Want to know a secret? My mom saves me all of her takeout and deli containers for me to reuse for the HH’s lunches. I love it because I’m recycling; he loves it because he can toss and go without worrying about remembering to cart a lunchbox home {plus, fewer dishes!!}. So that got me to thinking? What are some other “disposable” items I can reuse? Turns out, there are a lot!
Foil: Give it a rinse and use it again!
Dryer sheets: Lots of great ways to reuse these bad boys! See 10 Alternative Uses for Dryer Sheets.
Ziploc baggies: I reuse these over and over if they don’t have any liquid or sticky stuff in them. If I’m storing crackers or something dry, a quick wash and dry and they are good as new!
Old newspapers: From making pinatas to ripening tomatoes, here are 10 Cool Uses for Old Newspaper.
Parchment paper: I reuse parchment paper until it browns.
Glass jars: Peel the paper off, wash with soap and water and you have yourself a nice sturdy container.
Plastic containers: Same as glass. Wash and give them a second life as a fake Tupperware container!
Plastic grocery bags: So. Many Uses. See 21 Ways to Reuse Plastic Bags.
Paper grocery bags: Gone are the days of using them to cover text books, but I save them and decorate them as wrapping paper.
Chopsticks: Used {and cleaned} chopsticks make great skewers for the grill or even plant labels for the garden!
Butter wrappers: I’m a fan of Using Butter Wrappers to Grease Pans!
Wine corks: This craft or this craft or this DIY project all use wine corks!
Shower caps: They work great to cover rising bread!
There are 13 ideas to get you started. Now you tell me, what do you love to reuse?
~Mavis
Em says
Great post.
Seeing your zip-lok bags over the jars reminded me of my current attempt to propagate rosemary. One of the famous gardeners recommended covering the little plants with a clear plastic bag, to let in light and retain humidity (like a terrarium).
I like the idea of re-using containers for lunches.
Val says
Hi Em … I hope your attempts with Rosemary are going well … I snipped a few sprigs, stripped the leaves and put them in water, and change it every other day (or when I remember) … they grew little roots quickly. I didn’t get them into dirt fast enough and I lost them … so now I am on round 2 and again have little roots so better luck this time around with the going into the dirt part! Best of Luck!!!
Em says
Val — thanks. A friend is doing hers in water, too. I am trying with 12 sprigs, so I hope at least one will work! Good luck to you!
Emily, I don’t know if you’ll see this, but I love the thought of you growing lettuce for your rabbit!
Emily says
I’ve been saving plastic and cardboard containers for my Mother’s Day DIY: small concrete planters, tea light holders, etc.
Some examples:
Concrete vases:
http://pin.it/zP-1LAR
http://pin.it/ztuzgJj
Tea light holder:
http://pin.it/aZI8hNe
Succulent planters:
http://pin.it/_PPORpq
Carrie says
I just came across something that was talking about silicone bags and I was really interesting. Although the silicone one’s were small I didn’t find a few other options that I might have to check out. They were thicker than regular zip lock bags and made to be reused (I can’t remember the material). We make and freeze breakfast food and I have tried Tupperware but they always end up breaking when frozen (my two boys frequently drop them).
Natalie says
I love to use newspaper as a weed barrier under my mulch. It breaks down every year, and enrich the soil.
mullingthingsover says
OOH, I like to do this too! The Kansas wind gets them sometimes, but if I get it watered in and put hay on top and water that in, and we don’t get gusts for about a week, they really work well!
E inUpstate NY says
Newspaper then grass clippings in my garden paths. Wonderful!
Heather says
So true. 20 mph wind is a regular day here!
Eva says
I buy Costco organic eggs and it comes in a nice plastic carton. I punch holes on the bottom and use the carton as a seed starting tray!
mullingthingsover says
I make Christmas ornaments out of used canning jar lids. (the flat part, not the screw on part)
Carrie says
I reuse glass salad dressing bottles for homemade dressings. I’ll save jelly and salsa jars for storing grease or sending friends home with honey. If I send my honey in a mason jar I usually don’t get it back. 🙁 I also wash ziplocks until they fall apart. Using yogurt cups for a water cup during art class is great! Just dump the water and recycle. My boss eats yogurt every single day so we never run out! He also doesn’t like the city tap water so he uses OJ bottles to bring his well water to work to drink. I use OJ bottles for storing sugar water in the fridge (for bees and hummingbirds),
Kayla says
Having three kids means we go through lots of peanut butter and jelly. I save the plastic peanut butter jars and make freezer jam in them. We have a recycle box that all the small clean recyclables get tossed into. My son thinks it is his box to make gadgets and robots from and my daughter makes all kinds of crafts.
Suzanne says
I use paper grocery bags as garbage bags. I NEVER buy garbage bags.
Dana says
I really became adamant about reducing waste a few years ago and it has made a huge difference in our home!
We never buy paper towels or napkins. Cloth napkins, microfiber cloths, and old t-shirts cut into rags for cleaning.
Lunches are carried in glass containers or stainless steel bento box.
We take reusable bags to the farmers market and grocery store, and just reuse those thin plastic produce bags repeatedly until they wear out.
We buy as much as we can in glass jars, – peanut butter, etc., so there is no plastic waste and then reuse the jars when we make things, or as drinking glasses.
You can even take your glass containers to restaurants and ask if they’ll put your take out in them. A lot of them are happy to do it.
Maria says
The shaker top of parmesan cheese container will screw on to the mouth of a regular mouth canning jar. Not the wide mouth kind. I put one on a quart jar and fill it with rice, easy to pour out that way. I put one on a small pint jar and use it for seasonings and smaller items.
Erin says
A regular mouth canning jar will also screw onto a blender so you can blend drinks directly in the jar you drink out of.
Conni says
I just finished washing out my ‘recyclable’ ziplock bags and hanging them, with clothespins, on a wire hanger to dry. For liquid-only bathroom use I have made ‘tp’ from a flannel sheet that needed a new life. I cut strips of the flannel about 4 inches wide, then cut the strip in 8 inch lengths. Double these over to make a 4 in square and machine sew around the edges. Keep in a recycled tissue box/decorative container. I have a step-on-to-open pail beside the toilet with a light bleach solution in it. Saves BIG TIME on t.p!
Lindsey says
We have two Irish Wolfhounds so go through A LOT of dog food. We are careful in opening them and reuse them as garbage bag in our kitchen and bathroom plastic garage cans. Save all plastic yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream containers and use for seed starting. A friend who drinks those 44 ounce gasoline station pops every day saves them for me and I use them for seed starting, too.
Erin says
I try to practice the Refuse part of recycling more than the reuse whenever possible. We use bee’s wrap instead of plastic wrap for covering food. We take glass jars to bulk bins to fill up instead of buying packaged items. We use distilled white vinegar for the rinse cycle of our washer instead of dryer sheets. Clothes come out soft and cling free and it’s way cheaper! We use glass or steel containers instead of plastic. Cloth grocery bags eliminate both plastic and paper bags. We read our news online rather than buying newspapers. We don’t drink wine or use shower caps. The kids use either steel bento boxes or cloth sandwich bags instead of ziploc bags.
Jan K says
My DH and I are avid but practical recyclers. I collect 50# plastic feed sacks and pet food sacks then turn them into sewn shopping totes which my friends love. We save tp and paper towel rolls and donate them to our local Cub Scouts for crafts. # 10 cans are a treasure and are reused in many ways. Baling twine is reused to make repairs and as twine for tying things up to hang out of the way. And then there are paper clips, which so many throw away! Argh!! Drives me crazy. 😉 Looking forward to trying the beeswax wrappers, but in my mind I can’t understand how the beeswax keeps from crumbling and falling off the material when it is bent.
Emily says
I was thinking of your blog with my latest reuse project. I had a little extra room under my grow light where I’m starting my garden seeds this year. I drilled holes in the bottom of a plastic clam shell packaging container, filled it with soil and I’m growing lettuce for our rabbit. Since it’s just in the basement the container doesn’t need to be pretty.
BETTY D says
Mavis you might be doing already but just saw were you use the toilet paper rolls for seedings….they clip the bottom and fold under, fill the top with soil and put seeds in. Once the seeding has come up and ready to plant…just plant the toilet paper roll, seeding all together…Id open the bottom just before putting in hole….The plant will grow, and the Toilet paper roll will help the plant and soil.