Helloooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, Potatoes!!!! Happy June!! ☀️🍒

This month, we shall conclude the theme of going through our homes and lifestyles by potatoifying our other rooms!!!

Cleaning and decluttering

When going through your stuff, try to reuse, repair, and upcycle as much as you can! 

And remember! If you don’t want something, you can ALWAYS exchange stuff with your friends and families (and you know, random people online)! Here is just one of the many Facebook groups for exchanging stuff with people around Ann Arbor, but there are a BUNCH more for other places too! You can organize/go to item swaps in person (of course making sure to be safe) with people in your local area! Also, use reusable cleaning supplies and homemade/natural sprays.

Furniture

If your furniture breaks or gets worn out, all hope is not yet lost! Duck Tape (MastermindPotato’s obsession) can fix figuratively everything!! You can also put a slipcover or tablecloth over damaged furniture instead. And if you want new furniture, you can see if someone left theirs by the side of the road randomly or go to a thrift store! You can also use cardboard boxes (or thrift) instead of buying storage containers and bins! ????

Objects

Here are some tips for reusing and repurposing! When you do need to buy stuff, check our eco-friendly businesses doc and remember to bring your eco-bag! Also, just like with many disposables, washing washcloths saves much more water than buying disposable ones, due to the large amounts of water that go into manufacturing them.

Water

The faucet uses 1–3 gallons of water a minute — crazy, right? So just turning off the faucet when you’re not using it, when you’re scrubbing a particularly stubborn dish, lathering your hands with soap, brushing your teeth, etc. saves SOOOOO much water!!! And for drinking water, instead of buying plastic water bottles, drink tap water! If you aren’t comfortable with drinking that, try getting a filter that attaches to your faucet, an independent one, or one in your fridge, or boil tap water if it’s healthy. Most bottled water is actually no different from tap water, so technically getting a filter/boiling is actually better! And it saves moneeyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!

Lights

Turning off the lights when you won’t be in a room for a while is an easy way to save energy. Remember to not be switching them on and off constantly, since that wastes much more energy. Switch out all lights to LEDs so you can save energy and money! Solar lights are also a good option for something like reading. Make sure to turn off your porch lights, because the light disrupts and can kill a bunch of moths and other insects that are essential to the nearby ecosystems. If you are uncomfortable turning it off, get one that only turns on when there is movement. 

Here’s this month’s checklist! We hope your house becomes more and more of a potato!!! Thank you for being a potato with us this spring! ????