Upcycle Living

We're going to have a family dinner right before Halloween so we gotta have something special for the kiddies. I've always wanted to let them have a little trick or treat for fun but I'm really skeptic about buying the ready made ones and make some rich business owners even richer by producing more plastic stuff. So a DIY paper maché Jack o Lantern is an obvious choice. Here are the material used: 2 old unused balloons from last Christmas, blew them up and wrapped each up with a layer of cling film (for easy removal when the glue is dry), and these are the base mould for the pumpkins. Old newspaper and old receipts, torn into tiny strips. Glue made from tapioca flour Leftover white base coat paint Acrylic colours String from an old wrecked drawstring bag First layer for the shape.  Few more layers to shape the ridges. Punched holes for the handle. Base coat done, in and out. Getting the right colour, bit by bit. Once the colour'...

We probably can't go a week without buying something. Some of us try to reduce consumption, reduce the use of plastic bags, use BYO containers, go to the nearest shops whenever we can, etc; but the issuing of receipts seems to be a mandatory for all the major shops and malls. No matter how hard I try to squeeze as many items into one purchase, I still end up with way too many receipts. What's worse is: you get 2 sets of receipts when you use a credit card, and the thermal receipts are apparently not recyclable! Being a stubborn cow that I am, I refuse to throw any away as long as they still have a blank side on them - thermal receipt or not. I've been using them as note pads, to take phone messages (not that we had a lot), and write my shopping lists on, before I put them into the recycling bag for paper. Along with the compulsory receipts, these supermarkets and department stores also make sure that they paste a "Sold" sticker onto every bag (or every item i...