, wash in cold water and air dry them as often as possible. Try to wear more than once if possible to reduce the amount of times they go into the washer.
- Food - store things properly so that they don't spoil. Keep track of what you have and use up opened things first to reduce spoiling and things going stale. Try to avoid impulse buys that might not get used up.
- Mattress - Use a mattress pad to protect the mattress and make sure to flip and rotate it regularly.
- Cars - perform regular maintenance including oil changes, air filter changes, keep tires inflated properly and occasionally wash and wax to protect the paint job.
- Shoes - untie them before taking them off, if they get wet let them dry out before wearing again and don't wear the same pair every single day. Rotate shoes for more even wear and longer life (like tires!).
- Laptop - Use it on a hard surface. Something soft like a bed or your lap leads to things getting too hot which leads to more rapid deterioration. If you like to compute in bed, get a lap desk to protect your laptop.
- Fridge and freezer - vacuum the coils every few months for better efficiency and to make them last longer.
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