I’ve had ideas over the years to reuse the plethora of event and organization magnets I wind up with, but like too many of my best ideas, they got outpaced by laundry, carpools, and other to-dos.
Oy-kay (ish)!
All My Needs
In my work as a consultant, I often remind clients that perfect is the enemy of good. A perfect software solution that takes five years to build is decidedly not better than a good solution you can implement in six months and then continually improve while benefiting from its “goodness” for four and a half... Continue Reading →
If At First, You Don’t Succeed
Because of how much ink had been pulled out of the pen and into the quilt, the stain showed on both sides. But other than that, it was beautiful and in good shape.
Upgrade, Downgrade
Some of my favorite home upgrades come from the conscious habit of making use of what is no longer perfect and perfecting reused objects.
Thankfulness and Tu B’Shvat
The longer I live a low-waste life, I find that my gratitude becomes deeper and more multifaceted.
Planning for Pesach Already?
Pesach is one of the biggest projects we undertake as frum families. One of the most powerful planning tools in my toolkit—one I use for managing projects both at work and at home—is the after-action report. While any project or endeavor I will undertake again in the future is fresh in my mind, I make notes about what worked, what didn’t work, and what could have worked better with a little bit of tweaking. This way, I can reduce, reuse, and refuse my way to a more sustainable, less stressful holiday.
Use It Up: The Purim Edition
My ideal would be to send mishloach manos in packaging that is both reused and reusable, but that’s not as easy as it sounds.
These Boots are Made for Walking (Away from Shopping)
At the beginning of November, I set an intention not to buy anything except food and household necessities that month. I called it a "Mostly No-Buy November Challenge," and it's good that I included the word "mostly," because I mostly accomplished my goal.
No New Clothes?!?!
I usually go into chagim and chol hamoed all caught up on laundry. But the week leading up to the Nine Days, and I started off with three full loads of dirty laundry that will have to wait until next week. Luckily, I had enough time to get them sorted and ready to go. I’ve... Continue Reading →
Growth and Perfection
When I trimmed the hose to right before the first kink, the remainder was just long enough to water all but a pot of sage and two tomato plants. Was it perfect? No, but it’s a good reminder that “perfect” is the enemy of “good enough.” As Ben Zoma taught, “Who is rich? The one who is happy with what he has.”
The Bal Tashchit Balabusta 