116 replies to this topic

[Green Thumb]

This inquiry was inspired by the topic What to Recycle?

So, what used or old items do you reuse for other means; any bright ideas on how or where to use bottles, cans, boxes, garments, plastics, etc. (other recyclable things)?

Are there any items in your home that you're starting to lessen the use or consumption?

[Ares7]

This is a pretty obvious one but we re-use the plastic tubs and bottles from food and drinks. My sister often uses the tubs and cartons to take into school as she's a teacher and she gets the kids to make things with them. Also re-use any plastic bags to try and avoid getting more and more accumulating. There's a place near me where you can take old clothes and they give them to kids that aren't as fortunate so at least I know people get use out of them. Also recycle my old mobiles as well.

[Jabsfreelanceworld]

I reuse just about anything. Even zipper lock bags and juice bottles. I use both plastic and glass, as long as it is for a cold item and not a hot one. I sometimes use leftover cottage cheese containers and similar packaging as something to store leftovers. However, whenever possible I like to try to prevent buying throwaway packaging at all and just purchase more in bulk.

[Green Olive]

I always reuse bottles and tubs, for food and drink storage. Some tubs can even be reused for storing items. I keep yarn, buttons, beds, and other stuff in old food tubs. I have seen many artists, who make stuff out of recyclable items. Old sweaters can be unraveled to make new yarn, plastic bottles can be made into furniture, and cans can be made into decorative yard art. I have seen some people make nice looking furniture out of cardboard! Who would have thought, that was possible?

[lovelikewinter3]

Large ice cream tubs are used for flour and other baking ingredients. Cat little plastic tubs are used for anything from cat food to storing purses and other personal paraphernalia. Flyers are reused for protecting the floor when my daughter is painting. Tea tubs (the little circular ones) make handy sized gift 'boxes'.

[zararina]

Plastic bags are reused as garbage bags and sometimes to bring it again when buying something to avoid using new plastic for the things to be purchased. Some cans that are quite big in size are reused as plant pots. And some can or boxes with covers are reused to store some materials like small souvenirs or other personal items.  I also reuse some bottles as food storage just like for seasonings and nuts.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Call me an old dumpster diver, but I find a lot of good, usable things there. I always keep a pair of
gloves in the car.
Even if I don't find anything that can be re-purposed, I reach in (never climb in) and grab up plastics,
cans, and unsoiled papers/boxes/packaging for recycling.

Just today, I found two new brooms, and two new sample pieces of carpet.

A few years back, I found an antique set of Chinese figurine chess pieces. It wasn't the complete set
but the antique dealer told me they were worth a few hundred bucks.
It's a balancing act between keeping all the stuff you know you can reuse for something, and having
a shed full of stuff that collects dust.
But furniture can always be sanded and re-finished, clothing washed and donated-the list is endless.

[Daisy]

Since I do a lot of painting I ask my friends to give me their used plastic tubs from butter, margarine, frozen foods and use them as paint trays. When my paint stained t-shirts get too bad I cut them up and use them to clean up. It's amazing how long an old t-shirt will last.  Old paint brushes are great for cleaning the top and crevices of my lawnmower. Old jars are used to store buttons and pins and look good displayed on a shelf. At the holidays I fill old glass jars with fresh cranberries and display them on the mantle.  Sometimes I put a candle in each jar, or  sprigs of evergreen tied with strips of recycled gingham fabric.

[mariaandrea]

I used to work for an electrical contractor and have a few of those really big wooden spools that cables and wires come on. The kind that people used to make tables out of in the 70s. Well, I decided to bring that fad back and made my own tables and I covered them with decoupage using old magazines and paper scraps. I just like the idea of doing things the way our grandparents and great-grandparents did and re-use everything. If it can be washed I save it and re-use it somehow. I never buy plastic garbage bags, clothes never get thrown away, I make new stuff with used stuff all the time, and we live a low-consumer lifestyle.

[Mon-Jes]

I'll reuse ziploc-style bags if I'm putting the same food in them that was in there before (now that was convoluted grammar). So if I have a bag of apples, I'll put more apples in there, etc. Paper gets recycled or used as scratch paper.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

There are some shows on the home and garden channel that decorate on a budget, and they always
have good ideas for re-purposing items.
Just because it used to be a lamp, a table or a chair, doesn't mean it has to remain that way.

[Belligerent]

Most things can be reused, given that they are cleaned properly. As mentioned earlier, you can reuse ziploc bags which is something that I've been doing recently. I just put a little bit of soap and water in the bag and rinse. It seems to do the trick.

Make sure you sign up for receiving paperless statements on all of your bills.

Reuse boxes from new appliances and items for storage. You can decorate them so they are more appealing.

[karmaman]

We reuse pretty much everything in our house. My friends are knitters and they use plastic shopping bags to make a recycled yarn, and we use reusable bags and storage containers to cut down on waste.

[magickat]

I also re-use plastic tubs as lunchboxes and storage boxes. I save glass jars of all sizes and use them to store herbs and spices and baking ingredients and also for my homemade jams and chutneys.

[Daisy]

Knitting or crocheting plastic bags is popular in my fiber arts group. There are easy ways to cut them, tie them together and by using the same type of bag, i.e. Target's red and white bags, the resulting pattern is attractive. Bags can be knit or crocheted in many sizes; useful for children's projects bags or a long, narrow bag designed to hold more plastic bags.

[omkar1991]

I love to make stuff out of a broken down toy to make something that comes handy. Recently, I made a USB fan out of my kid brother's broken car and some old cables and wires. I use it to keep me cool while using my laptop!

[anEgrahm]

I reuse all types of glass food containers as well as large plastic containers - usually these are to store foods such as nuts, lollies, chocolates, dried herbs, or anything that isn't really fluid or sticky in any way. Between changing products you can just quickly rinse out the container and then fill it up with whatever new thing you need to put in it.

[SpikeTheLobster]

I find that cloth is the toughest thing to reuse, mostly because I suck at most manual crafts. I've turned a t-shirt into a stuffed toy and patched a pair of jeans but that's about the limit of my ability. There are, however, some excellent sites around with patterns for toys and clothes that can be made from old stuff.

[Pushhyarag2000]

One very interesting idea my wife borrowed from her tour north of the country is that they use all old clothes stuffed in another round or oval sack, which again is sewn with colorful pieces of old cloth into which are stuffed the very old & unusable cloth and it makes for a soft cushion seat. You could have many of them for different rroms in the house so quite a large pile of old clothes gets reused-for comfort!

[MakingCents]

SpikeTheLobster, on 16 December 2011 - 10:58 AM, said:

I find that cloth is the toughest thing to reuse, mostly because I suck at most manual crafts. I've turned a t-shirt into a stuffed toy and patched a pair of jeans but that's about the limit of my ability. There are, however, some excellent sites around with patterns for toys and clothes that can be made from old stuff.

The main thing that I use old cloth for is as a dust rag, or even a kitchen rag.  An old t-shirt will work very well as a dust rag, or to clean up spills, wipe down the counters things that like.  Saves me from buying something brand new to serve that purpose.