If you’ve been following along for a bit here in the space, you might remember Suzy from Hip Mountain Mama challenge to other bloggers and those endeavoring to live greener to make One Small Change. The challenge ended in April, but those who began this movement decided to continue on and are still making One Small Change every month to live more sustainably.

September as a pivotal month of change. A change of seasons, a change of schedule, and a change of weather. So I decided this month to be the time to jump back in and share the One Small Change our family is undertaking to live greener. I love organizing my home, so this month I plan to collect and create some greener organizing solutions, and of course share them all here with you.

There is just so much plastic a girl can take I tell you! This blog, Organizing-Life began with my passion for all things in its place. I organized everything really. And all in plastic containers. They are cheap, simple, modular, interchangeable, uniform, and plentiful. Now, as a girl going green, I am thinking about what else can I use to organize our belongings that isn’t going to leach BPAs, phthalates, and other toxins. What do you use to organize your home you ask? Why, natural materials of course! Remember stone, wood, glass, paper, and metal? Ahh, to bring a bit of the earth into our home would be a relief.

This month I plan to share a few of the ways we incorporate organizing solutions made of natural materials into our home. It isn’t easy. I feel like I am on a safari sometimes hunting down organizing containers made of anything other than plastic. I am usually astounded at the prices of these beautifully crafted organizers. Think outside the box, get creative, and thrifty, and make do. And really, it works to help make the home a bit greener.

The first switch we are endeavoring is to get rid of our plastic bowls. I found these very dirty, but very sturdy, wooden bowls the other week at the thrift store. With a little bit of elbow grease, these were revived into working condition and are now part of our collection. In fact, they are the perfect size for popcorn.

• Sand them down. Use coarse sandpaper for wood first (like a #60) and then a fine sandpaper to smooth things out (like #150.)
• Rinse to get rid of the dust, wipe, and let them air dry completely.
• Let them be or seal them with linseed oil and beeswax. (Melt a 1:1 ratio, cool, and wipe on with a clean rag. Wipe off excess with another clean rag and let the piece dry completely. This concoction is food safe.)
• Hand wash these babies. Don’t try to put them through the dishwasher because they’ll dry out and crack.

Where to find it:

• Yard sales, Craigs List, Freecycle, Ebay, rummage sales, thrift stores, your parent’s attic.

How to use it:

• Knick knack drawer
• At the dinner table
• Fill with stones, acorns and pine cones and use as a table centerpiece
• Jewelry catcher on the dresser

We have a lot of plastic bowls. And we are slowly replacing them all with wood, glass, and metal. For food stuffs, it is a small way to keep the plastic out of your food. For the rest of your home, well, wooden bowls are a nice way to bring a bit of the outdoors inside. And we just like to limit the number of plastics we touch daily. (If that is even possible?) The fish Nemo’s friend Dori comes to mind. “Keep on swimming, keep on swimming.” We are just endeavoring to do the best we can in this world made of plastic.

Up next, plastic vs. baskets.

P/S Can I also submit this as an additional Small or rather Large Change? My husband just took a new position with the Department of Energy managing government loan guarantees for renewable energy projects across the country. I am pretty darn proud of him as I too believe that renewable energy sources will pave the way for our continued future energy consumption. As a former poli-sci undergrad, I am a bit taken aback that now we are part of that bureaucratic system. Yikes! All for a good cause perhaps.

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Take a peek at what others are doing to live a bit greener at the One Small Change Blog!

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Can I do that many P’s? For a much better tutorial about how to restore your wooden treasures, visit The Magic Onions blog here.