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

SIRENS

I second Weenotions, excellent nappies and san pro.
We used reusable wipes, I had some extra ones I use for make up removing and they are still going strong after nearly 8 years. You can even make or knit (if you are a knitter) yourself. Also make your own wipe solution for baby skin, we used water, drop of olive oil and tiny drop of lavender essence

kboss2010

Greenqueen wrote: »

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!

Handkerchiefs are fantastic for waste saving but terrible for hygiene! My boyfriend always carries them and they're the most germ-ridden things. I work in the healthcare sector and one of the primary hygiene practices is 'catch it, bin it, kill it' - tissues should only be used once and then disposed of to prevent viral and bacterial infections being passed on. I never understood why my high school biology teacher had such an aversion to them until I started my current job lol.

I've started to take my breakfast to work. Most people take those "to-go" tubs of instant porridge with flavours but I've found Aldi porridge oats with a teaspoon of honey and some crushed pecans works really well as a DIY option. I just add enough hot water to make it into a paste and voila! "Instant" porridge without all of the artificial stuff in the ready-made pots. I reckon it saves me about £1 a day not using the instant tubs.

meritaten

I tend to clean and sterilise any 're-usable' packaging - sometimes more than once!
But, I have to hand the honour of 're-using Queen Crown' to my mum. believe it or not but she still washes and re-uses the little plastic 'Sundae dishes' that she accumulated when us kids were little (remember them from the 'ice cream van'?) I am 61 now, so some of them are at least 50 years old!!!!!!!!!!

Slinky

We've got several black plastic pudding basins that Christmas puddings came in. Very useful in the microwave.

jackyann

Handkerchiefs: I don't totally disagree with kboss, but I think it all depends on the situation.
Everyday, I carry a cotton handkerchief, it doesn't get used a great deal, and it goes in the weekly boil wash. If I carried a tissue every day it would get spoiled and binned and wasted.
If I have a cold, then I use tissues and bin them. Having said that, it would be perfectly hygienic to have a bucket of disinfectant, throw the used hankies in and boil them - but I don't feel like ding that when I'm poorly!
But I think that using tissues in an everyday situation is a waste.

VfM4meplse

The_Rubbish_Diet wrote: »

P.S. My other favourite --- 'Disposable' cotton handwipes, normally handed out at restaurants following an Indian meal, make great cleaning cloths if you're brave enough to save them before they're collected from the table (after which they're normally binned) and bring them home for washing.

I didn't think these were binned - I thought they went into the top of the dishwasher for cleaning and re-use?

Slinky wrote: »

We've got several black plastic pudding basins that Christmas puddings came in. Very useful in the microwave.

I've just stuck a load in the recycling - held onto them for a few months in case they might be of use as storage - but would never microwave anything in them. I stick to non-plastics for the microwave.

The only thing I wanted to add to this was about the cost of ceramic travel mugs (yes I know you can get plastic versions from the pound / 99p shops). Until recently the least expensive I could find were £5, even at my beloved Aldi! that changed a few weeks ago at B&M, where I saw them for £2.99 so snapped one up. Yesterday I saw plain white with coloured lids / bands for the same price....I predict it won't be much longer before we see versions in Poundland.

thriftmonster

For years we had an insulated rucksack picnic bag which was very handy for carrying around instead of a normal picnic bag. It was a present from a friend and I think she got it in Matalan - which is good for picnic ware. We used to be the only people on the ferry bringing our own food (couldn't afford ferry food) but I have noticed in recent years that a lot more people are doing that - certainly on the Belfast/ Cairnryan route.

We use hankies as well unless someone has a really terrible lurgy - in which case I burn the tissues. If it's a normal cold, I throw them into a bucket of bleach and water until I do a 90 degree whites wash which I do once a fortnight - which also stops the WM furring up.

sistercas

I always take a flask of tea with me when traveling so I don't succumb to the hideously expensive coffee drinks at the services
And I carry water in a reusable bottle

I use jute Or cotton shopping bags , although I do have a plastic cool bag for frozen foods

I don't use cling wrap I use mason jars for storage , or reuse the Chinese cartons for the freezer as I'm not sure about freezing glass
My dry foods are kept in mason jars

I make my own yoghurt in a thermos and add fresh berries , so much nicer than bought fruit yogurts in my opinion

I'm trying to reduce my use of plastic and buy fruits and veg that are not prepackaged
I still using bin liners though does anyone have an idea what to use instead??

FizzWhizz

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.

I have a couple of these which are brilliant. The lid does no leak, not a drop, even if you're using it to carry sparkling drinks. I got mine in HomeSense (sister store to TK Maxx) and paid around £12 for the 1L size, although they had smaller ones for a couple of pounds less.

The lid works like a straw, so you have to bite down on the spout ever so slightly then suck, don't tip the bottle. I have dropped mine on several occasions and apart from the teeny tiny dent on the bottom edge, it's as good as new.

I use it to take water or squash to work in the warmer months but THE best use is to pack them when you go to Dubai on holiday 1L of duty-free vodka/gin/bourbon for about a tenner, a quick trip to the local Carrefour for your mixer of choice (~£1 for 2L), ring room service for an ice delivery whilst you're in the shower and you have a long, cool drink to keep you company while you're sweating by the pool Draw straws with your other half to see who has to walk alllll the way back to your room halfway through the day to do the top-ups

The holiday wasn't exactly MSE but compared to £12 for a miniature of gin from the minibar and a fiver for a can of pop from the pool bar, the refreshments were certainly :money: :rotfl:

Butterfly_Brain

I use the wax inners of cereal boxes to wrap sandwiches in and to put into the freezer. They are also great for shining up chrome taps after you have cleaned them so no watermarks

Takeaway boxes are used in the freezer for picnics or to store small bits that would otherwise rattle about in the drawers.

I use cheap shower caps to cover the bowl when I make bread and also to cover bowls especially in the summer when we are eating in the garden, I always carry a couple of see through ones in my bag when I am on the scooter so if it starts raining I just cover the control unit and the basket which keeps everything dry, works like a charm and a hell of a lot cheaper than the ones that are sold for mobility scooters, they are also good for showers as well

Toilet roll inners are used to plant seedlings into, it doesn't disturb roots and they rot down providing the plant with its own self contained mulch.

I am another who picks up elastic bands that the postie drops, they are good strong ones, much better than the cheap ones that you buy.

Old pieces of carpet have been cut into wide strips and DH carries them in the car in case he gets stuck in the winter.

Old sheets and duvet covers have been turned into all sorts of things such as a summer skirt, curtains, cushion covers etc.

Old clothes that are too tatty for the charity shop are stripped of their buttons and zips then turned into dusters.
Old shoes have their laces removed.

I keep the polystyrene nuts that come in delivery boxes and have used them to make a wonder cooker.
I also keep the boxes for storage or use them as mulch for the garden. The brown paper is folded and reused when I post anything.

When I print anything it is on both sides and I have a laser printer which lasts a long time between cartridge change and it costs a lot less to run than an inkjet, I only use my inkjet for printing photos these days.

Sweet tins from Christmas are used as cake tins or DH pinches them for his shed.

Old jam jars are reused when I make lemon curd, jam, marmalade or for preserving fruit. I also use them for dehydrated fruit and veg, DH has loads that he has screwed to a shelf in the shed to keep his different sizes of screws and nails and other bits and bobs.

I have a set of pretty boiled sweet tins from Aldi with little cherubs on that I have stuck onto magnetic knife holders (£2 in Wilko's) near to my desk that I keep paperclips, elastic bands etc in.