Recycling and Reusing Common Household Items

Look around your kitchen and see the many items you have that can be reused and you'll see that there are tons of items being thrown away every day that thrifty and environmentally conscious households have figured out how they can make the most of, by reusing. Items that we toss into the garbage on a daily basis, that, if we put a little thought into it, could be substituted for other items that we go and spend money on. Which means that by reusing these items, not only are we putting less waste into our soil but we're also saving tons of money in the process. Items such as milk jugs, which if your household is anything like mine, you have tons of in the recycle bin every week. These can be reused as planters for vegetables or flowers that you are thinking of growing, they work especially well if you're thinking of starting an indoor garden. They also work as excellent clothes pen holders when hung outside on a clothesline, of course you'll need to cut the top off it first. Plastic soda or water bottles can be painted or decorated with stickers and used as kids banks. Or as a cold pack kept in the freezer and taken along on camping trips or outdoor excursions. You might even want to add some holes and fill with bird feed to make a bird feeder, you can even decorate these and hang from trees with thick wire.

Just think about all those old spaghetti and jelly jars you have stored up under your cabinets, you can reuse these to store items around the house, or even use them as planters. Those old film canisters which we usually just trash can be used as stamp holders if you cut a small slit in the side. They can also be turned into pill holders, when you need to carry your medication along with you and don't want to carry the whole bottle. My aunt has an interesting use for old bottle caps from the old fashioned soda pop bottles or beer bottles, she attaches small magnets with glue to the back of them and uses them to create her own customized magnets. You can use large glass bottles to create your own decorative, one of a kind lamp, all it takes is adding a light bulb. You can also use these as a vase to hold your flowers. I use old t shirts that my family discards and that are to stained to give away as rags when I'm cleaning, this saves me a fortune on buying cleaning cloths. Those big bulky shoe boxes that end up in the trash can be used as storage containers for the millions of small items we have around the house that need organizing. The Sunday comics can be used as wrapping paper. Old baby food containers can be used to hold those seeds you have to plant or even as votive holders to use around the house. Use old toothbrushes as scrubbers, c.d's as coasters to save the wear and tear on your wood tables. Wine corks soaked in alcohol make excellent fire starters, carry them along in zip lock bags when camping. Altoids tins make great containers for small emergency kits when camping or to keep in the car. These also can be used to make sewing kits for college students. Save all those tons of paper you have every day to shred and use as packing material. Cut up old jeans and sew on quilted backing to make excellent pot holders. Everyone's old used shoes can be sent to Nike and the rubber turned into playgrounds. Use an old shower curtain as a drop cloth when painting or as covering for windows during the winter months for better insulation. Bottom line is that there are many items around your home that you can find hundreds of ways to reuse. Just be a little creative and organizing can be a cinch.