What do you reuse?

Sequeena

willa wrote: »

Round Vitalite tubs were great for putting leftover food in for work lunches. They've changed the tub to rectangles now though and I don't think they're perhaps as strong!

I still get the round ones

bellaquidsin

I save any basket that comes my way to fill with goodies to give away later.

Egg boxes make good cell trays for seeds.

Old tea towels become floor cloths.

Old dishclothes become oven cleaning cloths.

Old tights make good plant ties.

Polythene food bags are washed and reused to distraction.

Every bit of fat from meat, is rendered down and the dripping used for roast potatoes etc.

Coffee grounds are saved and used a slug deterrant.

And string, never, ever throw string away it will come in some day.

Bella.

skaps

Great ideas about sowing seeds. Was actually going to go and buy some pots. Now i don't need to do that. Great. Now if i could make my own compost that would be great too.

Agapanthus

Egg boxes go to our neighbour who keeps chickens. Mostly they come back containing more eggs!

Old tights make the best garden ties - strong, but soft so they don't dig in to the plant. they're also good for containing plant compost for pond plants.

All bubble wrap and jiffy bags we keep. Jiffy bags are used for posting stuff, while bubble wrap is very useful for wrapping presents, parcels for the post, moving house or recently when we had to put a lot of stuff into storage during building works.

Our local council takes aluminium cans for recycling, but in true MSE fashion we've discovered that we can take a binful to a local scrapyard and get money for them. A wheely bin full got us £10 last month. That's a double use in my book!

And don't even get me started on string (saving string gets our cat's vote every time ...)

georgia1

Agapanthus wrote: »

Egg boxes go to our neighbour who keeps chickens. Mostly they come back containing more eggs!

Our local council takes aluminium cans for recycling, but in true MSE fashion we've discovered that we can take a binful to a local scrapyard and get money for them. A wheely bin full got us £10 last month. That's a double use in my book!
QUOTE]

I just wondered whereabouts in Hampshire you took your aluminium cans?

charlies-aunt

Some really brilliant inspiring ideas here! Waste not, want not seems to be the order of the day

Old newspapers for lighting fire either as kindling or rolled into long-burning logs, scrunched up for cleaning windows, lining the cat litter tray, wiping out greasy pans, damped and poked into cracks in the window, between floor boards and door frames to cut out draughts

Plastic milk bottles - filled with water and popped in the cistern to reduce water per flush or put in the freezer to keep it running efficiently - frozen bottles can be pierced in one corner and left on top of plants to slowly defrost and water the plants when you go on holiday - flat sides of the bottles can be cut off and used for homemade stencils.

Glass Jars - good as tealight /candle holders especially if you have pets and children - make great presents when filled with sweets and topped with a pretty cloth lid cover secured with a laggi band.

Fag ends seeped in water makes a good greenfly repellent

Cardboard tubes make good cable tidies, essential for homemade Christmas crackers, a play tunnel for hamsters

Used Postage Stamps please send them to Bransby Rest Home for Horses, Bransby Village, Lincoln, Lincolnshire - used as part of their fundraising.

Old Duvets can be made over into cushions, pet beds, lining for door curtain, kneeling pads. Double duvets can be remodelled to make a sleeping bag,

Agapanthus

georgia1 wrote: »

I just wondered whereabouts in Hampshire you took your aluminium cans?

Bryan Hirst Recycling in Cliddesden, just south of Basingstoke. They don't seem to mind aluminium foil - or even old aluminium saucepans - mixed in. There are lots of scrap metal merchants around, though.

They also take other metals - if you ever have to have a copper hot water cylinder replaced, don't let the plumber take the old one away. It's worth money if you've got a car big enough to take it to the scrap yard. We got £30 for our last one. That and the aluminium bought us a pub lunch!

Chipps

I don't reuse as much as I used to - our draining board is no longer festooned with drying cereal & other polythene bags. In fact i was thinking I don't reuse much at all, until I looked round and saw my lovely irises growing in a pate jar, and the basil, in a pot labelled "low fat quark"...

I recently gave our DS a pile of rags for doing some work on his car, and they all looked suspiciously like old t-shirts. And cleaning is often done with one of my stack of square terry nappies (babies now aged between 27 & 19)

Mind you, I think there is one reuse where I draw the line - I have recently lost nearly 2 1/2 stone, & dropped 2 dress sizes, and was looking at a drawer-full of, well, drawers. And wondering whether they would make good dusters??? But perhaps not!!!!!!

Mrs_Thrify

Plenty of things!

Rubber bands from parcels
glass jars for nails and screws
mugs as pencil/pen pots
the dog has a rug covering the laminet floor I was given, he loves it as it saves him sitting on the cold floor!
Old boxes now store books or items in the loft.
Squash bottles are refilled to keep water cold in the fridge for drinks.
Old envolepes for writing notes or lists.
Pennies found on the street.
Newspaper to start the coal fire.
Newspaper to make paper pots for seeds.
Egg boxes to start potatoes off for planting.
Pebbles from the beach as paperweights.
Fleace blankets as linings for curtains to keep the heat in.
Dishcloths - I wash them in the machine.
Lock and lock boxes, very usefull for lots of things.
Spray bottles for vinegar and water for cleaning.
Duvet covers cut open can be used to shade the conservatory.
Sheets as table cloths when you have a large table for guests.
Old plates/bowls under plants in house

The list could go on and on!

boultdj

Chipps,they are good to buff up window's,I'm the 3rd generation of my family to use old draws that way[gran's got a lot to answer for:rotfl:]