The key to being more sustainable everyday is to re-use what you have as many times as possible. You don’t need to replace everything you have or buy certain things or join a club. Old shirts become rags, become your pets chew toy, right?

There are easy ways to get a second use out of things you use in your daily life. Two examples are bananas, coffee grounds, and newspapers.

Banana Peel Bacon

Don’t throw away those banana peels! The banana is a great source of potassium, delicious in a smoothie, and the peel tastes great with bacon.

What you need:

• Banana peel
• Spoon
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika

Directions

Peel a couple of bananas into 4 pieces, scrape off the stringy bits on the inside with a spoon. Now for the marinade, mix 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, one tablespoon of maple syrup, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika – let it sit for 10 minutes.

Fry them for a couple minutes until crispy, and set aside to cool on a tea towel. You can eat it plain, or as a BLT.

Coffee grounds sugar scrub

Coffee grounds are one of the easiest things not to throw out. They’re great for your garden, especially for roses. You can keep a jar of grounds in the fridge as a deodorizer, and a jar under the sink to scrub tough dishes.

A great way to use my coffee grounds is to make a sugar scrub! It’s great when you need to get that garlic smell off your fingers.

What you need:

• 1 cup finely ground coffee
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or a scent you like, if using an essential oil you’ll need about 10-12 drops

Directions:

Soften the coconut oil by warming it. Don’t let it get too hot because we don’t want the sugar to dissolve. Stir in the sugar, coffee grounds, remaining oil, and the scent you’re using. Once everything is mixed and coated, and there aren’t any dry parts, it’s ready. Divide into glass jars and store!

Newspaper seedling starters

In this digital age it’s so easy to cut down on your paper waste. You can get all digital subscriptions for magazines, newspapers, everything, and even bills can be paperless.

However, local papers and flyers always are still delivered. Instead of tossing them into recycling turn them into newspaper seedling starters!

Directions:

• Check out the folding technique here