We have often talked about reusing common household items to be more environmentally friendly. Well, I wanted to expand our list of things that can have a second purpose. I’ve even included some items you may have never considered reusing.
- Old mattresses – The fabric from the mattress can be used for pillowcases, furniture coverings, sacks for storing items, grocery bags, rags, and even purses. You can use the padding for a dog bed and the foam for stuffing or even insulation. The springs can be used in art, or sold for scrap metal.
- Toothpaste tubes – First, cut off the cap end of the toothpaste tube and clean out the tube with hot soapy water. You can now use the tube to store knives and scissors in so you won’t cut yourself when grabbing for them in a drawer! You can also clip off the bottom end of a toothpaste tub, clean it out, and fill the tube with icing. You now have a cake decorator that you can use over and over.
- Popsicle sticks – One of my personal favorite uses of Popsicle sticks is for keeping track of your paint colors. After you’ve painted a room, dip a Popsicle stick in the can. After it has dried, write the name of the paint and the room where it was used on the stick. Now, you have an easy way to know which color is in each room and the stick can easily travel into your local home improvement store if you ever need more of the color again (for touchups, etc). I also like to use Popsicle sticks as plant labels.
- Paper Rolls (toilet paper or paper toweling) – You can use paper rolls to easily keep your electrical cords tangle free. You just need to fanfold the cord and pass it through the tube before plugging in. These tubes can also be used to store extension cords when they’re not in use. I often have my kids decorate them before I use them in this way. Another use we have for them is to use them to hold our hairbands. You just wrap them around a cardboard toilet paper tube, and you no longer have to look all over the house for your hairbands!
- Old Curtains – Reuse old curtains as rags for dusting your home or cleaning your car.
- Books – If you have books you no longer read, make sure you donate them to your local library or school. They will be thankful and it is a tax deduction for you! Oftentimes, they will also accept movies, magazines, and even comic books, making it is a great way to clear out storage space without adding to the landfill.
- Water – Instead of just dumping out the water in your kiddie pool, use it to water your plants and shrubs.
- Heat – If you live in a cold climate like me, you try to get heat wherever and whenever you can. After baking something, I like to reuse oven heat by opening up the oven once I am done and letting the warm air circulate through the house.
- Paper – Another way to save on waste is to cut used pieces of paper into scrap pieces to use as a message pad. You can also do this with all the junk mail that comes into your home!
- Towels and sheets – You can bring your old towels and sheets to a local animal shelter that will be glad to put them to good use and give animals a soft, warm place to sleep.
Hopefully, this list of not so common reusable products has given you some good ideas of how to save waste from heading to the landfill. I’d love to know if you have any other unusual reuses for things in your home.
Make sure to visit Green Earth News’ Green Is Grand section for more on eco-friendly living!
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