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

good_advice

The contact lens plastic box after a month should get thrown - sometimes I use them as a jewelry box for earrings.

If you do not have a vase for fresh flowers - cut the top off a plastic bottle.

Use old tooth brush for cleaning

Wash freezer bags, they can be used more than once

Use a cereal box to store paper work or magazines

originalkat

cmn374 wrote: »

Hi,
I save all ribbons, bows etc from presents to reuse, also gift bags & boxes.
I make gift tags from Christmas & birthday cards.
I save take away cartons to store food in the freezer.
I save wine/vodka/gin bottles for making & storing sloe gin & other liquers.
I reuse jam jars (with new lids) for homemade jam & chutney.
I keep & use discarded rubber bands the postman has discarded in my garden
I reuse bubble wrap & padded envelopes.
I use old envelopes for making lists.
I felt old wool jumpers (if you have any going spare they would be gratefully received - I'll pay postage)
I use old toilet rolls for sweet pea seedlings
I use old plant pots for potting on seedlings
I make my own garden compost..
I'm 37. Am I sad & middle-aged or thrifty??
Caroline

Definitely just thrifty!! I am 57 and as I plan to live to a 120 I don't consider myself middle aged yet, of course, when I approach 60 I will be revising my planned life expectancy upwards, forever young:rotfl:

Fantastic ideas, thanks everyone

Barbeduk

So chuffed reading this thread and realising that I am truly Old Style as I do nearly all of it!

Many thanks to the person who suggested empty milk cartons for storing lentils and dry pulses. I have an open box of puy lentils looking for a container, which will now magically appear after a couple more cuppas!

chinagirl

I use empty, washed Nutella jars as glass tumblers. Noone would ever guess they weren't bought as glasses, as they all match

colinthecockrel

Just remembered, another one I do is ages ago I bought Ecover washing-up liquid when it was on offer and now I just take my empty bottle to the local health food shop who stocks Ecover products and they refill it for about a third less than buying a new one. I did this more for not re-cycling loads and loads of plastic bottles than for saving money. As someone else said, recycling is the last resort - reduce first, then re-use, then recycle. :-)

Mistral001

This one is only for the DIYer's.

I dismantle old items of furniture and household appliances if I cannot sell them on ebay or gumtree.

With the appliances I use a chordless drill with screwdriver and socket attachments to take them to pieces and collect all the nuts, bolts and screws. Then I keep any flat sheet of metal and old switches and motors etc. I throw away the rest. This takes about 30 minutes.

With furnature I dismantale it keeping screws nuts and bolts etc and flat pieces of wood. The wood is stored uprigght in the loft and takes up very little space (but loft has to be strong enough remember as several sheets of wood stored upright can be heavy).

And I do use these bits and pieces. I have reused nuts and bolts and screws and the the metal as well as the wood, so it does not stay there forever collecting dust.

Examples of things I used them for.

1) Sheet metal cut up to make brackets for repairing cracks in walls.

2) Screws and wood for put up shelves and making cover for digibox.

3) Screws, wood and hinges from old large wardrobe to make cabinet for stationery in home office.

The big advantage about dismantling is that you have made the decision to get rid of it and the process is irreversible. thus having made that bold decision it that can be fun. Doing it jsut to provide parts for a certain project could be frustrating as if it turns out that you did not get what you wanted doubts creep in as to whether you should have dismantled it in the first place.

I can say for certain that I have used several items from one washing machine or a number of ocassions thus saving a few trips to B&Q or the hardware shop.

TravellingAbuela

Mistral's post has reminded me of something else we recycle! Drawers scavanged from friends and relatives when they are dumping old chests of drawers. From these we make bird boxes, both for our garden and to put on the trees near our caravan in it's woodland site. We copy the designs from the RSPB catalogue.

Mistral001

TravellingAbuela wrote: »

Mistral's post has reminded me of something else we recycle! Drawers scavanged from friends and relatives when they are dumping old chests of drawers. From these we make bird boxes, both for our garden and to put on the trees near our caravan in it's woodland site. We copy the designs from the RSPB catalogue.

Yes, good point. The sides, backs and bottoms of old drawers from chests of drawers are usually not varnished or painted and look like timber from a timber yard when the dovetails are trimmed off. Sometimes the bottoms are only slotted into the sides and come out looking like an untouched piece you of plywood you would by in a timber supplier.

Uniscots97

TravellingAbuela wrote: »

Another container I miss these days are the sturdy little tubs that contained typewriter ribbons! I know, I know I am going back a long time!! I still have loads in my oddments drawer containing such tiny items as pins, paper clips, drawing pins, etc.

Or the little tubs that 35 mm camera film came in? They got used in our house for pins, cake decorations and the rare clear ones (rather than the black ones) got used on holiday to hold face cream etc.

Crocswearer

unixgirluk wrote: »

Or the little tubs that 35 mm camera film came in? They got used in our house for pins, cake decorations and the rare clear ones (rather than the black ones) got used on holiday to hold face cream etc.

If you know anyone with diabetes, especially Type 1 (as they tend to use more blood testing strips), ask them! The strips often come in little pots about the same size as a 35mm film case. I'm always wondering what to do with my empty pots - about one a week. They are clean as I only ever take things out of them, not put things in, IYSWIM. Search google images for Accu-Chek Aviva for an example. and look for an image of the pot which is inside the box.