It’s a job that’s never started that takes the longest to finish.” — J.R.R. Tolkien

Do you exist in a pretty constant state of guilt and frustration about the fact that you live a life of consumption and waste?  Do you feel like no matter what you do, you’ll never be able to change your lifestyle drastically enough to significantly reduce your impact on the planet?  Yeah, well, join the club. 

Mike and I live in the city + we have full-time office jobs + we don’t have a lot of spare time= we usually get through daily life doing everything as quickly as possible= we consume a lot, and waste a lot.  Example:  Instead of packing my lunch in a reusable container every morning, I quickly throw it into a plastic baggie and run out the door.  The result of this behavior is a lot of plastic garbage, and a lot of stressful guilt…

So, about  a year ago, we resolved to never throw away a plastic bag until it had been used so many times it had holes in it.  We started washing out the baggies and sticking them right back into the “bag drawer” to be reused.  The result has been amazing– I can’t even remember the last time I’ve had to put “Ziploc” on my shopping list.  I feel really, really good about the fact that we’ve pretty much eliminated the unnecessary waste of baggies from our lives, just by changing one itty-bitty behavior. 

I will be honest, though…plastic bags do not look cute sitting around all wet and crinkly on your kicthen counter.  We needed a good way to dry the bags…and we don’t have a clothes line outside in the winter months.  So, Mike came up with this really simple drying-rack {and it’s even cute enough to sit on your counter!}:

  Steps:

You will need:  wood glue, 5′ of dowel rod {for a more rustic look, use sticks/branches}, a hand saw, a brace {pictured} or an electric drill, a scrap of wood slightly larger than the finished size {11″ x 3″}.

1. Measure a board to be 3″ wide x 11″ long, and cut the board to those measurements.

2. Prepare the base: sand/plane the board until it is level and smooth, take off any rough edges.

3. Cut dowel rods to five 12″ long pieces.

4. Measure & mark the spots on the base board where your dowel holes will go.

5. Drill holes into the base at the marked spots.

6. Drip wood-glue into each of the holes, and insert the dowels.

7. Let the glue dry, and then you’re all done!  Start saving those baggies!