Reduce, reuse, recycle. This slogan reflects the trifecta of the green movement. Use less. What you do have, use again. What you can’t use anymore, recycle.
In our household, we reuse things until they are barely usable anymore, and then they get recycled where they hopefully can get a new life in another form. Some examples of the way we reuse things:
- Kitchen scraps go into the compost, later getting used again as fresh soil
- What few paper products we have get ripped into pieces and put in the compost
- Ziplock bags get washed, turned inside out, and dried to be used again until they have holes in them.
- Clothes that are too shredded to wear get turned into cleaning rags
- Old sheets in which the dogs have torn holes are given to my friends for their sewing projects (I’m terrible at sewing; I staple my hems when they come undone!)
- Yogurt containers and egg cartons are used to start seeds for the garden
- The plastic containers in which one pound of baby spinach or spring mix are sold are used to store small toys
- The water left over after I clean greens in my salad spinner is used to water the plants
- Empty glass jars or plastic tubs from things like honey or protein powder are used to store bulk items like rice or nuts
… and on and on …
I’d love to hear your ideas for creative re-uses of household products.
I take the small slivers of soap and grate them up, add a little water and make hand soap for the dispenser.
Use brown paper bags for wrapping paper, customize with markers or crayons (turn the printed side inward).
Magazines can go to shelters, or office waiting rooms. (especially good for spreading ‘earth friendly’ ones)
Single socks make great dusters, especially when kids want to help.
Save all hotel soaps and shampoos – donate to shelters or better yet, to Clean the World. (Orlando based nonprofit that sends them on to poor world-wide)
Using empty Butter wrappers, after removing butter and putting in butter dish, to grease pans
Collecting water in a large bucket in shower for the minute before it is warm enough to jump in, then, using that water later on to water plants
Straws for my smoothie, as long as you rinse as soon as your finished drinking smoothie, the straw is as good as new
I (Ecomama’s little siser) tend to reuse things for crafts.
-egg cartons make great paint cups
-brown paper bags can be turned inside-out and colored or painted to make dress-up “shirts” and “vests” (just cut arm and neck holes)
-old tissue boxes can be used as “mystery boxes” (we put small things inside and give clues to eo to guess the contents), We also use them to recognize textures (ie putting indifferent fruits and guessing by touch)
-larger tissue boxes can be decorated as “funny feet” (glue scrap fabric to bottom with dots or stripes of fabric paint to avoid slipping)
-decorated old shoe boxes make great baby beds
-we cut open our old cereal boxes and use the large rectangles for coloring
-old yogurt containers and platic tubs with lids take new life in the play kitchen (or sandbox or water table!)
-plastic tubs with lids can be decorated and used to hold accessories (hairclips, etc)
-glass jars make great tea light holders! If you want to get really fancy, paint on a layer of glue, cover with cut tissue paper squares (from old gifts is even better) and cover with a top layer of glue to seal
Great ideas everyone!
@Ann – I will try the soap idea! Grate! I mean, great! 🙂
@Matthew – those straws do last an incredibly long time!
@Elise – I totally use plastic egg cartons for paint cups, after seeing a pic of my sweet niece painting a while back. So thanks for that one! And I love the tissue box “funny feet” idea for the dress up box, will use that one too!
Great information about green living, it’s such a great topic to be learning about right now in our classroom.
An interesting graphic just came through my Facebook feed that I thought you might like that talks about the greenest states in the US.
http://www.buildingsguide.com/blog/recycling-facts-statistics-infographic
Bre Matthews
4th Grade Teacher
Hi Bre!
Thanks for sharing that link, I am not surprised to see that Vermont is the greenest state in the nation … I lived there for five years and had the pleasure of experiencing it firsthand!
Ecomama