Upgrade, Downgrade

One of the most useful books I read as a stay-at-home mom trying to make ends meet was a compilation of newsletters called th The Complete Tightwad Gazette: Promoting Thrift as a Viable Alternative Lifestyle. The newsletter was a creation of Amy Dacyczyn, a SAHM who embraced frugality to fulfill her dream of living in a New England farmhouse and having a large family while not working outside the home. It enjoys a cult following in both the frugality and zero-waste communities. In one of the many articles that make up the book, she talks about her downgrade cycle, using running shoes as an example. Each time she buys a new pair of sneakers, she downgrades her existing “new” sneakers to work sneakers. The new sneakers are reserved for leaving the house or having a guest at home. The old sneakers are used for things that could damage the latest running shoes: gardening, painting, and the like. That way, her new sneakers stay new longer. This principle can be applied in many ways to lower your waste and improve your home and life. 

In my kitchen and full bath, we use gray bath mats/throw rugs. Recently, someone dropped a tube of pimple cream containing benzoyl peroxide on it. The chemical left a large bleach spot on the rug it fell on. I often dye fabric that has faded or has bleach spots, but even my huge dyeing pot—I feel like I should be saying “Bubble, bubble, toil, and trouble” every time I use it—isn’t big enough for this throw rug. 

Before tossing it, I took a minute to assess whether there was some other use I could put it to. I realized a rug in front of the washer and dryer would be a super upgrade. When I do laundry without slippers or shoes on, the rug keeps my feet warm, even when standing on cold concrete in Cleveland in March! Keeping this principle in mind when something in your life is “ruined” or “worn out” can really pay dividends. For example, by moving furniture pieces that were no longer nice enough for the rooms they were in, we built a nice music area for my husband in the basement. I also wrap up my old brooms when I sell chametz each year. I now have a broom for my back porch where I grow herbs and the garage. Having these downgraded brooms in place saves me from having to fetch the broom from the kitchen and also keeps my newest broom in great shape until the following Pesach. 

The Corollary

The corollary of the downgrade cycle I’ve encountered the longer I have a low-waste lifestyle is the upgrade cycle, where repeating the same low-waste practices lets you level up items in your home and life. When I first started going low-waste, I needed to reuse so many things to eliminate things like buying paper towels and Tupperware. I cut basically every piece of clothing and towel that was too worn or stained to be given away or donated into schmattot for cleaning. (I keep a box in my upstairs linen closet and a bag in my basement utility closet.) As someone with strong perfectionist tendencies, having a mismatched box of schmattot in my linen closet and a bag in the utility closet was aesthetically displeasing. It was just one of those things that really bugged me.

The longer I have been reusing items, the choosier I can be about what I save to be schmattot and what I donate to the collection box that raises money by selling the fabric people drop off to be recycled into new materials. I started by cutting up items of a similar texture so the collection looked neater on the linen closet shelf. I’m now concentrating on cutting up items that are either white, grey, or black, removing the more worn items from my upstairs collection. Things that are odd sizes, fraying too much around the edges, or otherwise not as nice get moved to the basement. That’s where we go when we need a rag to wipe up grease, paint, or anything else that would make us toss the schmatta in the trash. 

The same goes for jars. When I started going low-waste, I saved almost every jar for food storage and other household organizing needs. Now that I have a good base collection of jars, I can be selective and keep primarily glass jars with wide mouths that are easy to scoop into and out of. It’s always surprising how many uses I find for the jars and bottles I put aside now that I don’t run to the party goods store to buy deli containers. I use them to send dips to friends for Shabbos and take salad dressings, soup, and more in my lunch bag.

I’m always on the lookout for containers from things we use a lot of. It’s the perfect solution for mishloach manot packaging. This year my mishloach manos went out in the small crates mushrooms come in, and I’m already saving the jars my husband’s decaf coffee comes in for a future coffee-themed mishloach manos. And by not buying a lot of packaging each year, I also upgrade my budget! 

Before something gets thrown out, deciding if it could go up or down instead is worth a second or two.

~Amy

Amazon carbon emissions Chanuka Chanukah Chanukka Chanukkah disinfect donuts doughnuts ecofriendly elul food waste frum gratitude Hannukah Hanukka Hanukkah homemaking israel jewish lag b'omer landfill lashon hara laundry line dry low-waste mishloach manos mishloach manot orthodox passover pesach plastic purim recycle recycling reduce retail therapy reusable reuse shopping teshuva upcycling washcloth zero-waste zero waste