#64 Paint cup

One of the frustrating things about my local recycling center is that they only recycle #1 and #2 plastics, and that means that all my containers for sour cream and cottage cheese have to go into the trash. I just can't do it-- so I save them to use for "tupperware" or freezer containers or whatever comes up that I need a simple container for. Whenever there is a use for something that is normally thrown away, I'm all over it. But even so, I still end up with more than I need (I guess I really love my sour cream!) So with all the painting I've been doing, I find they make great paint containers for the "cutting in" brush. If I need to stop before it's empty, I can snap the lid on and save it for later, and if I'm done I can toss it without having to wash it.

Pros: They are free. (I don't have to purchase a paint cup.) It puts plastic at least to multiple uses before being thrown away.

Cons: Doesn't have a handle like the store purchased cups. It still is plastic going into the trash.

#63 drop cloths, and my new year's goal

I have not forgotten this blog, or my resolve to get to those 100 things. I have not even run out of things to write about-- I just have been too busy! But my goal is to finish by July. Then I will see where I will go with my posts.

Anyway, Yes, I am still posting about painting things. Although I finished the painting project I was working on at the time that I posted those, I am about to start another. A couple more things had occured to me at the time and I just never posted them.
So-- about 3 years ago I bought new mattresses. And what did they come in? A huge plastic wrapping. A double plastic wrapping, in fact. I could not bear to just toss all that plastic into the trash, so I wadded it up and put it in a trash bag and stuck it into the storage room. Then when I started a year or so later on some painting projects, I pulled them out and used them as my drop cloths! Perfect! Big, square, thick plastic. It has now made it through many paint projects, and each time when I'm done it gets stashed the same way (except for the one my cat peed on-- I made an exception and threw that one out!)
I don't think that everyone is really going to have mattress wrappings lying around, but the next time you come across a big sheet of plastic (and yes, they are very common,) think about your next painting project and if it could be of use.

Pros: Free, and it's putting some trash to good use.

Cons: Bulky plastic can be hard to store. And occasionally your cat might pee on it.