topic Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle in Community Chat

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Mominohio — Sat, 04 Jun 2016 23:43:11 GMT

Aside from the usual way most people recycle or reuse things, I thought it would be fun to share some odd, fun, or very different ways you have recycled or reused something.

We have Amish in this area that have looms and weave rag rugs.

I saved all the jeans my kid wore out throughout his childhood and took them to our Amish neighbor and had him make several rag rugs for my son to have when he gets a home of his own.

What unique things have you done to recycle or reuse things?

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

HappyDaze — Sat, 04 Jun 2016 23:48:52 GMT

@Mominohio fun thread! i look forward to reading everyone's ideas! I like your idea with the jeans- cool!

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

missy1 — Sat, 04 Jun 2016 23:55:38 GMT

I use old socks (washed of course) to clean things with.

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

HappyDaze — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 00:06:16 GMT

-old 100% cotton t-shirts make great hair turbie twist towels and help to prevent the frizz most regular towels can cause.

-old t-shirts are also great for dusting and cleaning.

-old sock with the toe cut out of it is great for making beachy waves in your hair by using the sock bun method

-gently used toys that my dogs no longer play with get washed and cleaned up and brought to the local animal shelters, which they greatly appreciate.

-old towels are used for my dogs to wipe their paws before they come in the house, sloppy faces or after a bath.

That is all I can think of right now. Not exciting and probably obvious, lol.

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

151949 — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 00:13:59 GMT

I am more of a throw away person than a reuser so I am interested to read people's ideas. About the only way I recycle is things like towels and dishes and pots & pans go from our house to the camper and then eventually to my DH's car wash rags pile. By the time they get out there they are pretty sad. Dishes etc go to the camper then to the trash from there.

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

butterfly123 — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 00:19:27 GMT

@Mominohio

Great thread 💜

I will need some time to think about what we do and post later!

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Stormygirl — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 00:22:54 GMT

Use it up....wear it out.....make it do or do without. One of my favs and reminds me of how we grew up. Clothes....I keep them till they fall apart LOL. Old socks and tees make good candle cleaning cloths. Nothing gets wasted in rural living where there is no trash man coming to the curb to collect ones garbage.

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

HappyDaze — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 00:34:48 GMT

@Stormygirl wrote:
Use it up....wear it out.....make it do or do without. One of my favs and reminds me of how we grew up. Clothes....I keep them till they fall apart LOL. Old socks and tees make good candle cleaning cloths. Nothing gets wasted in rural living where there is no trash man coming to the curb to collect ones garbage.

I live out in the country (forest, actually) but we still have a garbage man that comes by but honestly, I could go a few weeks without the garbage picked up for a 20 gallon container. My recycle bin is packed full though and soon we will be doing a compost pile. Even the squirrels, birds and chipmunks get some goodies from the fridge once inawhile- nothing goes to waste!

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

IamMrsG — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 01:21:19 GMT

I don't like storing food in plastic. I save clear glass jars, particularly ones with no printing on the lid, for storing leftovers or pieces of things in the refrigerator. For future reference, I apply a piece of Scotch tape to the lid and, using a Sharpie, write the name and date on it.

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Lucky Charm — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 01:42:03 GMT

I'm a fanatic with latex gloves (the single use kind--not like playtex rubber gloves), whether cleaning a bathroom, litter box, or pulling weeds outside.

I try to use them first for a *clean* job and then for a dirtier job and then for a really dirty job. So I get more than one use for a pair most people would use just once.

I use department store bags for small wastebaskets instead of buying glad bags for them. The only ones I won't use is grocery store bags because they just don't sit right/fit right.

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Nomore — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 02:23:39 GMT

We completed a renovation of a bathroom recently, the county recycle would not take a whole toilet, but they would take the porcelain all broken up, so we got to do a smash up at home, then take it to them.

My old, heavy Club aluminum pots/pans sold to the recycle business in town.

My husband works with someone who uses broken ceramic dishes for his art hobby. Just last week, I gave him a broken Fiestaware casserole, and a cracked LeCreuset casserole. I forget how he uses them.

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

JustJazzmom — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 02:31:58 GMT

We brought over left over tile and ceramic towel bar ends, toilet paper holder, soap dish and toothbrush holder (all ceramic) from our old bathroom to ReStore.

We left a perfectly good analog TV set with directions and was picked up by some landscapers for their use.

Unused ripened tomatoes are given to our local church food pantry as they are harvested.

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

jpie — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 02:32:02 GMT

I use a couple of my empty tissue boxes (regular or boutique style) and stuff plastic grocery bags into them.

I only get the bags from Wal-Mart (sometimes Big Lots or Shop N'Save) as I mostly shop at Aldi's, Sam's , and Costco where I bring my own tote bags or carriers.

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

HappyDaze — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 02:42:33 GMT

For garbage bags I only use Reusit brand bags. They come in three sizes. Sure they aren't in pretty pastel colors BUT they COMPLETELY biodegrade within in 12-24 months. Who cares what a garbage bag looks like anyways!

I also carry the bamboo To-Go ware RePeat reusable utensil set with me everywhere. Every car has a set as well as every purse instead of using plastic utensils. I get so many questions about them and have even gifted sets to people that work at restaurants we frequent that have asked about them and are interested in them. Every little bit helps our landfills!

Also, I bring my own grocery bags to the story- never use their bags.

I re-use ziploack type plastic bags (haven't bought any in years but get them from others when they give me treats, etc). I wash them out and dry the using this:

I also use it to dry out water bottles, etc that I reuse (like my swell bottle). But instead of using/buying ziplock baggies for snacks etc I use reusable bags like this:

They make fun kids ones too like this:

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Allegheny — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 03:49:04 GMT

@Mominohio Thank you for starting this thread. I'm always looking for ideas on recycling my stuff.

I am lucky enough to live where I can compost. All peels, spoiled fruits and vegetables, coffee grounds, egg cartons, egg shells, dryer lint and even my vacuum contents go on the compost pile.

I use styrofoam packing peanuts in the bottom of my flower pots to cut down on the amount of potting mix.

Like another poster, I reuse glass jars to store rice, cracker crumbs, pasta, etc.

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

september — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 04:07:08 GMT

We've had mandatory recycling where I live for at least the past 25 years. We also have to bring our own bags to the market.

So there isn't much more I can do, other than take gently worn, unwanted items to the local charity thrift shops.

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Sister Golden Hair — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 04:32:25 GMT

Most everything that I don't use or need anymore goes to the churches in town.

This is a very simple thing but if you use SOS pads (not on a real dirty job) when you are done, put them in a baggie then in the freezer, they won't rust that way. Take them out and they are ready to go.

If you ever buy the rollerball perfume, some of the tops will come off and you can fill with other perfume.

I have told @HappyDaze about this little tip. I use Blinc mascara and it comes in a metal tube. I use these to put the rollerball perfume in when we travel.

What really upsets me is that Dollar General throws away all their clothes hangers. What a waste. I like the pant hangers and lots of regular hangers to family and friends.

Does anyone use cloth napkins anymore? People use way too many paper towels and napkins. Also, I don't use very many baggies.

And I don't like paper plates. I refuse to use them. Even on a picnic I have plastic trays to eat. And use regular silverware that I bought for the picnic basket.

I guess I could go on and on.

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Mominohio — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 04:57:12 GMT

@Sister Golden Hair wrote:
Most everything that I don't use or need anymore goes to the churches in town.

This is a very simple thing but if you use SOS pads (not on a real dirty job) when you are done, put them in a baggie then in the freezer, they won't rust that way. Take them out and they are ready to go.

If you ever buy the rollerball perfume, some of the tops will come off and you can fill with other perfume.

I have told @HappyDaze about this little tip. I use Blinc mascara and it comes in a metal tube. I use these to put the rollerball perfume in when we travel.

What really upsets me is that Dollar General throws away all their clothes hangers. What a waste. I like the pant hangers and lots of regular hangers to family and friends.

Does anyone use cloth napkins anymore? People use way too many paper towels and napkins. Also, I don't use very many baggies.

And I don't like paper plates. I refuse to use them. Even on a picnic I have plastic trays to eat. And use regular silverware that I bought for the picnic basket.

I guess I could go on and on.

@Sister Golden Hair

We switched to cloth napkins many years ago. I get most of mine at thrift stores. It is amazing how many nice sets of cloth napkins people never use and give away.

I don't care for the over use of paper and foam plates either. I know some people who use them everyday. Makes me cringe.

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

DoneTryin — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 06:27:43 GMT

I knit my own market bags & Swiffer pads from sturdy cotton yarns that wear like iron & are easily washed. I bought mesh produce bags so I don't have to use the plastic at the store. Planning on making some myself as soon as I get a sewing machine. I also prefer using cloth napkins & would rather wash dishes & cutlery than use paper & plastic. I save the liquid used in steaming vegetables & freeze then dump whatever I have into soup or chili pot when I make them. Same with little bits & pieces of leftover vegs. I just make sure to use the latter two quickly to ensure quality & freshness. I use the back (blank) side of junk mail for grocery lists & other notes to myself. Same with the envelopes. At work, I often have to print out documents & sometimes get "extra" pages which I use for scratch paper & notes. Learning to make beads from colorful magazine pages. Learning to spin newspaper into a sort of "yarn" that can be wrapped around a clean empty can to make colorful container for plants, pens/pencils, etc. Or, knit or woven into placemats (have to poly treat to make moisture- proof).

Re: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

PamelaSue72 — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 11:16:13 GMT

We have three compost piles in various stages. We also have a Mantis composter. I keep a huge bowl in the fridge for fruit/veggie peelings, coffee grounds, egg shells, tea grounds, stale breads, and other foods. No meat, never meat or bones. We also throw in cat hair, some shredded newspaper (not a lot), leaves, grass clippings, etc. I don't have house plants at home because of the cats, but my office has a ton of house plants; I bring home my clippings and throw them in the compost pile.

Every fall we tear the garden down and put what we can into the compost pile. Then we gather up all our leaves and throw them onto our garden. The garden is about 40 x 70, give or take and the leaves do a nice job of breaking down over the winter. Every other year, we'll plant some rye grass in the garden. Then in the spring, we till everything in before planting.

When we harvest, everything goes back into the compost pile.

I'm another who uses styrofoam packing peanuts in the bottoms of my outside planters. Makes moving the planters around so much easier as they're not as heavy.

We have two companies in our area that will take a lot of items: books, computers, monitors, tvs, dehumidifers, AC units, metals, paper products, clothing, old purses, old belts, blankets, sheets, towels, and many, many other items. We recently had a public sale for my MIL's property; what did not get sold at the sale, was donated to one of the companies and they gladly came in and picked the items up. We had to pay a small fee for some of the items, but it was well worth the money.

I will put blankets and towels in a container, along with older, but clean, pet toys, throw in some bags of cat food, and give it to a local shelter for the cats there.

We do a lot of single-stream recycling. There's a fee involved every month, but it's well worth it in the long run as we don't have to separate items for single-streaming. And they take a lot of stuff other than what normal recycling does. We can single-stream things like #5 plastics (margarine dishes, for example, yogurt containers, even Keurig k-cups). Those big cat litter tubs that a lot of normal recycling places won't take can be single-streamed. It works out well. Single-stream even takes non-aerosol cans.

We use Trader Joe's bag for our grocery shopping. I have a couple really nice insulated bags for things like our meats, dairy products, etc. They come in handy, especially during the summer.

I keep bread bags, snack bags from crackers, chips, and the like to use for scooping the cats' litter boxes. We have six litter boxes in the house. I really wish there was a way to compost used litter; alas, it's simply not safe. I wish it was.

We use cloth napkins instead of paper (although paper napkins can be tossed in the composting pile). I usually throw a bar towel over my shoulder when I'm prepping at dinner time. After I'm done, the towel gets tossed in the laundry basket and is washed with other towels, dish cloths, and the napkins. (I still use paper towels for cleaning up big spills, cat puke and hairballs, etc.) I do laundry anyway; adding a few bar towels and napkins into the mix is not a big deal for me.

We don't use foam or paper plates. Ever. When we're eating out by the pool or in the back yard, we have some picnic-type plates, cups, and glasses. It works and the items are easily thrown in the dishwasher.