Travel mugs, thermos, onya bags and more: What re-usable items do you use & save £s?

ZeroWasteWeek

good_advice wrote: »

I wash and reuse many items in my home.
Plastic bags, cereal bags, card from boxes, marg tubs.

What do you reuse cereal bags for? Apart from putting sandwiches in, I'm not sure what to do with mine and would love some inspiration

Spendless

ZeroWasteWeek wrote: »

What do you reuse cereal bags for? Apart from putting sandwiches in, I'm not sure what to do with mine and would love some inspiration

I saw a post recently where the person said they unpeeled the ripe bananas prior to freezing them (for use in banana bread, smoothies etc) and popped them in a cereal bag liner. I'm waiting for one of mine to become free before trying this as I'm sure it will take less freezer space than my current method of throwing the unpeeled banana in the freezer drawer.

I'm looking for a recommendation of a water bottle that doesn't leak for my Secondary school aged kids. We have had too many mis-haps and spilling over their exercise books, isn't a risk that can be taken. Gone are the days of Primary school where the bottles had a short journey to make and then spent the rest of the day sat on a table for available use. These need to be robust enough to do a bus journey/30 minute walk twice a day and spend the day in a bag without leaking. Help please.

luxor4t

ZeroWasteWeek wrote: »

What do you reuse cereal bags for? Apart from putting sandwiches in, I'm not sure what to do with mine and would love some inspiration

When we used to eat boxed cereal I lined the veg rack with the cut open bags.


Some more ideas here - http://denbeath1.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/30-uses-for-cereal-box-linings.html

[Deleted User]

Hi ZeroWasteWeek we are lucky enough to have a large polytunnel and we dry the papier mache bricks in there on an old camp kitchen rack given to us by a friend some years ago. It takes about a week to get them completely dry but it's free heat in the tunnel, paper we would otherwise recycle too. If you have a greenhouse and could construct a rack for drying or use a potting bench they would dry in the fullness of time. We make about a dozen at a time and when they are dry store them in a large box in a dry garden store I think we made 250ish last year, enough to see us through to the end of heating this year.

SIRENS

Spendless wrote: »

i'm looking for a recommendation of a water bottle that doesn't leak for my Secondary school aged kids. We have had too many mis-haps and spilling over their exercise books, isn't a risk that can be taken. Gone are the days of Primary school where the bottles had a short journey to make and then spent the rest of the day sat on a table for available use. These need to be robust enough to do a bus journey/30 minute walk twice a day and spend the day in a bag without leaking. Help please.

Hi my kids and I use these
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aladdin-0-35-Litre-Water-Bottle/dp/B004SBV6WS/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1433071961&sr=8-8&keywords=aladdin+water+bottle

They come in different sizes and colours and take some abuse but are pretty leak proof we used to favour the metal ones but they can do some damage when thrown as proved by my son when he was little and an unfortunate window :eek:

My kids use these lunch boxes which are similar to bento style

http://www.huggle.co.uk/products/Goodbyn-Bynto-Lunch-Box.html
I take a lock n lock box with my lunch in it and I have a reusable insulated cup for the winter that I love and does not leak.
http://littleacornstomightyoaks.co.uk/shop/Klean_Kanteen/Insulated/12oz
My husband has the same one but larger
These were also the make of the metal water bottles which we used when the kids were little they were excellent and didn't leak at all ds was very happy with hers it was only ds that threw them we liked them as well because they had the sippy cup attachment (the painted ones colour does chip of after awhile thought), they lasted years.

I keep old ice cream containers for refreezing and margarine tubs for school trips so the children can throw them out.
I used cloth nappies for ds and as Mse Andrea linked, cloth 'those' too. I used cloth snack bags when the children were little and did try the cloth sandwich wrap bags for awhile but found some where hard to wash and dry.

SailorSam

ZeroWasteWeek wrote: »

What do you reuse cereal bags for? Apart from putting sandwiches in, I'm not sure what to do with mine and would love some inspiration

I use my cereal bags in the freezer. Once you've opened a bag of frozen veg, or even fish and meat, the bags can go inside a washed out cereal packet. Just to stop stuff leaking out. And to secure them i put an elastic band or two around them. The elastic bands i pick up off the pavemen't 'cos the postie throws them away.

[Deleted User]

I save all the elastic bands that come on things like bunches of spring onions, broccoli heads, watercress etc. and any that come on parcels etc. I've got a big tupperware in the kitchen drawer full of the things all shapes, sizes and colours. Very useful when DD2 did wedding bouquets and table flower decorations for a friends wedding, she took all me green bands to make and secure posies so the bands wouldn't show, good stuff!

Susan1962

ZeroWasteWeek wrote: »

That's the key to success, isn't it? I STILL find I get to the checkout without a reusable bag; usually caught out when the trip wasn't planned :mad:

Same here! I change handbags too often so I've resorted to folding and stuffing bags into side pockets, etc, in each so I have at least once bag if I "pop in" to the supermarket.

WantAnOrange

I have three children and have used cloth nappies for all three. With my second baby I discovered reusable wet wipes (duh, seems obvious now!). There is a huge market now with so much choice, many of which are very reasonably priced if bought second hand.

I would also recommend Mooncup and Wee Notions for reusable sanitary products, if you are that way inclined.

Greenqueen_2

What about re-useable tissues?

I always carry a cotton hanky, unless I have a stinker of a cold they are much nicer than paper. Some I have, and still use regularly, belonged to my grandma who died about 40 years ago!