I’ve always been on the “frugal” side of life for the most part. Part of being frugal, naturally, includes finding ways to reduce and reuse things. I won’t say that I’m an avid recycler – because if I did…I’d be lying. I do try to green things up a lot around here though. I’m the one who wears my tennis shoes until the sole comes off (literally, TRUE story). I’ve been known to walk plum out of my shoes.

A lot of my kid’s clothes are hand me down (not too proud to admit) and I love to find good deals at the local thrift shops. I’m just always finding ways to get good use out of what we have until it’s flat not any good to use anymore. If Eli gets a hole or a stain on his shirt, it goes in his play clothes pile. From there it will eventually over time make it’s way to the “cleaning rags” pile. Just another easy way to reduce and reuse!

P&G (Procter & Gamble) has an awesome Every Day Effect Conserve it All challenge going right now that I’m proud to participate in. This challenge is just one way to let others know that doing just simple, ordinary things daily can and DOES make a difference. P&G believes the most effective changes don’t necessarily start with grand acts and can start much closer to home, by changing the way we think about things like waste. Ordinary actions like washing your laundry in lower temps and doing the dishes with a more concentrated product can help allowing us to reduce energy and waste!!

For the Every Day Effect challenge, I wanted to challenge my family to leaving the lights off during the day. Our house is surrounded by trees so we have alot of shade during the day. I knew that this would INDEED be a challenge. Surprisingly enough…I’ve been the one having the most difficulty with it. It’s not that I don’t want to do it…it’s just a force of habit to turn the lights on in any room I’m in even when there’s plenty of day light coming in through the windows. Goes to show how much we just take for granted, huh?! I’ve posted sticky notes on all the light switches saying “Save some GREEN!” and it has been a nice reminder. Making a concerted effort towards something can create a habit, so that’s what we’re shooting for.

I also wanted to share a few other simple things that we do every day (simple things that YOU can do too) that makes an impact in greener and all around healthier living. Really, if it’s something I can do it’s something that you can do too! Reduce and reuse!!

Ways we reduce and reuse around our house:

• Use cold water for laundry (except for whites and/or towels)
• Make my own laundry detergent (much cheaper, plus I don’t have to throw out all the plastic bottles)
• Let dishes air dry vs. using heated dry in dishwasher
• We don’t have a compost pile, but you can add cut grass and food scraps to the pile if you have one (This is something I am interested in doing…need to do some homework!)
• Reuse my coffee creamer bottles
• Reuse my coffee cans
• Reuse plastic bags
• Use vinegar as my MAIN cleaning product…it does it all (awesome cleaner and all natural)
• Turning TV’s and lights off when not being used (we’re working on the light issue)

Doing these everyday things like I said DOES make a difference! No, you might not be saving the whales by re-using your coffee can for some awesome reason – but you have to look at it as a chain reaction. You never know – the next coffee can you throw out could possibly end up in the ocean eventually! Honest….just think about it that way. Over time your small efforts pay off.

We’d love to hear your comments…let us know how YOU try to make a difference. Leaving comments always gives others ideas as well. We can all definitely learn from one another! While you’re still here, make sure to head over and enter yourself to WIN an awesome prize. P&G #EverydayEffects Pinterest Giveaway! Some lucky person is going to win a washing machine!!! You can connect with P&G on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date in all the latest news!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks and P&G.