Thanks for all you do!

For bulk food storage, I was having the same problem, Flour beetles were in one of my bulk 25 lb bag of oats when I ordered it from the store. Determined not to lose all of it to the infestation I sifted out all the bugs, put the remaining oats in washed pillowcases I got from the thrift store for 25 to 75 cents apiece with liberal amounts of food grade Diatomatious Earth sprinkled in and fed a piece of line/rope through the top of the pillowcase to tie it off. That was last summer and the oats show no sign of infestation and taste fine! As long as you’re storing them in a dry area (I have bought metal trash cans which I then put the bean/rice/oat filled pillowcases in) the pillowcases make great ready-made bags for bulk storage.

And lastly, more cat toys. Especially if you know someone in catnip growing areas (my relatives in Michigan are my main source) have them cut and dry large quantities and send it/give it to you in a brown paper bag. I had male cats that despite being neutered would still spray on occasion. However they won’t spray “happy places” or places that smell like catnip. Once they find a place they like to spray they will seem to keep targeting it over and over no matter how well you clean. So I would take a small rag, like a 4″ X 4″ section of old t-shirt or jean material, or even an old sock (depending on how animated your cat gets with catnip!), fill the center with a tablespoon or so of dried catnip, then fold up the sides and tie a sliploop around it with a long piece of string and hang it a few inches off the floor in the area they were spraying (or just where ever you want their play area to be). They would never spray there again. So after hanging several around the house as they tried new places, they gave up and only did it outside, and always enjoyed batting the toy around regardless.

Thanks again for this site-it’[s awesome to connect/hear about fellow plastic-free fighters and learn more we can do!

I just saw you on abc this morning… luckily I happen to glance at the tv being a unusually very busy morning, I stopped in my tracks to hear your words on the plastic problem. I thought it was only me and a few others that thought like you. Every day I throw plastic out (I live with roommates) my stomach turns because I know it’s bad and feel so overwhelmed with all the plastic going out to the oceans into mothers natures creatures. I sort it out but many containers are not recyclable. I have a list in my head of things. I use my toothbrush till nothing left to the brush, etc.. I always get on the roommates not buy so much food items with plastic but it seems impossible. I wish it was illegal to use plastic with food items and make company’s go back to glass jars. I’m going to try harder, never giving up. Thank you and I love you website
please save this one and delete the other,,ty!

Take a sheet of regular paper. (No, don’t grab a couple of fresh sheets out of your printer…use the letters that come in junk mail for this.) Tear each in half. Place them in a sink or basin of water until they’re soaked through. Take each half sheet out and wad it up as tightly as you can. They should end up around an inch in diameter. Place them on a tray or counter and let them *thoroughly* dry. Toss them on the floor and watch your cats chase them. Since you’ve wet the paper and then let them dry, they don’t come uncrumpled, but a cat can easily hook a paw or claw or tooth in them. One of my cats was almost always to be found with one in her mouth.

We named these toys “Moggy balls.” My middle cat was named “Mogai” but we always called her Moggy. (Which is, perhaps, appropriate as the Brits refer to a cat as a “moggy.”) I usually made a dozen or so of these at a time when the last batch seemed to have all disappeared. Then I’d find them under the couch, under the dresser, under the fridge. Some days, instead of making more, I’d do a “moggy ball hunt” and would usually manage to find a dozen under various furniture.

If your cats like catnip, you can sprinkle some finely shredded fresh or dried catnip on the papers after wetting but before you crumple them up. The shreds will become embedded in the crumpled up paper.