How Can I Reuse?
We've listed some ideas below to get you started on reusing items. These recommendations include ideas for keeping and reusing items, and ideas for giving, sharing or donating items to others for reuse.
Once you get the hang of it, you will come up with plenty of your own ideas for reuse!
Bottles
- Wash these thoroughly and reuse them. For example, you might use an old wine bottle for cooking oil.
- Refill the bottle and keep it near the stove. It is prettier and takes up less space than an oil can
Boxes
- If you buy things online or through catalogues, keep the shipping boxes and put them in your attic or garage for storage.
- Use them for packing up winter or summer clothes or for shipping items to others when you mail a gift, etc.
Paint
- Don't throw away small amounts of paint. Look at the colors you have and mix them to come up with a different shade of paint.
- OR, use a little of each color to accent walls or paint trim. You might be surprised at the results
Jars
- Use empty relish and tomato sauce jars to store leftovers
Small Plastic Containers
- Use takeout plastic containers or plastic quart milk containers to send leftovers home with family members.
- You won't have to ask for the containers back, and your family can use them to store leftovers.
- Use them to sort and store your nuts, bolts, screws and nails in your garage
Envelopes
- Place a sticker with the new address over the top of the old mailing address and, if you like, print stickers that say 'this is a reused envelope'
Plastic Bottles
- Rinse these thoroughly and use them for water when you job, bike or exercise
- Fill them with juice or another healthy drink and put them in your child's lunch bag
Cards
- Reuse cards by carefully cutting off the personalized section and writing your message on the remaining blank side.
- Use a large needle and yarn and sew a new blank page on the back, so that the card looks like an old-fashioned book
- Glue colored construction paper over the personalized section and write on that
- Use the picture on the front to decorate your house by putting a pretty piece of ribbon through the top edge and hanging it on a holiday tree, or creating 'tent cards' for place settings at the table
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