15 Instructables for Saving Money and the Planet

So at the beginning of the year I heard that one of my ex-coworkers left our ex-employer and joined a startup called Instructables in San Francisco. The idea of the site is that anyone can post step by step instructions for making anything and doing anything. So I signed up for the site because my ex-coworker is a pretty cool guy and I wanted to support him. From time to time Instructables sends me newsletters with some quite odd things that people posted. Anyway, here’s my own Instructables newsletter with a collection of tips and do it yourself guides for saving money and saving the world:

1. Save Money By Melting Your Deodorant — This is written by a tightwad who combines the forces of his old deodorants together. I actually did this with my lip balm before, by accident. Basically I left the little jar of it in my car and it all melted. I guess this will work with all kinds of things you can melt.

2. How to Save Water by Showering Navy Style — Very simple Instructable that makes a lot of sense. You really don’t need the water on when you’re putting on soap. This especially works well when you’re in sunny California and it doesn’t get very cold.

3. Cheap Redneck Ceramic Smoker — If you’re into smoking meat or fish, this is pretty awesome.

4. Carbonating the Cheap and Easy Way — This is the guide to homemade sodas. I don’t really drink sodas very often, but it’s still pretty cool.

5. Make Your Own Prescription Card and Save at the Pharmacy – I’m not sure how this works since I always just pay $10 at the pharmacy as a copay. This could help people who don’t have an insurance plan that covers a lot of drug expenses though.

6. EXTREME Power Saving Wireless Mouse Mod — My hubby actually has a wireless mouse. I wonder if he will let me experiment.

7. How to save water in gardens and small-holdings: the Scrooge Bottle — I don’t have a garden, but this contraption is an awesome idea.

8. Hack a Toilet for Free Water — I think the people who don’t flush to save water will enjoy this hack. It is true that it’s pretty wasteful to use so much clean water to carry our waste down the drain.

9. Homemade Laundry Detergent — I don’t know if I would make this, but it seems that if you make it in large enough batches it’s worth it. It does take work though.

10. How to Make Bacon Soap — If you eat a lot of bacon and save the fat then this may be useful to you. It’s a little gross, but it is good fat!

11. Refill Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner for $1.00 — The hubby’s friend gave us one of these things for our wedding. Now I know what to do with it when we need refills.

12. Build a Solar Hot Dog Cooker — Use enewable energy to heat up wieners! The picture is awesome on this one.

13. Homemade Fabric Refresher — Very easy instructable, though I’m not quite sure if it’s cheaper than just buying the Febreze.

14. Compact Fluorescentize Your House — This is sort of a propaganda piece for compact flourescent lights, but it’s pretty well written and full of information.

15. Lazy Line Dry — Pretty much all Chinese people in China actually do this and dry their clothes with the power of the sun. We used to do this when we first moved to America and then one night all of our clothes were stolen by some vagabond. My mom was pretty sad and stopped putting clothes outside. If you have a pretty safe yard or patio this is a good way to dry your clothes in sunny weather.

All of these guides should be used with caution. There are some Instructables that are truly frightening and could harm people. I will not list them here but I do enjoy reading them. Until next time, have fun on Instructables and save our planet!

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