How to Protect Your Curb from Snowplows This Winter

ReStore Reflectors.

This time of year everybody in the Midwest is bracing themselves for a four letter word, s-n-o-w! So, when the temperature drops in these parts, yes snow is inevitable. With snow, homeowners are required by law to maintain our walkways and driveways by shoveling. If you live in the city limits, it's up to your city works department to however plow the streets in your neighborhood. That is where this post comes into play. Year-after-year since moving into our new Elkhorn neighborhood we've been plagued with a problem. Vehicles clearing our roads of snow; unfortunately, during the process of pushing the snow aside--peel back the grass along our curb too.

This post is a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) household project, which is based around a repurposed (recycled) item. We want to share with our population-we™ readers that Earth Day should be commemorated every day of the year! For The Brown's: a recycled home project evokes something you already had around the house; were given specifically for repurposing; picked up thrifting or bought at a ReStore. To be classified as population-we™ repurposed project: one- or all- components should be recycled in the project. In this case, this blogger husband and wife team live in an area that receives lots of snow--here's a buy we found to combat our snowplow woes at a local ReStore.

Our neighbor's prepare for snowfall too.

If you're not familiar with this type of store, the concept is to give products a second life. Habitat for Humanity ReStores provide a socially and environmentally responsible way to keep good, reusable materials out of landfills. To learn more about the ReStore we visited, read my post at: Be Green, Shop at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore. To alleviate our snowplow problem, we've borrowed a tip from area businesses snow removal playbook. To save their businesses' high-priced manicured lawns, they place reflectors in the parking lots and sidewalks for snow removal. While at the ReStore, we happened upon some reflectors (see picture above), and immediately bought a dozen. And, strategically before the ground froze we placed them along our curb to warn the snowplows too steer clear.

If you live in a neighborhood that has a Homeowners Association (HOA) covenants; you may want to check to see if reflectors are permitted. Our neighborhood has one but no one abides by it. This year, The Brown's are not alone, corner lots around the neighborhood are littered (see picture at left above) with their own reflectors awaiting Nebraska's first snowfall. The only difference between our reflectors, we saved ours from a landfill, by purchasing them off season at a ReStore. Keep repurposing!

-population-we™ blog post by Becky Bohan Brown

© 2013 population-we, LLC 
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How to Make a Repurposed Thanksgiving Door Decoration

The biggest way to think we before me is to be stewards of our environment. Check! Many family and population-we™ readers already know of The Brown's commitment to be green. Brian and I have both blogged about our earth-friendly efforts since we both became bloggers. Also, every April our blog has dedicated all that month's blog posts to Earth Day, a cause near and dear to our hearts. So, we are recyclers through and through! Now we are embarking on yet another venture featuring our recycling and green lifestyle efforts and welcome our readers to join us!

Watch for articles sprinkled through our posts each month about Do-It-Yourself (DIY) household as well as arts and crafts projects based around repurposed (recycled) items. More importantly, we want to share with our population-we™ readers that Earth Day should be commemorated every day of the year! For The Brown's: a recycled home or craft project evokes something you already had around the house; were given specifically for repurposing; picked up thrifting or bought at a restore it store. To be classified as population-we™ repurposed project: one- or all- components should be recycled in the project. In this case, you'll see below we used items already on hand. Here's our very first post--a repurposed craft project that will greet our house guests entering The Brown's home this Thanksgiving.

Inspiration for Project:

Recently our 15-year-old rescue dog, Pepper, had a house guest over for a long weekend. Like any good fur-friend, Pepper shared her toys with one-and-a-half-year-old Australian Shepard, Zoey (watch Vine video above or at this link). Unfortunately, one dog toy did not make it. Enter the repurposed idea: I'd been decorating for our upcoming Thanksgiving gathering and didn't have a door decoration yet. So, instead of tossing the dog toy's rope in the trash--see how we recycled it into a Thanksgiving or Autumn Door Decoration.

Repurposed Components:

Rope from broken dog toy.

Over-sized fake leaf.

Other Things You'll Need:

Scissors and Duck Tape.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

Step 1: Take the scissors and cut the rope off of the dog toy.
Step 2: Rip off two small and two larger pieces of duck tape.

After Steps 3 & 4 below.

Step 3: Fasten each small piece of duck tape to the end of the frayed rope.
Step 4: Turn over leaf and fasten the rope to the back with the remaining two large pieces of duck tape.

Finished repurposed craft on the door.

Re-purpose Tip! 

You too can do this yourself. Don't have an over-sized fake leaf? If so, use a real leaf of any size from your yard. No industrial dog strength rope either? No worries Mon, just fasten it to the back with any twine or rope. Wool-ah you have a Thanksgiving Door Decoration, too. Happy Thanksgiving and repurpose DIYing!

-population-we™ blog post by Becky Bohan Brown

© 2013 population-we, LLC 
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