The Great 'Are you a re-user - what items do you reuse for max value?' Hunt

I know someone who took home three of the used extra large 'Smooth' Nescafe jars from the work kitchen, washed them and took the labels off. Then they used them as storage jars in their own kitchen. All the jars had red lids, so it went well in their red themed kitchen.

There's blue (Rich) and green (Decaff) versions as well.

Quite a bit, especially things that can't be recycled or composted easily. My house doesn't look anything like Steptoe's yard though!

I buy spices in big bags from the Asian market, so little spice rack jars were no good to me. Started saving up Bonne Maman jam jars - run through the dishwasher I have a set of good looking, stackable spice jars in my press. Other decent sized jars with pop lids get saved for homemade jam making. Those fancy swing top lemonade bottles are kept for home brewing and cordial making.

Egg boxes get saved up and go back to the egg lady - helps her keep her prices down.

Plastic takeaway tubs get washed and used for all sorts until they give up the ghost. Leftovers, craft supplies, sandwiches for lunch. I don't use cling wrap or foil at all. Biscuit and sweet tins are kept for a friend who collects model soldiers, or are filled with homemade goodies and given as gifts

I compost everything i can, all cardboard, paper, egg shells, peelings, used matchsticks and teabags etc.

The postman leaves elastic bands from mail, all over our front garden, i pick them up with my grabber tool, wash them off and reuse them.

The waxed bags from cereal boxes are used to wrap my homemade bread, cakes, biscuits or things like cheese and other stuff in the fridge.

Our christmas tree is outside at present and when able, i will cut off the branches and use the pine needles around things in the garden like my blueberry bushes... the branches once de-needled will then be chopped up and used on the woodbark pathways around the garden, or just chopped up in small pieces and then composted.

Tonight we made vegetarian shepherds pie, i used the water i boiled the potatoes in (for the topping), to start off a home made lentil and bean casserole in the slow cooker.

I don't keep bits of this or that 'in case i need it someday', but if i have a practical use for something, i make sure i keep it and use it.

Another use i have is for empty marge tubs. I have lots of lock and locks storage containers but i find that marge tubs stack on top of each other perfectly in the freezer so i put extra batches of soups, curries etc in the marge cartons and freeze them...just pop a label on if i remember or can find them.

Marge tubs can also be cut down to make plant labels. I did that last year when i ran out of 'proper' ones.

This might sound a bit yuck, but i have started using up the water i boil pasta in. I used to chuck it, but i have found that if i add it to a homemade fruit bread in the breadmaker, it makes the bread nice and chewy...i happen to like it like that

I'm sure i do loads more things but that is all i can think off the top of my head.

Plastic bread bags
They make good storage bags for fridge, freezer or store cupboard.

Plastic Shopping bags
Mini 'bin' that I hang off the lower cupboard door handle near my sink, they degrade now over time so not going to cause long term problems in landfill.
Get enough of these and re-use/recycle as much household waste as you can and you won't really need bin bags.

Good quality glass jars
Some are good for jam making (others not so), odds and ends holders and even can be gifted to friends if filled with some nice homemade sweeties and tied with a bit of ribbon ribbon.

Cereal Boxes
I 'harvest' these for the cardboard, many many uses including making my own "Do Not Disturb" sign for the bedroom door , a shopping list is easier to find when it's written bit of cardboard in a pocket full of receipts, tissues and so on. And the inner bag in the box is good for storing pasta, lentils, rice and other dry goods and doesn't take up as much room as big jars or containers.

Soap Hand-pump bottles
Can be reused many times to store washing-up liquid (help reduce the amount used a great deal) and for you're own home mixed hand soap experiments.

Branded cleaning fluid bottles
I use an old febree*e spray bottle to clean up my side boards (hot water and bleach, or white vinegar mix) as the fine spray it produces is wonderful.

Take away containers
When the OH manages to sneak some take-away past the guards I re-used the plastic boxes to 'shape' food in the freezer,then turn it out and store it in a bread bag to save space. Some can even be microwaved.
Spare I stick in the gaps in my fridge to save electricity.

newspaper/packing paper
Crunched into a ball to fill out any gaps in the freezer (saves electricity), best to replace them now and then if they get soggy and/or smelly.

That's all I can think of for now. It's important to know when to say when though or you'll end up with hundreds of jars and boxes littering the place.

My late mum had some nice green curtains - they became a maternity skirt for her, worn for two pregnancies
Then she made it into two little girls' dresses
They were made into skirts when we outgrew the dresses
Then we made them into dolls' house curtains and dolls' dresses and skirts
Full circle!